Have you ever heard someone sing or play a song using the wrong timing or using some wrong notes? You recognize the song, even through the flaw, but the faulty rhythm is disturbing, and listening becomes an irritation rather than a joy. When the flow is off, the beauty of the music is lost. It\u2019s the same with writing a novel. Sentence structure and verbiage are important pieces in bringing the reading experience to its full potential. The plot can be rock-solid, the characterization impeccable, the hero and heroine the type of people you root for and want to get to know, but if the cadence of the story doesn\u2019t flow properly, it creates a niggling in the back of the mind that constantly pulls the reader out of the story.<\/p>\n
So, what can be done to fix it? I\u2019m sure many of you have heard the advice, \u201cmake sure you don\u2019t have too many short sentences in a row.\u201d (Or long ones.) And, you\u2019ve probably been told, \u201cIf you want to pick up the pace, use short sentences.\u201d This is all true, and it\u2019s all part of the cadence, but there\u2019s more to look at than just sentence length and\/or how often long\/short sentence appear in a row.<\/p>\n
Paragraph length, even the number of syllables in a sentence\u2014or how those syllables are arranged\u2014vocabulary, and word choice, impact how a story is read. Yes, if you want a fast pace, shorter sentences create a sense of urgency and speed, but don\u2019t forget to look at the actual words in those sentences. How are they arranged? Do they roll off the tongue (or mind) easily? Just as rhythm and meter affect music and poetry, so they do prose.<\/p>\n
When editing for cadence, check the flow of the syllables, sentences and paragraphs. If your sentence reads with a flow of \u201cda\u2014ta\u2014da\u2014dada\u2014ta\u2014da\u2014?\u201c what is the next logical and rhythmic step? I\u2019ll bet the majority of you did not say, \u201cdada.\u201d<\/p>\n
When your structure is out of the natural timing that the reader\u2019s ear expects, he\/she will be thrown out of the story.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoses are red, violets are blue. I love to write, and I know you do, also.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Admit it, you thought, \u201ctoo.\u201d The words \u201calso\u201d and \u201ctoo\u201d mean the same thing. The sentence conveys exactly what it would if I had written, \u201cRoses are red, violets are blue. I love to write, and I know you do, too.\u201d But the mind doesn\u2019t like \u201calso\u201d as much as \u201ctoo\u201d in this instance because it\u2019s waiting for the rhyme. We\u2019ve heard the \u201croses are red\u2026\u201d thing so often, we balk at something that sounds different. Now, don\u2019t misunderstand me; I\u2019m not saying your sentences should rhyme, but read your work and get a feel for how it flows. At any given place, is there an instance where you think the sentence should end, but it goes on for one or two words more? Or vice-versa. Perhaps you have a sentence that ends.<\/p>\n
\u2026when it really should go on.<\/p>\n
So, if you end that rhythmic phrase with a \u201cdada\u201d when it should be a \u201cda,\u201d reword or rearrange the sentences. If you really want to end with that \u201cdada\u201d because it creates a great hook, then change the cadence of your paragraph, so that by the time the reader gets to that final \u201cdada,\u201d they are ready for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Have you ever heard someone sing or play a song using the wrong timing or using some wrong notes? You recognize the song, even through the flaw, but the faulty rhythm is disturbing, and listening becomes an irritation rather than a joy. When the flow is off, the beauty of the music is lost. It\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[504],"tags":[195,8],"class_list":["post-655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editing-writing-advice","tag-white-rose-publishing","tag-writing-how-to"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}