![]() And you know the strongest lube to keep your readers hooked? That’s the use of seductive subheads. Re-lube more often.īut your content requires a mix of tricks for the smoothest reading experience. Transition trick #6: Subheadsīicyclists can argue for hours about the best way to keep your bike chain free from rust. Take away ambiguity, and readers glide through your text. And as soon as readers stop, they consider clicking away, too. The kid was angry because she had only one scoop of ice cream, and her mother took three scoops.Īmbiguity confuses readers and makes them stop to consider your message. Here’s an example from an article comparing cooking skills and writing skills: This trick can be used anywhere in your writing, but is particularly useful for metaphors. I repeated the phrase “word connectors” to connect the two sentences together. Word connectors are words that are repeated in subsequent sentences. The secret to moving from topic to topic without losing your readers or listeners are word connectors. Have you ever watched a comedian and wondered how he moved from jokes about his first love to politics and then on to Christmas dinners? These phrases are especially effective at the end of a paragraph to encourage readers to start the next paragraph. Legendary copywriter Joe Sugarman calls these transitional phrases seeds of curiosity. Here are some examples of transitional sentences: They often end with an ellipsis (three dots). That’s what short transitional sentences are for. Your reader requires a similar dog fang to prevent him from losing track and clicking away. The dog fang prevents the chain from falling off. To sort out this chain frustration, I now have a rubber dog fang. Transition trick #3: Short transitional sentencesīut each time I cycled uphill and changed gears, the chain fell off. To indicate the start of the section with tips, use a short and engaging question:Īddressing your readers with short questions makes your content conversational and engaging, and you encourage your reader to read on. Now, you want to shift up a gear to share your tips. Yep, just like in cycling, in writing you often move up or down a gear.įor instance, in your introductory paragraph, you’ve empathized with your reader, you’ve explained you understand his problem and you’ve promised to help him solve it. Short questions can act like changing gears. ![]() Transition trick #2: Short transitional questions Over time, you’ll internalize the rhythm and your writing will improve. If you’re finding it hard to decide how to chop up your sentences, read content of other writers aloud or copy it by hand. Everybody continues doing their own thing. You can use transitional words at the beginning of a sentence to explain the relation with a previous sentence, or to connect two parts of one sentence. Examples of transitional words and phrases include: Transitional words make the reading experience smoother because they explain the relation between two sentences. Just like drops of oil make your bicycle chain move without friction, transitional words make readers glide through your content. ![]() Want to learn the 6 types of writer’s lube to reduce friction and keep readers engaged? Transition trick #1: Transitional words and phrases And then you apply writer’s lube-the transitional tricks for a smooth reading experience. First you remove the dirt from your content-you eliminate wordiness and replace weak phrases. When editing your content, you do exactly the same. And perhaps the chain might even drop off.įor a smooth riding experience, you first remove the dirt from your chain (my husband recommends the aptly named Muc Off), and then you apply lube to reduce friction and prevent rust. ![]() When your chain gets muddy, it starts to squeak and rattle. Whenever that happens, the writer has failed to communicate with clarity.īut how do you prevent readers from losing track? How do you keep readers engaged? Creating a smooth reading experience is like maintaining a bicycle chain ![]() Or worse, we have to go back a few paragraphs to pick up the flow. When we read someone else’s content, it’s easy to spot the friction. After a few seconds, you can’t remember what you’re reading and why. This article discusses 6 types of transitions:ġ. ![]()
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