HOW TO WRITE WITH RHYTHM: 5 PROVEN TIPS TO ENTHRALL YOUR READERS

Emmanuel

Why rhythm your prose?

Simply to avoid being boring and prevent your readers from leaving for other weblands.

Ever caught yourself drifting off into a mental grocery list while reading through a boring article? Been there, done that. Let’s face it, some writing pieces are as exciting as watching paint dry. If you’d rather not have your audience nodding off mid-scroll and drooling on their keyboards, it’s time to spice things up and start to write with rhythm.

Writing with rhythm is like choreographing a ‘Thriller’ dance for your words. It’s all about the flow—speeding up, slowing down, throwing in a surprise twist, your sentences swaying, dipping, and twirling, keeping your readers on the edge of their seats.
Rhythm and pace in your writing are like music, they make you move, they lead and waltz you away.

So, let’s dive into some nifty techniques to jazz up your prose and keep your readers grooving along.

This article describes how to write with rhythm:

Punctuation

Punctuation marks indicate different kinds of pauses that affect the flow of the writing. They influence the pacing and rhythm of your writing.

• Period (.): Create a definitive break that slows down the pace of the writing to get going again. Create a sense of authority. The pause is longer than the other punctuation marks. You can see this pause as an analogy to a train stop at a crossing level. It’s an irrevocable stop.
• Colon (:): It signals to the reader that something else is coming—more information or an explanation. The reader can anticipate the following of the sentence and shift the tone after a colon, which can be more serious or more formal. Indicate a brief halt, like a train that takes its foot off the gas before entering a village and then speeding up again to the explanation.
•  Semicolon (;): Indicates a stronger pause than a comma but less than a period. A semicolon links related ideas in the same sentence while creating a brief pause between them. Like the prolonged horn of the train as it crosses an open level crossing.
• Comma (,): Indicate brief pauses, softer and briefer than the period. Commas maintain a smoother and continuous flow by separating a series of items, like in a list. Like the repetitive ‘chug-chug’ of a steam train locomotive.
• Dash (-): Interrupts the flow of the text, but it also maintains a sense of continuity by connecting related ideas. Indicate a sudden interruption or change in thought. The dash is often used to clarify or add information within a sentence. It creates a more abrupt pause than commas and can add drama to the writing. Dashes can disrupt the flow of a sentence. Like a sudden train braking without stopping, when an animal passes on the railway tracks.
• Ellipses (…): Indicate an omission, hesitation, or pause in speech. Elipses extend the duration of the pause compared to other punctuation marks. It can create a sense of suspense by trailing off, slowing the pace, and leaving the reader anticipating what comes next. Like a problem with our train’s engine, which was choking.
• Exclamation Mark or exclamation point (!): Convey strong emotion or emphasis. It adds energy and intensity to the writing. It speeds up the pace. As if our train engine was exploding. Be careful; it’s an explosion, not fireworks. So, don’t overuse the exclamation point.

Syllable stress pattern within words and sentences

Some examples:

Children’s poetry, “Pig and Beanstalk,”:
“Down in a deep dark hole sat an old pig munching a beanstalk”

MacBeth, “Witches’ chant”:
“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”

KitKat:
“Have a break. Have a KitKat.”

Yoda’s wise advice to Luke Skywalker:
“You must unlearn what you have learned“
“Do or do not. There is no try.”

There’s nothing like a wise old man to show us the stress syllable path(listen to him here)

Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”:
“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,”
“Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—”
“While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,”
“As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.”

Listen to “The Raven” well read by Tim Gracyk on this video, for a concrete idea.

Mix of long and short sentences

Alternating between long and short sentences is essential to create a good rhythm and flow.
Varying the length of sentences permits slowing down or speeding up the reading.

You might like to know how important is the location of your subject and verb in your sentences, click this link.

Short sentence characteristics:

Long sentence characteristics:

• Slow down the pace
• Detail complex ideas or precise descriptions
• Communicate a lot of information
• Take the reader on a journey
• Create a sense of calm or contemplation
• Provide broader context or sensory imagery
• Express shades of meaning and subtle emotions
• Maintain a smooth flow
• Minimize disruptions in the reading flow

A few examples of different sentence lengths. Movie enthusiasts will recognize the script:

• “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.“— Three long sentences, which convey precise descriptions and communicate a lot of information.
  
