Coherence
Good writers are sticklers for continuity (coherence). They won’t let themselves write a sentence that isn’t clearly connected to the ones immediately preceding and following it. They want their prose to flow, and they know this is the only way to achieve that beautiful effect.
. . .
(A good writer) resembles a furniture maker who uses interlocking tongues and grooves to do the work of nails and screws.
- John R. Trimble, Writing with Style, 45
. . .
(A good writer) resembles a furniture maker who uses interlocking tongues and grooves to do the work of nails and screws.
- John R. Trimble, Writing with Style, 45
Coherence is created by incorporating several cohesive devices:
Transitional words and phrases--next, after that, before we left the table
Repetition of words--". . . first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Henry Lee's Eulogy of George Washington
Repetition of sentence structure (parallelism)--"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness . . ." Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Synonyms--cat and feline
Nouns and pronouns--Adam (he)
Topic headings
Trimble compares writing to furniture making. The authors of How to Write Anything have their own comparison: "What exactly makes words, sentences, and ideas flow from paragraph to paragraph as fluidly as Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong cycling through the French Alps? Transitional words and phrases, many writers would reply . . . " (350).
Good writing reminds me of building. See the analogy below.
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Muriel Harris' List of Transitions, Prentice Hall Reference Guide to Grammar and Usage 5th ed., page 77:
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