Lyrical writing is not all about sound it might also come about from the visual imagery that it conjures up for your readers.įor example, if you were to describe a street where all the houses are dilapidated and gloomy, how would you go about it?Ĭheck out how Frances Hodgson Burnett would do it, from her classic book The Lost Prince: Use your words to conjure up visual images. Sure, the content itself may be thought-provoking, but more than that, what makes it sound so musical? Perhaps the alliteration and rhyme of the words “retreating” and “advancing,” and the half rhyme of the words “rapture” and “splendour.”? Notice also the varying lengths of the phrases and sentences. She was a high priestess of loveliness assisting at the divine rites of her worship-and she knew her goddess smiled. Her soul was washed pure in that great bath of splendour. Then came the northern lights-drifts of pale fire over the sky-spears of light, as of empyrean armies-pale, elusive hosts retreating and advancing. The idea seized on her imagination and she spun a dream-life, lived in some happy planet circling round that mighty, far-off sun. Emily gazed on it and recalled Teddy’s old fancy of his previous existence in a star. Montgomery, the author writes this dreamy passage:Ī great, pulsating star hung low in the sky over Indian Head. Copy down lyrical lines from the prose and poetry you read.Īnother way of learning to write more lyrically is to pay attention to how other writers do it by copying lines that you especially like.įor example, in Emily Climbs by L.M. His wife, Electra, was a capable helpmeet, although-like himself-a d reamer of d reams and a private d abbler in romance. Alliteration: This literary device refers to repeating the first sound in a word.Ĭheck out this example of alliteration from Mark Twain’s short story, “ 30,000 Dollar Bequest”:.Consonance: This refers to the repetition and patterns of consonant sounds.Assonance: Using this technique, you repeat vowel sounds.You can also use these in your prose to make them sound more musical. Poetry often uses literary devices that affect how we read words aloud. Maximize the sound of vowels and consonants. Try reading it aloud and hear the tone created by the stressed-unstressed repeated pattern throughout this paragraph. “ Hast been taught to ride a horse by the priests up yon der on Mi chaelsburg?” asked the Ba ron, when they had reached the le vel road. Let’s mark the stressed syllables by turning them bold, as follows: “Hast been taught to ride a horse by the priests up yonder on Michaelsburg?” asked the Baron, when they had reached the level road. Take this passage from Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle as an example: If you want your writing to have a lyrical rhythm, try diagramming the stressed and unstressed syllables in your sentences. This adds to the overall musicality of your prose. Sentence length: Pay attention to how long your sentences are, as well as how long they are in relation to one another.Cadence: This refers to the rising and falling sounds in speech patterns.Rhythm: Syllables and stresses can form a pattern this pattern is called rhythm.Pay attention to some of the elements that are common in poetry: While writing is essentially about choosing words to use, for lyrical writing, you also need to think about how each sentence sounds. Here are some tips to write lyrically: 1. In a way, it’s prose that sounds more like a poem. Have you ever read a book where a passage just stood out to you and made you swoon-not because of the scene it portrays, but because of the beautiful sound of the lines and the words? If so, you probably experienced the wonders of lyrical writing.Įxpert writers use lyrical writing to create a piece that feels more deeply evocative than usual, thanks to its song-like, poetic property.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |