When I was in my twenties, I traveled to Europe, ending an unforgettable 3-month
vacation with seven days in Ireland. I returned home changed by my travel experience, with a heavy Irish accent.

As a writer, I now appreciate the importance of having an ear for rhythm, for it is often rhythm that distinguishes good writing from bad; what we mean by “writer’s voice”; the bounce, the cadence, the lilt that makes writing easy to read.

Having spent close to two decades working with writers, I can state for a fact that most of us are drawn to more than just one of the creative arts. So I can say to the artist as writer “you need to vary your brushstrokes”; a musician/writer (like myself) will understand “listen to the music”.

Beethoven was deaf to the world, and yet he could compose magnificent symphonies in his head. Great writers do this too. If you have ever studied music, you know about the value of notes – half notes, full notes, quarters – and that rests have values too. You understand the meaning of “largo”, “legato”, “staccato”, and how those words denote the manner, the style and emotion with which each passage must be played.

Transcribe this theory into writing and we are discussing not just dialogue, but the ebb and flow of everyday words and sentences – using long flowing sentences for long flowing thoughts; sharp bursts for abruptness. Alternating them, perhaps throwing in rests, to create sentence variety.

Poets are trained to “follow the sounds” and mirror them in their words. Didn’t Beethoven use this technique? Poets must learn about meter (iambic pentameter, etc.) and not just rhyme, so rhythm can flow through their writing as surely as musicians must stick to the beat.

But whether you’re into rhyming poetry or not, rhythm must run through everything you write, or else it just won’t be readable. And that’s fact, whether you be poet, musician, short story writer or journalist. And it’s not enough to just hear it in your head, write it down, and then hope that it sounds okay. As surely as Beethoven needed an orchestra, writing must be read out loud. Do you trip and stumble over your words if you read out loud to the room?  Listen to the music, sing out, and hear your voice ring.