My students often wonder why I forbid them to use the word “finally” in their writing. They think it’s a fine way to transition to the last supporting idea in an essay. (I don’t let them use the word “last” either.)

 The illustration below shows why finally (and its friend last) are poor choices for transition words. Imagine that you’ve been sitting through a long speech, class, or sermon. You hear the speaker begin a sentence with “finally.” What is your immediate reaction? Hooray! It’s almost over!

Professional writers never use finally to introduce a point, for a very good reason: Finally evokes that “It’s over!” reaction. You want your readers to focus on the point you’re making. The pros save their best example or supporting idea for the end, and they introduce it with a phrase like most important, best of all, worst of all…you get the idea.

Why not start writing like a professional now?