Happy Friday!
I hope you have time to stop by the Rhyming Party tonight at 8:00 CST in our Facebook group! We will be there having fun with trivia about this week’s blog posts
while typing ONLY in rhyme!
I had the good fortune of meeting today’s guest blogger at the LA SCBWI Conference last summer. It is such a thrill to meet our Facebook author friends because we have so much in common and it feels like we’ve known each other for years. He has been a busy guy because he has 3 picture books coming out this year!
Today he will share examples of 5 poetic techniques that will spice up your writing. And…he wrote these in rhyme! We have such talented guest bloggers!
These tips will improve your rhyme and prose!
I’m pleased to introduce
Author Henry Herz
Author Henry Herz
Spice Up Your Rhyme With Poetic Techniques!
By Henry Herz
It’s a labor of love to write a compelling story in rhyme. But authors seeking even greater challenge can leverage poetic techniques to spice up their writing and demonstrate mastery of their craft. Let’s take a look at five such devices to up your rhyming game. My meter isn’t perfect, but you’ll get the idea. Letters that demonstrate the technique are capitalized.
Assonance is technique number one.
ThOse who use it have bOatlOads of fun.
REpEating vowels (or dipthongs) Is how It Is done.
RObert FrOst’s Snowy Evening used this a ton.
“He gIves hIs harnEss bElls a shake
To ask If there Is some mistake.
The onlY other sound’s the swEEp
Of easY wind and downY flake.
The woods are lovelY, dar and dEEp.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to gO befOre I sleep.”
Consonance offers technique number two,
A helpful approach you shouldn’t eschew.
By using Consonants in Close suCcession,
Shel’s The Acrobats makes a strong impression.
I’LL swing by my ankles.
She’LL cling to your knees.
As you Hang by your nose,
From a High-up traPeZe.
But just one THing, Please,
As we float THrough the breeZe,
Don’t sneeZe.
Alliteration is technique number three.
You’ll use it without trouble, I can foresee.
It’s consonance on syllable number one.
Mother Goose below shows how rhymes can be spun.
“Betty Botter Bought some Butter.
But, she said, the Butter’s Bitter.
If I put it in my Batter it will make my Batter Bitter,
But a Bit of Better Butter will make my Batter Better.”
Repetition is technique number four.
Write words twice; more if you’re hardcore.
It’s very straightforward; you simply repeat,
This adds some emphasis in one easy feat.
“Here we go round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush.
Here we go round the mulberry bush,
So early in the morning.”
Onomatopoeia is technique five.
It’s the buzz of bees surrounding their hive.
It is words that seem to spell out a sound,
Like a cow’s moo, or the bark of a hound.
“It went zip when it moved and bop when it stopped,
And whirr when it stood still.
I never knew just what it was, and I guess I never will.”
Now, get your assonance in gear, and write some spicy rhyme!
Bio:
Henry Herz writes fantasy and science fiction for children. He has five picture books published or under contract: Monster Goose Nursery Rhymes (Pelican, 2015), When You Give an Imp a Penny (Pelican, 2016), Little Red Cuttlefish (Pelican, 2016), Mabel and the Queen of Dreams (Schiffer, 2016), and Dinosaur Pirates (Sterling, 2017).
Henry and his sons have also indie-published four children’s books, including Nimpentoad (early chapter book), which reached #1 in Kindle Best Sellers large print sci-fi & fantasy, and was featured in Young Entrepreneur, Wired GeekDad, and CNN; and Beyond the Pale (young adult anthology), with short stories by award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors Saladin Ahmed, Peter S. Beagle, Heather Brewer, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, Kami Garcia, Nancy Holder & Jane Yolen.
Henry is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI), and the Society of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. He writes articles about children’s literature for TheWriteLife.com, and maintains a popular blog on KidLit, fantasy, and science fiction at www.henryherz.com. At the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, he moderated a speculative fiction author panel of Brandon Sanderson, Maggie Stiefvater, Kami Garcia, Heather (Zac) Brewer, and Jonathan Maberry. At the 2016 WonderCon, he moderated a KidLit author panel of Dan Santat, Jon Klassen, Laura Numeroff, Bruce Hale and Antoinette Portis. Henry created KidLit Creature Week (www.birchtreepub.com/kcw), an annual online gallery of monsters, creatures, and other imaginary beasts from children’s books. Henry reviews children’s books for the San Francisco Book Review and San Diego Book Review.
MONSTER GOOSE NURSERY RHYMES
WHEN YOU GIVE AN IMP A PENNY
Twitter: @Nimpentoad
Thank You Henry!
PLEASE like our guest bloggers on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, go to their websites and express your appreciation for their time and wisdom! Many have generously donated multiple prizes and this event would not be successful without their support, so please support them! Oh…and buy their books too!!
