Cohesion and Coherence

A cohesive document is consistent in all aspects throughout. This includes not only formatting, but also grammatical features like tense, voice, and tone, and stylistic characteristics where sentences, clauses, and ideas flow from one to the next. Although many published manuscripts have sections that are written by different people, articles typically (or should) sound as if they were written by one person. Consistency throughout the document makes it easier to read and understand. Beyond consistency of an entire document, cohesive writing flows from sentence to sentence in a logical progression that aids the reader in comprehension. Each sentence or clause should follow logically from the one that came before, and set up the reader for the next to come.

Cohesion and coherence are some of the most difficult writing concepts to master. For more detailed description and discussion of cohesion and coherence, see this excellent post.