Stop Counting Syllables!
Let me say that again. STOP COUNTING SYLLABLES!!!
When you write a rhyming picture book, rhyme is only part of the challenge! First and foremost is story. Make sure your story is strong! And, yes, it should have decent rhyme. BUT! Rhythm and meter is a big part of making a good rhyming picture book.
Many beginning rhymers start by counting syllables because it's relatively easy to do.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Shakespeare's famous sonnet has 10 syllables per line. But the reason it feels good when you read it is because of where the stressed syllables fall with weak syllables interspersed. It is in iambic pentameter, which means it has 5 "feet" of iambs (weak-strong pairs of syllables).
Here are a few lines of my own that also have 10 syllables per line:
Shall I envy thee on a spring evening?
Thou art lovelier than all the flowers.
10 syllables per line! (I even stuck to the theme.) But why doesn't it feel right? Let's do what's called "scansion" or analyzing the weak syllables (marked with a - symbol) and strong syllables (marked with a / symbol).
My lines have a random scattering of stressed syllables amongst the weak syllables. The Shakespeare lines have a pattern:
When you write a rhyming picture book, rhyme is only part of the challenge! First and foremost is story. Make sure your story is strong! And, yes, it should have decent rhyme. BUT! Rhythm and meter is a big part of making a good rhyming picture book.
Many beginning rhymers start by counting syllables because it's relatively easy to do.Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Shakespeare's famous sonnet has 10 syllables per line. But the reason it feels good when you read it is because of where the stressed syllables fall with weak syllables interspersed. It is in iambic pentameter, which means it has 5 "feet" of iambs (weak-strong pairs of syllables).
Here are a few lines of my own that also have 10 syllables per line:
Shall I envy thee on a spring evening?
Thou art lovelier than all the flowers.
10 syllables per line! (I even stuck to the theme.) But why doesn't it feel right? Let's do what's called "scansion" or analyzing the weak syllables (marked with a - symbol) and strong syllables (marked with a / symbol).
My lines have a random scattering of stressed syllables amongst the weak syllables. The Shakespeare lines have a pattern:
So the lesson is: STOP COUNTING SYLLABLES! There is much more to it, but this will give you a start.
Have you been guilty of counting syllables? Share your worst lines!
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