Poetic Friday with a Twist

Instead of posting a poem, I decided to write a quick post on the importance of rhythm. Of course it's a critical component of poetry, but also in prose. Things have to flow, have to come together in a way that doesn't trip up the reader.

So what should you do to make sure your writing has rhythm? READ OUT LOUD. Okay, you can whisper too, just as long as you can hear yourself. Don't cheat and read it in your head, because trust me, it is not the same. You'll catch all sorts of things, and notice when the natural rhythm is thrown off. This is especially important in dialogue, so even if you don't want to commit to reading your entire MS aloud, you should definitely take the time to do it with your dialogue.

I wrote a lot of dialogue I'd considered well written, but when I spoke the words out loud, some of it was awkward and unnatural. So go shout, and let it all out. You'll be happy you did.

Okay that's it. Back to editing. Oh, and WriteOnCon is almost here! Woot!