When your writing has a bad flow, you don't always know it. You wrote the thing, you're in it. You're too close to it. You have the full picture in your mind, so the jumps in logic or awkward transitions don’t stand out to you. But if you can't point out the problems, your ideas won't make it to the readers. For one reason. They don't connect smoothly on the page.
So how can you be sure readers don't get lost or lose interest? How do you improve cohesion in writing?
First off, give your draft some time to breathe. Step away for a few days, then come back with fresh eyes. You'll definitely be able to fix some problems.
It can also help to get someone else to read it for you.
For example, when I was doing some research for this piece, I stumbled upon an interesting thread on Reddit where someone was struggling with their writing flow. They felt something was off but couldn’t quite pinpoint the issue. Check it out:
Reddit is a good place to ask someone's opinion on your writing and get helpful advice. One user even rewrote that paragraph and explained each fix they made. As you can see, they turned adjectives into verbs, made sentences shorter, and got rid of adverbs. Sounds much better now:
A qualified outsider can see flaws in writing – one sentence feels disconnected from the next, the rhythm uneven, the meaning hard to grasp – so having an editor can really help. But learning flow and cohesion can make a huge difference! In this article, we’ll talk about how to improve your writing flow.
If you want to get better at writing content, you should also check out my book for content writers called From Reads To Leads. It teaches you how to write engaging pieces with ideas logically connected to one another. You can read the first chapter of this book to get a feel of what's inside.
How to improve your writing flow. Watch it instead:
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Flow and сohesion are about how you communicate ideas and the relationships between them. Building a clear, logical flow in writing is about creating a sense of sequence in which one sentence relates to the next and one paragraph to another.
Sometimes, you might think that the relationships between your sentences are clear. But are you sure your readers can follow your logic? Look at this example:
Any product is created for the end-user. Whether users like or dislike something defines the success of an application. Before the release of a product or service, it must be tested to make sure there are no bugs.
Brrrr… did you get it? Let’s see what’s wrong with this.
How does the first sentence (Any product is created for the end-user) relate to the second (Whether users like or dislike something defines the success of an application)? The writer was probably trying to say that if a product is created for end-users, it means the end users are supposed to like it. If they do, the product becomes successful. This logic, however, isn’t clear.
In the same paragraph, what is the logical connection between what users like and dislike in an application and the necessity of testing that application?
Any product is created for the end-user. Whether users like or dislike something defines the success of an application. Before the release of a product or service, it must be tested to make sure there are no bugs.
It seems like the argument is missing. Let’s rewrite this paragraph to make it flow better:
Any application is created for the end-user, which means the user experience is key to an app’s success. Before releasing an app, you want to make sure everything works properly and there are no bugs. If you don’t, the user experience will suffer.
The user experience is the core idea that connects the point about an application being created for the end-user with the point about an app’s success and testing an app, and it helps the reader arrive at a logical conclusion: testing is important.
Here are a few tips on how to improve your flow.
Let's discover some tips on how to improve cohesion in writing to create a smooth reading experience.
Many writers tend to go off on a tangent. In other words, they get lost. In trying to cover everything and make their piece useful and informative, they end up moving away to distant places that have nothing to do with the topic they're talking about or the argument they're trying to make.
When a writer goes astray, so does the reader.
Each piece of content should have a single clear idea. Everything else that’s running away from the main point is working against the text. It makes your writing cluttered and causes your readers to get lost trying to figure out what’s going on.
In content marketing, almost everything you write should persuade readers to think a certain way. To persuade, you need to include logical arguments.
Very few writers can build persuasive arguments, mostly because they don't really understand what an argument is. An argument consists of three elements: a set of claims, a conclusion, and reasons to believe that your claims are true.
The Conclusion is the main claim in your argument. Words that often precede the conclusion include:
Other claims or premises supported by evidence are often indicated by these words:
To sum up, your argument should contain a conclusion, premises, and reasons to believe. And you need to present all that in a connected logical order.
Read also: Three Logical Fallacies That Make Good Arguments Look Bad
Because, for example, let me explain why, and now comes the best part, not only that, to clarify – transition words help create a sense of continuity in your writing. They help you build a bridge between two sentences or paragraphs and encourage readers to read on. They make your writing feel cohesive and intentional, creating a natural flow that makes the text more enjoyable to read.
Transitions can also help you control the pacing of your text. For example, words like "suddenly" or "immediately" can speed up the action, words like "in contrast" or "on second thought" can slow things down for deeper analysis or reflection. This helps create a dynamic narrative, pulling readers along and keeping them engaged from one paragraph to the next.
Said that, excessive use of transitions can make your writing feel forced and overly structured, breaking the natural rhythm of the text. ChatGPT, for example, overuses transitions. If your text has too many "additionally," and "morever," you know it's ChatGPT. It sounds formulaic, academic, and boring.
