From Peter Bloch-Hansen
Writing is a form of speaking. We first learn language by hearing and repeating it aloud. Language comes to us mostly as meaning-filled sounds, long before we ever learned to write down or read the symbols of those sounds in what we call words.
So, when we write something, be it an essay, an outraged letter to a politician or a love letter, a journal entry, a memoir, a legal brief, a testimonial, scientific paper, news item, stage or screen play, a story, song or a poem, we’re actually writing down sounds. Some are simple, others more complicated. When we put these sounds together, whether in speaking and writing, they produce rhythms. Speech writers and poets use this fact: “ask not what your country can do for you” – a stately rhythm intended to stir patriotism – or again, “Whose woods these are, I think I know” – a not dissimilar but more musical rhythm – to deepen the reader’s pleasure by evoking the sounds of the horse’s gait. So effective writing, whatever its form or purpose, uses the pleasure of rhythm to enliven its message.
Our lives are filled with rhythms – our own heartbeats, the purr of an auto engine, busy traffic noises – on and on. Listen to the sound of conversation in a coffee shop (don’t eavesdrop); you’ll hear the natural rhythms of human speech. Listen to a crowd – the voice of many waters, ebbing and flowing.
Why is this important? Because when we speak, we make sounds using muscles in our bodies; because when we hear words, they cause parts of our bodies to vibrate – we can feel as well as hear them; because as writers, we want our readers to feel our words in their flesh. And they will (though probably not consciously) – if we’re diligent with the delicate rhythms of words.
Try this: if you’re not enjoying a novel, read a passage aloud; you’ll easily feel what wrong with the prose.
As practice, when you write something, hear it – read it aloud or better, have it read to you; listen to it. It doesn’t necessarily have to sound conversational, but because language is rhythmic, the farther our writing is from the feeling of natural speech – even in formal writing — the less pleasurable it is; the harder it is to read. Think legal document – a deed, will, court ruling or piece of legislation. It takes highly specialized training and practice to be comfortable writing or reading it. So, because we want our readers to enjoy reading our work, listen to what you write; you’ll hear if it’s right.
Peter is a poet, novelist, short story writer, essayist and editor who serves on the Executive Committee of Elgin Writers Guild.