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:
- “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.
Go Beyond the Pyramid
Master a story structure that’s been proven in the lab to reach 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.”
Indeed, our old friend the inverted pyramid hasn’t fared well in recent studies. Studies by the Poynter Institute, Reuters Institute and the American Society of News Editors show that the traditional news structure reduces readership, understanding, sharing, engagement and more.
Grab readers’ attention, pull them through the piece and leave a lasting impression.
The pyramid doesn’t work well, these researchers say, with a little subset of your audience we call “humans.”
At Catch Your Readers — our two-day hands-on persuasive-writing master class on Oct. 2-3 in Dallas — you’ll master a structure that’s been proven in the lab to grab readers’ attention, pull them through the piece and leave a lasting impression. Specifically, you’ll learn how to:
- Grab reader attention with a lead that’s concrete, creative and provocative — and avoid making readers’ eyes glaze over by using one of the seven deadly leads.
- Stop bewildering your readers by leaving out an essential paragraph. (Many communicators forget this entirely.)
- Avoid the “muddle in the middle” by choosing one of five structural techniques from a rubric created by the founder of TED Talks.
- Draw to a satisfying conclusion in the penultimate paragraph.
- End with a bang, not a whimper by using our three-step test.
Learn more about our
Dallas master class.
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