Rhythm, Cadence, and Beats in Writing

Rhythm, cadence and beats are a powerful series of three (see previous day’s post) to keep in mind when you write your novel, short story, essay, and of course, poetry.

Remember “Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my!”  Dorothy, the Scare Crow, and the Tin Man sing this line along the Yellow Brick Road. (Notice there are three friends.) The order of the three animals has rhythm, cadence, and beats. If the order is switched around, it doesn’t sound as good, i.e., Bears, lions, and tigers. Oh my!

Poets are aware of the importance of rhythm, cadence, and beats. Fiction and non-fiction writers can develop an awareness of matching the rhythm of sentences to the beat of the action. Develop a cadence ear by reading work aloud to see where a revision of a sentence can make a difference in the flow and the sound. It might be only the order of the words that need attention.

Meghan O’Rourke calls it the “musicality of prose”. She suggests listening for the “duh-duh-dum rhythm and uses a line from Marilynne Robinson’s book, HOUSEKEEPING as an example: “To crave and to have are as like as a thing and it’s shadow.”

Do you hear it?

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Power of Three in Writing

“Writers Talk” is the monthly newsletter of the South Bay Branch of The California Writers Club. In the June issue, Marjorie Bicknell Johnson, the editor, wrote an article titled “Power of Three”. She explains that “Information presented in groups of three sticks in our heads better than other clusters of items”.  The use of a series of three words, phrases, or ideas has been used in many myths and stories, for example, the “Three Little Pigs”and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. Notice how many sayings are in threes: “I came, I saw, I conquered”, “Friends, Romans, Countrymen”, “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, “Stop, look, and listen”, Location, location, location to name a few. 

Two rhetorical devices used effectively in writing are anaphora and epistrophe. Anaphora is repeating a word or phrase at the beginning of three successive phrases or sentences. “He knew he had to drive her home. He knew he had to say good-bye. He knew he had to let her go”.

Epistrophe is the counterpart of anaphora in that it’s the repetition of three last words or phrases in a row. “The barking dogs drive me crazy. The cars racing down the street drive me crazy. The voices in my head drive me crazy”.

A writer who adds anaphora or epistrophe creates an engaging story, a variety in sentence structure, and often, an emotional response from the reader. Experiment with them and see if you agree with the power of three. 

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Title Contest for Group Poem

The end of June I’ll submit everyone’s titles to a committee for a vote. There’s a few weeks left to enter. The contest is open to everyone, poet or not, writer or not, tweeter or not.  Click on Contests to read the poem and reply.

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Favorite Hero or Heroine

Who is your favorite literary hero or heroine?  Why?

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Carl Jung Quote

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances if there is any reaction, both are transformed.

Carl Jung

Jung’s quote is a nice visual for character writing.

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