Writer's Guide to Using Eight Methods of Transition

Your good ideas won't be compelling if your writing is dull. Simply presenting facts or thoughts in paragraphs that could just as easily be bullet point lists won't make anyone want to read your work, and it won't make them think differently about anything, except your ability as an author.

This is the problem Victor Pellegrino addresses in A Writer's Guide to Using 8 Methods of Transition. Designed as an explanatory guide for use with A Writer's Guide to Transitional Words and Expressions (which is simply a group of 15 lists of categorized words), this book provides detailed explanations of those 15 types of transition, as well as seven more.

Transition methods include Repeat, Indicate Sequence, Divide or Classify, etc. There are two parts: Part One is "Using Transitional Words and Expressions," and Part Two is "Using Seven More Ways to Connect Ideas." Pellegrino draws special attention in the Preface to the chapters on pronoun reference and repeating key phrases or clauses as particularly important.

Each chapter begins with an in-depth description of the transition method, followed by one or more examples of the method at work in a paragraph. A couple of the more important chapters present a poor example before a better one. Pellegrino writes well and clearly himself, so no reader who takes their time should be confused or lost.

While readers would be well served to simply read this book from start to finish, it is designed as a reference and should be kept at hand when writing. Like Pellegrino's other books, this one is valuable for beginners and veterans alike. For high school students, we recommend having them read each chapter before imitating the method in their own practice paragraphs.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.