: Re: How do we properly manage transitions within a descriptive section? I wrote the following: She invited him to look out the window, which he did. He looked out of the gray window and

@Welton431

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I think it sounds awkward too. First, I would start a new paragraph.

Second; "He turned his head toward her" is awkward; "He looked at her" is less awkward.

"made him cry a bit" sounds strange to me. I think whatever emotion he is feeling needs to be named.

"as she stood beside him" detracts from the expression of emotion because it is a neutral description of her position, and that should not be at the END of the sentence, you want your sentences to end with what was most important in the sentence. In this case, I would move that earlier in the paragraph where you are handling neutral action.

She invited him to look out the window. He stepped to her side, to see what she was seeing.

Getting rid of that, we are left with

He looked at her. Her beautiful smile made him cry a bit.

Break it up, see what pieces we need to handle:

He looked at her. Her smile was beautiful. It made him cry a bit.

There is an opportunity to connect the outside beauty to the woman. We can add a transition from "looking out the window" to "looking at her". And we can make the emotion that makes him cry more explicit.

When he broke his gaze from the window to look at her, her smile was just as beautiful as the splendor outside. Tears of elation welled in his eyes.

So something like that. I say "broke his gaze" because it implies more than looking; he was entranced by what he saw and had to break away. "Looking" or "Looked" is too flat. We connect the beauty he saw outside to the beauty he sees inside. We make the emotion explicit (Elation, or pick your own). We end the sentence with what is most important, the emotion he is feeling so strongly it warrants tearing up.

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