Writing Signs
Let's say you're on a road trip. You see a billboard saying the world's largest cow is at exit 72. Awesome! How can you miss that?
So where are you? Well, you're just passing exit 68, so exit 72 must be close. Wait, now you see exit 12. What? Are you going the wrong way? Now you pass exit 93. Did you miss it? No, there's exit 84. What's going on here? Why are they hiding the world's largest cow from you? Not cool, road.
Road signs are much like transitional words and sentences in your writing. They help take the disparate parts and make sense out of them. They help explain the order of the pieces in a logical, orderly manner. Well, not on this road, but on most roads; that's how it works. Let's look at how transitions work.
Transition Words in Fiction
In writing, a transition is a word, phrase or sentence that connects one section to another. A transition can be as simple as a single word. In fiction, you might see the word 'meanwhile' used as a transition. Here's an example: Marla summoned all her training in order to vanquish the kraken. Meanwhile, her brother was at home, eating chips.
What happens if you take out that 'meanwhile?' Those two sentences seem disjointed and awkward. The transition word helps move us from one place to another. 'Meanwhile' moves us around in location.
Other transitions move us around in time: 'then,' 'soon,' 'later,' 'next,' 'finally.' We could use these words to describe how we found that huge cow. I found exit 72. Then, I got lost again. Later, I saw a sign for the cow again. Finally, I found it! Ok, that's not a compelling story, but note how the transition words move us along in time.
Transition Words in Non-Fiction
In an essay, you may use transition words to organize your thoughts and ideas. You can use words to indicate that you're expanding upon your idea. They can also provide additional support for an argument. These words include: 'also,' 'furthermore,' 'similarly,' 'likewise,' 'too,' 'including,' and 'like.'
They don't have to begin your sentence. In fact, I just said 'They can also provide additional support for an argument.' See that 'also' in there? That's me expanding upon my idea. They can be at the end of a sentence, too. Oh, I just did what I was describing.
Furthermore, these may be simple words to provide structure, like first, second and third. These are like signs on the road indicating milestones in the essay. They tell your reader that they're moving from one idea to another.
Here's an example: There are countless reasons I love salad. First, it's a healthy lunch option. Second, it's easy to prepare. Third, no one steals your salad from the fridge. Each idea here is separated by a transition word that tells us a new reason is coming. It's important that the transitions fit the logic of the work, though. If that last sentence was Third, my favorite food is ice cream, then it's the wrong transition.
In this case, you want something like 'however.' This is effectively a u-turn. Maybe you want to show a counterargument. You can use words like: 'but,' 'although,' 'however,' 'conversely,' 'still,' and 'yet.'