Avoid transitional clichés
Transitions can be hard to write. Maybe that’s why we keep turning back to these hackneyed transitions, listed in a Poynter Institute forum:
until Aug. 31
- “But then the dream became a nightmare.”
- “But then something went horribly wrong.”
- “But that was about to change.”
- “When he first … he never dreamed …”
- “But then something happened that would change her life forever.”
- “Then she experienced every parent’s worst nightmare.”
- “For now they can only watch and wait.”
- “What a difference a (day, week, month, year) makes.”
- “Now the victims are picking up the pieces of their shattered lives.”
- “At the end of the day …”
Fresh transitions drive readers further into the story. These clichés just cause readers to roll their eyes — and go back to sleep.
What structure draws more readers?
Writers say, “We use the inverted pyramid because readers stop reading after the first paragraph.” But in new research, readers say, “We stop reading after the first paragraph because you use the inverted pyramid.”
If the traditional news structure doesn’t work, how should we organize our messages?
Master a structure that’s been proven in the lab to outperform the traditional news format at Catch Your Readers, our persuasive-writing workshop, starting on April 5.
There, you’ll learn an organizing scheme that grabs readers’ attention, keeps it for the long haul and leaves a lasting impression.
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