The Music of Writing

I had an epiphany today. It was an epiphany that could help me--and you--to write with magnetic, musical style.

I was meeting with Rachel, one of the teens I coach in our Young Authors' Fiction Writing group. Rachel is writing a fabulous fantasy story that, when published, will be sure to have a dedicated throng of followers. While critiquing the chapter in front of us, I noticed a sharp shift in the voice of that particular section.

"This part sounds a bit different, doesn't it?" I said.

"Oh yeah," said Rachel. "I wrote that part of the chapter some time ago."

I nodded my head. "When you wrote it, you must have been in a different mood. The tone is different. The sentence lengths are different. And even the rhythm and placement of the words are different."

Rachel agreed.

"But mostly," I said, "the style--which is made up of all those things--feels stuck. Let's read this sentence out loud...."

And we did. We spent a few minutes reading the sentences one by one. Then we chose new words, arranged new orders of words, and crafted new sentences.

Now, I must tell you, Rachel is not only a talented young writer, but she's also an accomplished musician: a harp player. Music is something that we have in common; my first career was in music, and I spent many hours in the studio and on stages. So as we put new words into the sentences and read along together, we found ourselves "moving to the music" of the sentences. It was something else. We both felt it: The emphasis--the accents in the syllables--and the pitch, rising and falling, made music. And being musicians, the non-musical parts jumped off the page and screeched at us as clearly notes played out of tune.

If the "musical line" felt awkward, we changed a word--or changed the arrangement of the words in the sentence. The result: a style and tone that flowed.

"Listen to the sound of these words together," I said. "The music of the line is particularly satisfying." It was as if we'd heard a fine musical line.

The epiphany rang loud and true: There's music in our writing.

Have you ever thought about the "music" of your writing? Read your work out loud, and you'll see what I mean.

** Listen to the percussiveness of the p's, t's, k's, and b's. Their sounds, coupled with the syllables, can drive a phrase forward. Use the "music" of percussive words and syllables to build tension into your writing.

** Listen to the soft, smooth line of the l's, m's, and n's. Listen to the vowels /o/ (as in hot) and /e/ (as in red). The sounds, coupled with equal-time syllables, rock us like gentle waves against a rowboat on a hot summer's afternoon. Use the "music" of smooth consonants and vowels, along with steady syllables, with description to set a tone. Make your reader feel the calm before the storm...because every good story has the storm a' commin'.

** Listen to the length of the sentences. Abrupt sentences (and fragments) jolt the reader. Use short sentences, coupled with percussive words, to show anger, fast action, and anxiety.

** Finally, read your sentences out loud--and make the lines drip with drama. Listen to the flow of the sentences. If your tongue stumbles or your breath runs out, then there might be something wrong with "the music" of it all. Re-write with a rise and fall that runs smoothly and pulls your reader in.

What? You say that you're not a musician? You don't have to be a musician to hear the music in your writing--and purposefully create a voice and style that captures your reader's soul. You can be a listener to music...then try to hear the musical line in your writing. And you can read other great writers' works...and hear the musical line in their writing. Both are ways to "tune your ear" to excellence in music--and writing.

Yours 'till next time,
Erin

P.S. The music of writing isn't just for fiction works. Music flows through all writing: non-fiction, articles, commentary, copy writing, and more. Listen for it. It's worth our while to listen well.