Good writing should flow naturally, with transitions woven in when necessary, not inserted just for the sake of it.
Ernest Hemingway was known for his minimalist style, often avoiding the use of excessive transition words to maintain a direct, natural flow. Here’s an example from Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms”:
"In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. Troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees. The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves, stirred by the breeze, falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves."
What you read is a vivid scene without using obvious transitions like "meanwhile," "next," or "after that." He uses simple conjunctions like "and" to link thoughts, actions, and images.
To improve the flow of ideas, start your draft by outlining how your paragraphs relate to one another. As you’re working on your flow in the outline, ask yourself the following questions:
1. What is the purpose or main idea that I want to get across in a specific paragraph?
In this paragraph, I will discuss…
2. How does this paragraph relate to the one that comes immediately after?
In the previous paragraph, I discuss [purpose of paragraph 1]. This helps you better understand [purpose of paragraph 2] because...
3. What does this paragraph or idea have to do with the main purpose or argument of the article?
This paragraph supports my argument because...
4. Am I trying to help readers make a connection to something I said earlier in my article?
While I discussed [previous idea or concept] above, I will now talk about [new idea or concept] because...
This is a conscious approach to writing. And once you start thinking this way, your writing will become easy to read and easy to comprehend.
To maintain a rhythm in your writing, vary your sentence structure and length. Using only short or long sentences can make your writing feel monotonous. A good mix of both creates a dynamic flow, guiding readers through your ideas at a natural pace.
Here’s an example from a piece by Jhumpa Lahiri, published in The New Yorker, titled “Teach Yourself Italian.” Lahiri varies sentence length and structure to create a natural, engaging rhythm:
“I moved to Italy to read Italian better and to speak it better. I moved to write in Italian. I moved because I wanted to lose everything, to start over, to be reborn. In Rome, my desires seem absurd, self-destructive. One could say I threw myself away, that I abandoned the ship that had carried me. And yet I wait for the words to come.”
Here, the shorter sentences—“I moved to write in Italian. I moved because I wanted to lose everything”—create a clear, direct tone, while the longer sentence—“I moved because I wanted to lose everything, to start over, to be reborn”—adds complexity and depth. This variation gives the writing a dynamic flow, keeping it compelling and varied.
Active voice makes it clear who did what, unlike sentences written in passive voice that don’t have an actor performing an action. Passive voice is musty, boring, and dull. It deprives your writing of power.
When you’re using active voice, the subject of your sentence assumes full responsibility for its actions. It can’t just pass the buck to somebody else. This also puts a bit of responsibility on you. After all, you need to be sure exactly who is to blame if something goes wrong and who deserves the praise if something goes right.
For example, in the sentence “healthcare is being transformed to deliver a better quality of service and improve patient outcomes,” the writer apparently doesn’t want to tell us who is transforming healthcare. Maybe the writer doesn’t know, is too lazy to find out, or is afraid to tell the truth. If the writer had a bit more courage, the sentence would be stronger:
We are experiencing a healthcare transformation. Healthcare providers are getting better at serving people and curing patients.
Who would have thought? It’s healthcare providers who are doing a great job. Now I’m curious to know more, so I’ll continue reading.
Active voice creates a clear image in the reader’s mind of who is doing what. This makes your writing easier to understand and more interesting to read.
Filler words, like “very,” “really,” "due to the fact that," "as to whether," or “in order to,” often do little to enhance your writing. They clutter your text and slow the reader down. Cut them wherever possible to keep your writing crisp.
For example:
"In light of the fact that there has been an increase in data breaches, it is essential that organizations take proactive measures to enhance their cybersecurity protocols."
Revised:
"Organizations must take proactive measures to enhance their cybersecurity protocols because of the increase in data breaches."
This version is clearer and more impactful, effectively communicating the main point without unnecessary fillers.
Sometimes though, you want some filler words in your writing to create that casual conversational tone, so it feels like genuine speech.
For example:
"The new app is really impressive, and it just makes things a lot easier for users. You can actually customize it to fit your needs, which is super helpful."
In this example, words like "really," "just," and "actually" make the text feel more relatable. While they don't add substantial information, they create a casual and friendly tone.
One of the best ways to assess the flow of your writing is by reading it out loud. This allows you to hear the natural rhythm and catch any awkward transitions, run-on sentences, or choppy sections. If a sentence feels difficult to read, adjust it for smoother readability.
Go to my website, click on Exercises in the menu and scroll down to Exercise 16: Improve the flow of ideas. You need to rewrite the following paragraph to improve the flow:
Booking a table at a restaurant can be a painful experience. Restaurant managers accept calls about reservations and cancel orders. Usually, this approach to table reservations doesn’t allow a manager to see how busy the night will be. There will either be numerous open tables or scheduling overlaps. With a restaurant reservation app, such misfortunes can be successfully avoided.
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