The ultimate secret to good writing

What’s the ultimate secret to good writing? A transition that allows readers to move smoothly from a previous topic to a new one. 

Transitions can be as simple as starting paragraphs with ‘Now’ or ‘But’ and ‘And’ (some still argue that’s doubtful grammar, but the corporate communicators’ bible, the Australian Government Style Guide, grants permission. And it’s an effective bridge).

See how a recent edition of Newsweek uses a transition to move neatly from a paragraph on Afghan riots to riots elsewhere: With President Karzai scheduled to come to Washington next week, this is a good time for his enemies to make trouble. That does not explain, however, why rioting spread throughout the Islamic region...

News magazines are masters of transitions. See how another Newsweek report switches neatly from reporting the past to exploring the future: “Al Qaeda are trained to make allegations against the infidels,” says a US Army spokesman. More allegations, credible or not, are sure to come ...

Repeating ‘allegations’ links the paragraphs.

And lastly (note the transition...) let us look at a column in the same issue by columnist George Will. Half his paragraphs open with transitions like:

Indeed, each member of...

But wait. A thousand trillion people...

So says Bill Bryson, author of...

But there is a not-at-all strange reason ...

This is so because the greatest threat to...

But wait. Do we always need transitions? Some documents are more effective with none. Indeed, topics can be separated with numbers, bullets, or bold side heads. But even here, transitions still help things move smoothly along, as we did at the start of this paragraph.

Meanwhile (that’s always a reliable transition...) next time you pick up a news magazine, seek out the transitions. Seeing experts do it well will help make your own writing as smooth as silk.