Questions tagged [rhythm]
This tag should be used for questions that deal with the rhythm in their own poetry, such as questions asking for techniques to come up with rhymes or changing the sentence structure to fit a certain metre.
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Resources on All Kinds of Poetry/Verse
For a previous question, in which I inquired about writing prose with rhythm, I received an answer saying this: that learning to write poetry should help, from strict-verse poetry to abstract free-...
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Confusion about whether some single syllable words are stressed or unstressed
From what I learned through reading, all auxiliaries are unstressed. What about certain conjunctions? It sounds like "as" is unstressed, but are "since" and "when" ...
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Where do prose rhythms come from?
Do you think that the rhythms of poetic prose compositions are produced by their author with a sense of rhythm in mind, or by tinkering with their wording until they arrive at a rhythm they like?
I am ...
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Term to describe where the first word of a sentence rhymes with the last word of the same sentence?
Is there an official term to describe a rhyming technique where the first word of a sentence rhymes with the last word of the same sentence?
For example, lines such as
Brian almost got eaten by a ...
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For succinct, flowing prose: Which style guide is best?
The elements of style provide rules for writing succinct prose, saying that rhythm is important "all things being equal". I want to write succinct, flowing prose. So, how do I achieve these ...
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Sophisticated Prose: Good or Bad? [closed]
Prose that was written in earlier times has more complex sentences than prose that is written today, sentences whose meaning is not so easy for modern readers to grasp, because their complexity ...
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Flow of Today's Recommended Style
I know I've already posted many questions about the rhythm and flow of prose, but now I am asking a sort of specific question about the principles of style in relation to such things.
All the style ...
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Modes of Prose Rhythm
Any good prose is bound to be pervaded by rhythm. But in my opinion, there are different modes of rhythm. There is, to coin a term, quasi-metrical rhythm, a kind of rhythm where similar groups of feet ...
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Skill with Cadence/Rhythm
I think that in order to give the reader a pleasurable experience, prose needs to be harmonious at minimum, and rhythmic at best. The best expository prose flows smoothly; and in my opinion, the best ...
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What is rhythm, exactly?
I read two books that talk about rhythm, having different views, one saying that rhythm is created by phrase length (verb phrase, prepositional phrase, etc), the other saying that rhythm is created by ...
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How do I control my writing style?
In one of the answers to a question of mine here, someone said that cadence does not depend on the sprung rhythm of a text, but on making emphasis fall on the right words. Well, I would like to ask ...
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How does one strengthen their sense of rhythm?
Many pieces of writing are succinct, but they are not rhythmical, giving no pleasure to the ear of the reader. The reason for that is likely this: The writers themselves either are unmindful of rhythm ...
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Rhyming a children’s story
Would it be too monotonous to rhyme a children’s book using the same technique for the whole book or is it essential that I change the style?
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Iambs or Trochees in songwriting
According to this website, English speakers prefer to hear iambs rather than trochees. We naturally bias our readings toward iambs.
However, in my reading about lyric writing/prosody, it seems that ...
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A thesaurus that detects rhyming
I have been looking for a word that rhymes with post with similar meaning to a school.
But I go to thesaurus.com, sounding the words on my head for results under "school" and none rhyme. I then tried ...
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Revision secrets for keeping the meter and improving the beat
I sometimes write poetry. The creative process for the first draft can be summarized in these steps:
I first choose a global structure (e.g. a ballad, a sonnet, a free-stanza-but-fixed-verse, etc...);...
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Are there specific rules about caesura that restrict us where we can place them?
A caesura is a slight pause that's important in poetry, because for example alexandrines require a caesura in the middle.
But the question is where can we put them. I know that we tend to put them ...
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Using rhythm to evoke emotion
When writing there is one area I am not great at leveraging. That's rhythm or meter. I don't hear meter naturally like some people do so I have to really break down the meter in order to work on it. ...
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How is "his eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad" readable as anapestic meter? [closed]
I'm reading some explanations of the various types of poetic meter. Several of them cite a poem from the Harry Potter books as an example of anapestic meter:
His eyes are as green as a fresh ...
