I am completely and utterly tone deaf (managed to convince several musicians who started out saying it didn't exist lol) I would love to learn how to work these in poems as I think it will enrich the way I write my prose. I know for most of you it is probably instinct but would love to hear how you go about incorporating it into your work if you do lol ?
For rhythm you can count the syllables in each word for each line, then mark them out on a piece of paper and say it out loud. Put a line or an x or something on the syllables that you naturally stress. Then the next line. Then the next. This is just a basic exercise to help you learn rhythm.
Do you ever write poetry? If not, I'd suggest reading some poetry and learning about the different meters before you start writing...maybe learn how to scan it, unless you want to write free verse. Poetry has never really been my thing, but I learned quite a bit about analysing it while I was a teaching assistant in university because I had to. Being tone deaf might make it more difficult. I know my grandmother was always very tone deaf--she can't tell when a wrong note is played in a song and can't appreciate music at all.
That might be a simple idea thank you will give it ago - maybe even try a small poem. Might try tweaking Flower Dragons then I can keep the rhyme.
Creating Poetry by John Drury and The Poet's Handbook by Judson Jerome are both good resources to help you learn about the different poetry forms. Here is a good online explanation of Poetic Rhythm. Hope this helps.
If you're going to try to pick it up, I'd suggest finding some poetry that uses very strange rhythm. Most poems use iambic, which is sort of the natural cadence of the English language. I use 'cadence' quite incorrectly, but it's the best word for it. Consider trochaic tetrameter, which Shakespeare often uses in important scenes to draw attention to the words. As an example, Also, pick an Emily Dickinson poem. Listen to the Gilligan's Island theme. Enjoy.
Thanks - I sort of know the history and when it makes me feel something. I read a lot of poetry but the whole rhythm thing escapes me - I thought it would be beyond me but couple of people are pointing it out in some of my prose - particularly when I write about bird fights or flying. Wondering if I can manage it now. I can appreciate music - I love musicals and other different forms of music have it on all the time. I can even read music well and know the order of keys on the piano but the things I can do are based on academic knowledge not feel - like I can play a bugle a little and a French Horn. I am hoping to maybe do something similar here so I can build it into certain scenes.
Poetic rhythm is the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables. You might analyze your prose for stressed/unstressed syllables within passages you want to seem more poetic. Also, watch the amount of rhyming you inject into your prose. Too much rhyme tends to seem sing-song and childish, unless that's the effect you want to achieve.
get a fairly consistent syllable structure down, after that look at what syllables you are stressing and where, finally masculine and feminine endings of words will tie it together a little more. there are more factors but i would say these are the main ones.
