Writing Secrets #4 - Rhythm And Patterns

#4 Rhythm and Patterns

I played violin and piano as a little kid.  Learned the tenor sax in middle school, later added the viola for a string quarter, and when pregnant with Genoa bought a cello to play to my growing girl.

Music, rhythm, and pattern are my grid.  I come to writing from a different angle than most, grounded in mathematics and music. I want words to create ebb and flow as the reader moves through the scenes. 

Rhythm in writing helps share a heart rate, the deepening of breath, the sound and beat of arms swinging in a race.  As in music composition, crescendos and diminuendos, strong fortes and of course the dolces create a symphony of sensation and shared emotion.

This is what reading is all about – feeling and living the life of another without having to live it over, learning and growing from the lessons of others without experiencing the pain, love, and wholeness.  Great writers create rhythm. Readers feel and breathe to the beat and pulse of the narrator's voice. They hear the song the author sings.

Music and literature are two versions of the same story.