Rhythm is one of the most underrated aspects of writing, but readers sense the rhythm in our words, whether they realize it or not. Rhythm attracts readers to certain authors.
Life Itself Has a Rhythm
Whether it’s our heartbeat or the motion of the sun, moon, and planets, we’re embedded within a rhythmic world. Hence why rhythm has such enormous power. It’s built into who we are.
Have you ever lounged on a blanket outside at night, stargazing? Nature is never silent. Even a quiet evening has a melodic undercurrent — a pulse, if you will.
The same holds true in writing.
Rhythm Defines a Mood
Rhythm forces the reader to either rush through the pages, flipping one after another, or nestle in the comfy chair to quietly enjoy the story. Words dance. The writer who pays attention to story rhythm creates sentences that waltz, jerk, tango, stutter, tap dance, float, and sing.
Good writing ebbs and flows by varying sentences, paragraphs, and chapter length and structure.
Notice the atmosphere Hemingway creates in Farewell to Arms.
In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. Troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees. The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves, stirred by the breeze, falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves.
Rhythm Defines Pace
In music, tone length and dramatic pauses define rhythm. When long notes blend without pauses, the music flows like a swan across still water. On the flipside, short notes with clear pauses draw your attention. The music amps you up.
The same principles apply to writing. Rhythmic writing is defined by punctuation and the stress patterns of words. As a general rule, long sentences are more relaxing, while staccato sentences startle the reader. They draw attention. They force the reader to pay attention.
Run. Now.
Tension builds and releases. When a movie reaches its climax, the rhythm increases in pace only to subside as the story resolves. Within the larger rhythmic structure of a story, micro-structures also generate rhythm. Scenes change and plots twist. An interruption in the rhythmic flow transports the reader in a new direction. It knocks them off balance — a gentle slap to ensure they’ll keep flipping pages.
Sentence Structure
If each sentence follows the same structure and rhythm, the writing becomes boring and predictable. Writers who play with rhythm can create tension in many ways, depending on punctuation and word choice.
In the following example, notice how the intentional repetition of hard -ed verbs create tension in The Killing Song by PJ Parrish
He watched her for the next hour. Watched her playing with the plastic snow globe she had picked up in the souvenir shop. Watched her finish her peach tart, tuck her Fodor’s in her purse and wind the red scarf around her slender white neck.
In the next sentence, the authors slow the pace by varying the sentence structure, adding gerunds, and visceral detail, yet maintain the creepy atmosphere.
In the crowded elevator traveling down from the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, he stood behind her, closing his eyes as he breathed in the grassy scent of her hair.
In White Fang by Jack London, note where he forces the reader to pause.
A vast silence reigned over the land. The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness.
London also uses repetition but not with a hard -ed verb.
There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible than any sadness — a laughter that was mirthless as the smile of the Sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and partaking of the grimness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild.
Does Point-of-View Matter?
Not at all. Using rhythm as a literary device isn’t limited to 1st or 3rd POV, or even past or present tense. Check out the melodic rhythm in Try Darkness by James Scott Bell. The novel is written in 1st POV, but the following excerpt is in 2nd POV to show the protagonist talking to himself.
And then you wonder what makes you go on, what makes you care, because it’s in there somewhere, the caring, even if you don’t know why, even if you don’t know any reason for it. It’s just there and that’s why you don’t sleep.
You look out at the dark, you walk around in it, you think maybe there’ll be a big insight, a sudden realization. And then everything will add up. That’s the hope part, the part the absurdists call a fool’s game.
Are you just a fool like everybody else?
You think of the girl and you think of her being scared and you can’t stand it, and caring becomes torture.
If God was in the room right now you’d scream at him.
That’s what you think about when you can’t sleep.
Next time you read a novel, pay attention to its story rhythm. Where does the author let you pause? How does the author vary long and short sentences? How does the writing ebb and flow? Do you notice a similar rhythm in the writing of your favorite authors?
Do you pay attention to rhythm in your writing?
