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A Few Comments About Writing Effective Sentences (and Paragraphs) 285

Pronouns contribute to coherence because they have antecedents (nouns that
come before them). Therefore, a pronoun in one sentence that refers to a noun in
a previous sentence helps to “glue” the two sentences together. The pronoun this
(line 3) refers to goal (line 1). Similarly, these (7) looks back to strategies (3), and
these (13) refers to relationships, which ends the previous sentence. Note how the
writer is careful to follow every this or these that begins a sentence with the word
it refers back to. In that way, the reader doesn’t have to stop reading to look back
at the previous sentence to find the antecedent.
Forecasting tells readers where you’re taking them, what you’re going to be dis-
cussing. The bulleted list (lines 4–6) serves to forecast the next three paragraphs
(which I haven’t included). Each of these paragraphs discusses in turn one of the
three overall strategies.
Unlike forecasting, which lets readers know where they’re going, transitions
provide a bridge from one juncture to another. However (line 13) and unfortu-
nately (line 15) are good examples. They prepare readers for a change in thought
that will be expressed in the sentences that the transitions begin.
Using key repetitions is one of the most effective techniques for increasing
the coherence of your paragraphs. Like pronouns, key repetitions tend to glue
sentences together, especially when a word or phrase at the end of one sentence
is picked up at the beginning of the next one. The sentence ending on line 13,
for example, concludes with the word relationships, which is repeated near the
beginning of the next sentence. That sentence, in turn, ends with the phrase Top
Notch system (line 15) and is followed, at the beginning of the next sentence, by
Top Notch’s system. The writer also achieves coherence by using goal (line 1) and
goal (line 3); strategies (line 3) and strategies (line 7); flexible (line 10), flexible
(line 15), and flexibility (line 17); and partnerships (line 11) and partner (line 13).
These key repetitions contribute to the paragraphs’ flow.
A fine line exists between key (or “good”) repetitions and redundancy (i.e.,
“bad” repetitions). Key repetitions create cohesion and focus. Redundancies are,
well, repetitive. Because writing is an art rather than a science, it’s impossible
to pinpoint where that fine line is. Only your ear can tell you whether you have
crossed it.

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I’ve tried to present some of the important techniques that you can use to write
more effective sentences. Like all things related to writing, these techniques take
some practice to master. But once you’ve mastered them, they don’t go away:
From then on, you simply write better from first draft to last. Your sentences
will be crisper, clearer, cleaner, and livelier. Most important, your more effective