I apologize if this is in the wrong forum, I didn't see one specific to rhyming/poetry. I'm working on a children's PB and yes, it rhymes. It just needs to. So my question is, how important is it that each line have the same number of syllables? Is the flow of the rhyme more important than syllable count, or would an agent/publisher be very strict about that? For example, the syllable count for the first four lines of my story is 9, 11, 11, 11. Following lines go up to a max of 12 syllables, but to me it still flows. Any help/resources are appreciated. Thanks!
That's not how English-meter works. It goes beyond just syllable per line, it involves word stress as well. Here is a section from one of Dr. Suess's Oh, the places you'll go. Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. This is written in Anapest meter (with the occasional Iamb). The highlighted sections are the Stress syllables in the feet. The Poem has a da-da-DUM beat to it. I'll be honest, It will take a good year for you learn how to write in Meter. (It is a lot harder then it looks.) Here is my blog series on it: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-1-introduction.63871/ If you want books, here are my top four. 1. Mary Oliver's Rule for a Dance. (Best Introduction.) 2. Michael Baer's Metrical writing (Another good book for beginners.) 3. Timothy Steel's All's the fun in how you say a thing. (This book is pretty much the standard OP for how English-Meter works in today's world.) 4. Poetic Meter and Poetic Form by Paul Fussell. (This work will introduce the idea of Metrical Rhetoric.) I know you wanted a simple answer, but Meter is one of the most Academic aspects of writing (On the same level as formal grammar.) It will take time to learn. The people that publish things like this have a strong understanding of Meter and how it works. Michael Baer is not only a college professor, but runs a literary magazine for Metrical writing, and is an Editor for Metrical writing. And if a small press has someone that knows meter, I know that a large publishing house that deals with things like this would have someone on staff that understands meter.
