Improve your long-form content by writing better transitions between chapters, sections, and main ideas.
Many, perhaps most, marketers do not have experience or training in the types of long-form writing — white papers, case studies, ebooks — that are so important in content development today. What do most long-form writers struggle with the most?
Transitions.
Writing the transition from one chapter, section, or major idea to the next can be daunting! And if you've tried to get your AI writer to write the transitions for you, you've already learned that by the time you fully describe what you need you might as well have written it yourself.
The good news? If you know how to structure a transition, it gets much easier. Here's a simple guidelin for writing excellent transitions.
- Write a brief summary of the previous section's main ideas. In most cases, this will be one or two sentences.
- Now write a sentence (or two) that acknowledges you are making a transition and describes the connection between the two sections.
- This is the trickiest part. Write a smooth bridge, or segue, between the two sections. This bridge should focus on the upcoming content or idea.
- If the next section will bring a change in perspective (or, if this is more creative writing, a change in setting or time or mood), you might want to highlight the shift that is about to occur.
- Conclude the transition by setting expectations or posing questions that you will address in the next section.
That's it! Once you follow these five steps a few times, you'll find yourself becoming a pro at writing transitions!