To be eligible for today’s prize drawing by Random.org you must comment at the bottom of the page where it says “Leave A Reply” AND add your FIRST and LAST name in the comment. If I don’t have your name or how to contact you via email, you can’t win.
You must be a member of the RhyPiBoMo Facebook Group and if you haven’t officially registered, you are not eligible to win.
Please follow the pledge rules daily to get the most out of this challenge!
The drawings will be done daily and announced on Monday of each week.
Angie Karcher 
Michele Katz Grieder
Great post, Henry! Great things to consider when putting pen to paper!
Donna Rossman – Great tools! Many thanks!!! 🙂
Jill Proctor – Thank you for your creative post, Henry! I love those spicy rhyming techniques, plus the way you put them to use.
Dear Henry, your post is sublime
As you talk about lots more than rhyme.
Use writing devices
Like cooks use their spices
To make a good story divine!
Fabulous! Thank you, Patti Richards (pgwrites5@gmail.com)
I see what you did there, Patti. 🙂
Shelley Kinder –
I definitely need to get my assonance in gear. Thanks for a helpful post!
Kristi Veitenheimer – Thanks for the epic examples of tempting techniques to ramp up our rhymes!
I see what you did there, Kristi. 🙂
Thanks for the post and for the review of the poetic techniques that we all need.
Katie Gast
Melanie Ellsworth – That was a terrific post, Henry. I appreciated the examples given with each poetic technique. And based on the title alone, I will immediately be seeking out WHEN YOU GIVE AN IMP A PENNY!
Yay! Thanks, Melanie
Chris Clayson – thank you Henry Herz! For your dynamic presentation has opened many doors.
Melinda Kinsman – Thanks for some great examples, Henry. I’m always forgetting my different terms, and know I need to spice things up more. A great summary to keep handy!
Sarah Harroff – Thanks for reviewing these techniques with us, Henry.
Judy Cooper -Thanks for the entertaining and informative post.
Lynn Alpert
Thanks for the tips to use these terrific techniques while writing!
Anita Jones
Thanks Henry for outlining your five techniques! I love how you made it much clearer by giving some very creative examples for each of them! I’m looking forward to reading some of the books you suggested!
Pam Phillips thinks these are great tips that I will apply every time I try.
Tim Canny – A great post to end the week. I’ll keep an eye out for all these techniques as I read my #RhyPiBoMo books each day! Thanks Henry!
Thank you for your post, Henry. This was a very helpful reminder of some of the techniques used to make stories spicier!
I hope I can find NIMPENTOAD. The name has me hooked.
Thanks for your interest in NIMPENTOAD, Debbie. That was the first book I wrote with my sons. You can learn more about it at https://henryherz.wordpress.com/nimpentoad/. The books is available on Amazon.
Debbie McCue
Repetition, isn’t that one of the techniques? Anyway, I know i’m repeating myself, but I forgot to include my name before.
Thank you for your post, Henry. This was a very helpful reminder of some of the techniques used to make stories spicier!
I hope I can find NIMPENTOAD. The name has me hooked.
Ingrid Boydston here- Super use of the word eschew! I’ve never been able to work that one in anywhere, especially in rhyme! Thanks for the fun overview! 🙂
Show me an example.
I’ll show you a tool.
Thank you, Dear Henry!
Happy Birthday to you 😀
~Lori Mozdzierz
DebbieLubbert Yes, happy Friday! Thanks for the tips!
Gayle C. Krause
Thank you, Henry, for your spicy rhyming techniques. 🙂
Lori Laniewski- Thank you, Henry. Your post was the perfect reminder of rhyming techniques. Your examples really stuck in my head.
Ginger Weddle
Henry, Thank you for a ream of rhyme reminders using poetic techniques.
I see what you did there, Ginger. 🙂
Deborah Allmand
Henry knowing the definition of each technique is one thing but actually putting them into practice is so darn hard! Thank you for the practical application of them.
NATALIE LYNN TANNER: Hi Henry! THANK YOU for these great tips to help us spice up our rhyming and storytelling! I can’t wait to follow them through a manuscript so I can SPICE IT UP!!!! THANK YOU!!!
Stephanie Salkin
What a fun way to provide pointers! Thank you, Henry!
So clever and great. Love this!
Ann Magee
Thanks, Henry, for your post. These 5 poetic techniques are well used in my prose toolbox as well. 🙂
Daryl Gottier: Thanks for your pointers and the examples that demonstrate them so clearly!
Linda Hofke
Thanks for listing these techniques. Alliteration is my favorite. It’s so much fun to write.
MD Knabb
Thanks, Henry, for your fun examples of poetic techniques.
I enjoyed learning more about poetic techniques.
Thank you
Jean James
Alliteration, Repetition, Onomatopoeia,
Great techniques to keep in check
my verbal diarrhoea!
Assonance and consonance
will fill my writers purse.
Snap, hooray, pip pip, and thanks,
Mr. Henry Herz!