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What are some techniques used to increase the melodicality of a lyric?
Is there any trick, rule, principle for increasing the melodicality of a lyric?
I want to write a lyric, but I don't really have a melody in mind and wish to just write a lyric that can fit a lot of ...
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What are some of the tricks used to end a verse with a specific word?
I guess the answer depends on whether the word is an adverb, noun, adjective, or verb. When I write a poem, I often find myself with limited choices when I want to make the verse rhyme, so this would ...
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Is using too many different metres and rhyming schemes bad?
I have been working on a poem for some time now. It is divided into various "Parts" and it will be a long one when completed.
Due to the very nature of what I am writing, I just let my thoughts and ...
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Sentence rhythm
Writers are advised to read their work aloud to spot issues they wouldn't otherwise, and maybe work out what it'll take to fix them. Things you might otherwise miss include poor explanations, errors ...
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Mixing prose with character dialogue rhymes - childrens book
I've written my first children's picture book manuscript and it uses a mix of prose for the narration and rhyme for the character's dialogue. It feels to me like it gives more colour and life to the ...
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Who has laid down the English poetry rules?
I am doing a research, I want to know who has invented the English poetry rules like meters (Iambic, Torchee, ...) and feets; who has discovered that some feet are (Stressed, Unstressed) and others ...
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How to know if the story is going too fast?
I have a question, part subjective, part common sense I think...
The conjunction of experience of some writers can be helpful for me.
How you know if the story is balanced?
...I mean,how you know it'...
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Is it acceptable to use synonyms to achieve rhythm?
There are some works that have a certain kind of voice, which is due to their rhythm. But is this due only to word order and like things, or do their authors actually choose synonyms to achieve rhythm?...
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Using two-syllable words
Is it ever okay to use two-syllable words as unstressed in a rhyme or poem?
e.g. In this sentence using "pigeon" as two unstressed syllables:
The śmall pigeon rán to the édge of the fórest
I ...
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What writing process should I use to produce the kind of writing I want?
I want to achieve the following:
To produce a work that is well-organized and full of substance.
To produce a work in which each thought flows smoothly to the next.
To produce a work that is ...
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When it comes to creating cadence, should I depend on my ear or are there principles I can follow?
I read an essay by John Mason about the principles of the harmony of prose numbers (or feet). I am wondering whether it is of any use, considering other books I have read say that treating prose ...
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How can I phrase common terms and proper nouns in a different or more poetic fashion?
I have a problem. I want to write in a certain kind of voice, which requires me to pay attention to prose numbers (or feet), but I cannot seem to phrase certain common terms and proper nouns so that ...
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How can we revise sentences so that they remain clear and concise but gain a rhythm of a specific kind?
I have written poems in iambic meter before, and they didn't seem to be wordy. And for a long time I have wanted to use metrical effects in my prose, which is called prose rhythm. But I am wondering ...
user10405
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Overabundance of punctuation, too many pauses, like this title
I have a writing style which relies heavily on pauses, specifically commas and periods. I like to put them everywhere but I am quit sure I overdo it significantly. I was wondering if there are known ...
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Improving the flow/rhythm of the following comparison
I smiled and gave her a nod. I was beginning to like her more, plus I
realized we had some things in common. Like our
attempts of suicide. The difference was striking, of course. Kate’s
problem ...
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Do the guidelines for clear style that we use today get in the way of rhythm?
It seems that when we choose the plainest and most pointed words to express a thought, our options for rhythms are so limited that they prevent us from using voices that sound majestic. If we look at ...
user10405
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What kind of rhythm should I use for these settings? [closed]
I am not particularly experienced with using rhythm in creative writing so please note that I am only a beginner. By "rhythm" I am referring to anything along the lines of syllable count, sentence ...
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Iambic pentameter: how do you use words with 'secondary stressed' syllables?
I'm trying to create textbook-perfect iambic pentameter.
I may be wrong in my assumption of there being such a thing as a 'secondary stressed syllable', but in the word 'poetry', the rhythm of it ...
user5000