Hope you're doing okay right now. If you're like me, maybe you too are having trouble sleeping and feel like your anxiety is at an all-time high with everything that's going on. You're not alone in that.
That said, I've been working to keep the worries at bay. Which brings us to today's topic.
Shakespeare.
Sylvia Plath.
Notorious B.I.G.
Bob Dylan.
What do they all have in common?
All of these people spent their lives writing rhymes. They practiced, perfected, and were prolific when it came to this writing exercise.
For good reason, too. Skillful rhyming doesn’t come naturally.
It takes a lot of practice to come up with rhymes that are not only phonetically correct, but that are clever, too (and often have deeper meanings at play.)
Rhyming is a good writing practice
This was solidified in my brain when I watched a video of someone doing a freestyle rap a while back. If you’re not familiar with what these entail, it’s basically what it sounds like: The person rapping has to come up with rhymes on the spot.
As I was watching it, I thought, “Wow. This is extremely hard. I could never do this, and I spend almost all of my time with words.”
That’s when I realized that it would make for an *excellent* writing practice.
Now, let’s be clear: I’m no rapper. I’m certainly no poet, either.
But I do enjoy words and want my brain to be a bit more acrobatic when it comes to using them. I want to be able to ninja flip from word to word.
Maybe you do, too.
Whether you’re writing prose or poetry or raps or even just nursery rhymes, practicing creative rhyme-writing is a great way to:
Build your vocabulary
Strengthen your brain’s synapses and get better at word choice improvisation
Recognize different patterns, structures, and rhythms of writing
In short: Writing rhymes, regardless of format, keeps your brain sharp and your vocab fluid.
So how do you go about this type of practice?
How rhymes can improve your writing skills
First, pick your format. Are you going to write poems? Limericks? Freestyle rap? Maybe test out a few to see what you like best.
If you’re curious about freestyle rap as a format, I found an interview with Jensen Karp that had some insights on how to go about practicing. He recommends taking a battle-style approach by giving yourself a subject to focus on.
“I used to put magazines on the floor and make fun of the people on whatever page was open. The more I practiced, the more I made things come to my brain quicker,” he said.
The beauty of this is that it’s a private practice. You don’t need to go blast your rhymes across the internet.
I can tell you with certainty that the world is not ready to hear my diss track, mmmkay?
Here are some other ways you can work at this writing practice:
BEGINNER
Pick a few words and come up with as many rhymes as you can for them. From there, pull from your list and tell a story, constructing as you go with your rhyming words.
NOVICE
Challenge yourself to tell jokes and deliver punchlines within your rhyming story. See if you can work in some double meanings, pop culture references, or clever turns of phrase that give your rhymes a bit more depth.
ADVANCED
If you want a major challenge, put yourself on the spot. Pick a subject and then come up with a story that rhymes in real time without stopping (start with two minutes.) No paper, no keyboard. This one has to be out loud so you have no crutch.
If you want to see pros do this, check out the Improvised Shakespeare Company. (Yes, that’s Thomas Middleditch.)
Their premise: No script. No plot. No rehearsal. The performers take a suggested play title from the audience and then improvises a two-act Shakespearean play on the spot.
The mere thought of having to do this makes me sweat, but I’ve seen these performers pull off an hour-long play in this format that’s absolutely hilarious...so, it can be done!
Challenge yourself over the next few weeks and see how your brain changes and your writing improves as you work on rhyming. I think you'll be surprised.
This article originally appeared in my newsletter, A Cup of Copy. Sign up and get these free tips sent right to your inbox every other Wednesday.