#prosetips

[theyuniversity]

📝 Why Transition Words Matter (A Love Letter to “However” and Friends)

Ever read something and felt like you were on a mental rollercoaster with no seatbelt? Yeah, same. That’s what writing without transition words feels like.

Transition words are the unsung heroes of writing. They’re the glue that holds your thoughts together, the little signposts that whisper, “Hey, this next idea is connected to the last one.”

✨ Examples:

“I love rainy days. However, I forgot my umbrella.” → Conflict!

“She practiced every day. As a result, she aced the audition.” → Cause and effect!

“He didn’t text back. Meanwhile, I spiraled.” → Simultaneous chaos!

Without these gems, your writing feels choppy. Your reader has to do all the heavy lifting to connect your ideas. And let’s be real—lazy brains will just check out. 🧠💤

So yes, throw in that “furthermore,” flex a “nevertheless,” spice it up with a “consequently.” It’s not extra—it’s essential.

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[chaikovskiyy]

Writings Terms to Know

Is this going to be an organized index? Yes. Will it help new writers sink in to the community? Yes! Will it be fun for writers with experience to try and see if they now know all them? Also yes. So let’s get started!

Planning / Outline Terms - Plotter: A writer who outlines their projects - Panster: A writer who doesn’t outline and therefore “writes by the seat of their pants” - Story Beat: An important event or turning point in the story. (there are tons more vocab within this- resources are available all over the internet!)

Drafting Terms - WIP: Work in progress / writing in progress - Writer’s block: When a writer is having a hard time coming up with ideas or putting words onto the page. A lot of us struggle with this! - First Draft: The finished version of a project with no edits - Zero Draft: A process some writers use to get through that first version of their story and keep momentum. Often under-written, with missing scenes, lots of placeholders, etc.

Revision / Editing Terms - Alpha Reader: A person the writer taps to read their first draft - Beta Reader: A person the writer taps to read whatever draft (not their first) that the writer is on to help - Critique Partner: Another writer who a writer exchanges their work with. They provide each other with critiques/comments on their drafts - Developmental Edits: Revisions made to the story’s big elements like plot, character, setting, etc. - Line Edits: Edits to fix the prose - Copy Edits: Edits to fix grammatical/spelling errors

Prose Terms - Purple Prose: Prose that is so convoluted that the meaning of the writer's words is lost. - Literary device: Anything used in the prose like a simile, metaphor, imagery, allegory, etc. - Show don’t tell: The mega tip that you should show and dramatize what your characters act like, how places look, etc. instead of just saying so in the prose.

Miscellaneous Terms used by the Community - OC: Original character - CR: Currently reading - Self-promo: Advertising your account/work on someone else’s account/profile/post. A big no in the community - Wattpad/Commaful/FictionPress: Places on the internet where writers can share/post their work to be read for free!

That’s all for this post! Until next time, happy writing! - E. ⚘

Find me on Instagram @chaikovskiyy