Sue Coletta is an award-winning crime writer and active member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. Feedspot and Expertido.org named her Murder Blog “Best 100 Crime Blogs on the Net.” She also blogs at the Kill Zone (Writer’s Digest “101 Best Websites for Writers”). Her backlist includes psychological thrillers, the Mayhem Series (books 1-3), Grafton County Series, and true crime/narrative nonfiction. Now, she exclusively writes eco-thrillers, Mayhem Series (books 4-7 and continuing). Sue’s appeared on the Emmy award-winning true crime series, Storm of Suspicion, and three episodes of A Time to Kill on Investigation Discovery. Find out more about our RWC team here and connect with Sue below or at www.suecoletta.com.
V.M. Sang says
This is probably what distinguishes great writing from the average.
Sue Coletta says
Thanks, VM. Agreed. 😁
Gifford MacShane says
Hi, Sue,
Thanks for a lovely article. I do a specific edit on my drafts for the rhythm of the words. And it helps so much, as Becca says, to read them out loud.
And do you ever wonder how folks read these passages you quoted and then decided on the “no adverbs/no adjectives” rules?
Sue Coletta says
Great question, Gifford. IMO, blanket statements like that aren’t helpful. I never subscribed to the “kill all adverbs and adjectives” from your writing advice. They’re useful words, except after a dialogue tag or when they water down the writing. The problem is new writers tend to overuse them, and that can be problematic. 🙂
Kay DiBianca says
Sue, Thank you for this wonderful and important post! Really great advice.
I do a lot of revising after I’ve written a first draft, and I’m aware of the cadence of the words when I go back and look at things again. Some of my revisions are just to get the rhythm right.
Sue Coletta says
Kay, so nice to “see” you here! Concentrating on rhythm in subsequent drafts sounds like a solid revision process. Striking the correct rhythm at the right time can make all the difference.
Paula Cappa says
Sue, great post today. So helpful. Thank you. Your examples really strike home.
Sue Coletta says
Thank you, Paula. I’m so glad it resonated with you.
ANGELA ACKERMAN says
This is a topic so rarely talked about – thank you for this, Sue!
Sue Coletta says
It’s odd, right? For such an important topic, I’m surprised there isn’t more written about story rhythm. Thanks, Angela!
Darlene Foster says
The best writing advice I’ve read in a long time. The examples are perfect too. Thanks.
Sue Coletta says
Wow. Thank you, Darlene! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Jan Sikes says
This is such a great post! Thank you, Sue, for sharing!
Sue Coletta says
Thank you, Jan! Nice to “see” you here. 🙂
Mindy Alyse Weiss says
Thanks for this awesome post, Sue! Having the right rhythm makes stories so much stronger.
When I first started writing, my major ‘aha’ moment for rhythm came from reading SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson. The heartbeat throughout was so incredibly strong. I started playing around with my rhythm a lot more after that.
Sue Coletta says
Thanks, Mindy! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
I started the same way. Katia Lief’s rhythm entranced me, and I bought every book she wrote, dissecting her words, her rhythm, how she forced me to feel. Still love her writing.
BECCA PUGLISI says
Rhythm is so important, but it’s one of those background things that you don’t often notice unless something’s wrong—and then, you often can’t put your finger on what’s wrong. So I agree it’s super important to become more aware of this in our own writing. It’s one reason I keep banging the Read Your Work Aloud drum, because that’s a great way to start hearing where the rhythm is off.
Sue Coletta says
Reading our work aloud is the perfect way to check if the rhythm is off, Becca. Or use a text-to-speech app. Or both. 🙂
Andie Patrick says
I must agree with you. Awareness of the rhythm of your words as you write is essential.
I’ve loved music and poetry all my life; and I believe both have an influence on writing. The link between music and poetry is very strong. My best verses were written to the beat of a specific tune. The cadence of both verse and music subconsciously influences how I write – a even what I write.
When I wrote a story to the prompt “winter”, I consciously used music for my muse. I listened to “Winter” from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” as I wrote. It gave me the setting and story line: a train, charging clickety-clack along the track across Siberia; the engine snorting and huffing in the snow and the freezing cold, as it bore the last Tsar and his family to their final destination.
Sue Coletta says
Love that image you created, Andie! I build a playlist for each book. The minute I slide on the headphones I’m transported back into my story world. Works great.
Paula Cappa says
Andie, I too use music to get the flow of my writing going. Love how Vivaldi’s Winter served your creativity! When I wrote my novel Greylock about a music composer, I listened to many symphonies while writing the story, even to the point of playing an imaginary keyboard.