• “Ultimately, we’re all dead men. Sadly, we cannot choose how, but we can decide how we meet that end, in order that we are remembered, as men.“—The first sentence is short, punchy, direct, and sets up the main idea. The second sentence is longer and more complex and addresses the concept of choice and remembrance.
  
• “I am dying, Maximus. When a man sees his end… he wants to know there was some purpose to his life. How will the world speak my name in years to come? Will I be known as the philosopher? The warrior? The tyrant…? Or will I be the emperor who gave Rome back her true self? There was once a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish… it was so fragile.”— This paragraph consists of several sentences that vary in length.
  The short ones are more straightforward. “I am dying, Maximus.”, “You could only whisper it.” : tells the truth, tells how things are, it’s clear and concise.
  The longer ones elaborate. Provide detailed reflections and introspection. Express subtle emotion. Create a sense of calm.
  
• “I wasn’t the best because I killed quickly. I was the best because the crowd loved me. Win the crowd, and you’ll win your freedom.”— Here are three short sentences that clearly explain what it takes to be the best; there is no ambiguity about the actions that must be taken.

Words and sound repetition

Repetition is the recurrence of words, phrases, and sounds within a piece of writing.
It can be made between syllables, entire words, or phrases.
There are no rules dictating where repeats can be done—between the beginning of sentences or between the ends of sentences. And between the end of a sentence and the beginning of the following. As well as within a sentence.
This recurrence of similar sounds in writing contributes to the creation of rhymes, and musicality.

Example with Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”:

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore— While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door— Only this and nothing more.””— In this excerpt, we can hear some repetition sounds in “dreary, weak, weary” or in “napping, tapping, rapping” or between “door” and “more”… We also notice a phrase repetition with “chamber door”.

Children’s poetry example:

“He tried to blame the dog, he tried to blame the cat.
He tried to blame the gerbil, he tried to blame the rat.
But everyone could see it was him and him alone.
He’s grounded until next Christmas, and our mom has changed the tone.”— In this paragraph, the repetition is on the phrase “He tried to blame” and with the word “him”. There is some sounds repetition between the words “cat” and “rat” or “alone” and “tone”.

Alliterations & Assonances

Alliteration characteristics:

Assonance characteristics:

• Assonance is the rhythm of the vowel sound of words in a sentence
• Vowels can assonance with other vowels according to phonetic similarity. More flexibility
• Create a musical effect
• Examples:
• “The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.”— the repetition of the “a” sound creates a musical effect
• “She sells seashells by the seashore.”— here the “e” sound creates a rhythm
• “The penguin waddled slowly across the rocky terrain.”— here the “o” sound creates assonance even if the phonetic is different in each word

Alliterations and assonances can contribute to the mood of a piece of writing depending on their tone.

For example:

In alliterations, the repetition of soft consonant sounds like “s” and “m” creates a gentle, soothing mood, while harsh sounds like “k” and “t” evoke tension or urgency.

In assonances, the repetition of soft vowel sounds like “ee” and “oo” creates a sense of calm or tranquility, while harsh sounds like “ai” or “ow” evoke tension or discomfort.

How to know if my writing is flowing well?

The best way to develop a sense of rhythm is by reading and analyzing other writings. Pay attention to the rhythm. Where the repetitions are; on syllables, on words, on phrases? Does the author alliterate his text? Does he vary between long and short sentences?
Do you notice any patterns in their writing, such as repeated sounds, syllables, sentence structures, or rhymes?

Try to find inspiration from authors you like. After studying the rhythm of a few writers, try to imitate them with your own text. Play with these different techniques, and try to make your words shimmy and shake with personality and flair

To get a better feel of the musicality of your text, read it aloud and pay attention to its flow, rhythm, and cadence.
Try reading from your reader’s point of view, imagine you are discovering your writing for the first time.
Ask yourself these questions: Is this text monotonous? Are the key points highlighted? How does the rhythm change or flow? Do the words sound and rhyme? Do I think of my grocery list when reading?

Finally, share your writing and ask for feedback. It’s still the better way to know the truth about your creation and get advice.

Happy rhythmic!