Center for Writing Excellence

by Guest Blogger, Deborah Owen of The Creative Writing Institute

What are Transition Sentences?

Transition sentences carry the reader’s thoughts from one subject to another closely related subject. The trick is to do it smoothly by using both subjects in one sentence. By the time you read this article, you will fully understand them.

Think of transition sentences as a bridge from one place to another. If the bridge is too short or not properly constructed, it can be a jarring experience.

Just remember that warty characters are memorable because “warts” assist the reader in identifying characters.

Huh? Are you wondering what happened to the discussion on transition sentences? That’s how your readers feel when you jar their minds without a transition. Although warts (character flaws) don’t relate to transition sentences at all, we can make them relate by connecting the two in a transition.

How to Build a Transition Sentence

Transitions usually root in the first line of a new paragraph, but on occasion, you’ll find them in the last line. By using a common trait, you can link any two subjects, like this: (repeat)

Think of transition sentences as a bridge from one place to another. If the bridge is too short or not properly constructed, it can be a jarring experience. There are many bridges in writing.

For instance, ‘warty characters’ (characters that have physical, emotional, or psychological flaws), act as a bridge to help the reader separate characters. Imagery is another bridge, as it translates to the five senses. Likewise, transition sentences escort the reader from a previous topic to a new one.

See? You can connect virtually anything if you find a common denominator. Reread the last two paragraphs and find the three transitions. Transitions may be a single word, a phrase, or one or more sentences. (See answers at the bottom for the transitions in the example above.) These little bridges are a powerful way to redirect your reader’s mind!

Here is another example from a camping article. We’re picking up toward the end of the article. The setting: campers are on vacation and using a credit card for gasoline purchases. We will transition this into an after-vacation recap of never paying interest. See if you can pick out the transition words.

“Use your Coast to Coast Visa Signature Card to receive 1 Rec rewards point on all purchases and up to 5 points on designated items.

“By combining the above suggested methods with this plan, you will seldom, if ever, run out of vacation money or have to use an ATM machine; further, you will never make a physical payment, owe interest, or carry a balance.”

As you can see, it doesn’t always take a whole sentence to make a transition. In this case, it took only three words. Can you find them? Answer: By combining… and further.

Other good transition words and phrases are: besides, in addition to, instead of, specifically, to sum up, although, beyond, close, for instance, again, moreover, accordingly, as a result, during, to illustrate, finally, on the contrary, to compare, consequently, subsequently, if, then, meanwhile, but, nevertheless, therefore, otherwise, so, formerly.

Your assignment: read a newspaper or magazine and find the transition words for every paragraph. When you can recognize transition phrases, words, and sentences, you’ll be able to use them effectively in your own writing. Remember the secret: a transition sentence uses part of the topic it left and part of the topic it is approaching OR the transition is a linking phrase, such as… meanwhile, back in the jungle.

Transitions in the first example:

1. Think of
2. For instance
3. Likewise

Spring is a time of renewal and new beginnings. Getting ready for a new season is always a busy time, and I do apologize for my absence lately.

And, my family suffered a great loss the end of March with the passing of our father, who lived a long, full 91 years. His passing was a shock, despite his age, as he was in relatively good health. My brothers and I are struggling with pulling our lives back to some semblance of normal, although becoming orphaned as adult children is difficult.

It will be another week or so before I can return here with writing advice for my regular readers so if anyone out there has something they would like to post as a guest blogger, please contact me at janiewrites1@gmail.com. I will be happy to publish your guest blog. In the meantime, thank you for understanding.

~Janie