Connection of Ideas
Once you have determined a pattern of organization for ideas, it is vital to connect them to create a sense of flow in your writing and make it easy for readers to follow what you are saying. Read this brief overview to learn about this important feature of good writing.
The second half of coherence is how we connect ideas together and how we show relationships between ideas.
Would you consider a pile of bricks in the shape of a wall a "brick wall"? What would happen if I kicked this wall or a heavy storm came? What does that pile of bricks need to become a brick wall?
Such a pile of bricks would generally not be considered a "wall" because there is no mortar to hold the bricks together. The same goes for a piece of writing. A paragraph or essay is a lot more than just a pile of sentences put together. Like the bricks which need mortar to stick together, your sentences and ideas need connective language to come together and make sense.
Another way to think of it is that your ideas need to connect to one another so your readers can move smoothly from one idea to the next. A common way to do this is to use connective words and phrases called transitions.
The real key to remember when it comes to transitions is that:
Transitions show relationships between ideas.
Source: Erin Severs
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