Monday, January 23, 2012

Writing Advice: What Is Sound?

In Story, Robert McKee writes that 75 percent of a writer's efforts are spent on constructing the plot. However, because it isn't in keeping with the purpose of the book, he never mentions the importance of that remaining 25 percent: the execution. The writing itself. The truth is that all reader (including agents and editors) will notice the writing before the story. And if it's not up to par, they'll put it down before even getting into the plot.

Sound is one of the most important aspects of the "execution" to pay attention to because it can be incredibly noticeable if done poorly. As in, it sticks out like a sore thumb (cliché alert!) and pulls the reader out of the story - which is never a good thing. But if sound is done well, it's invisible - which is exactly what you want.


In this context, sound is synonymous with rhythm, or even lilt. It's the flow of a sentence or paragraph, the way the writing sounds within the reader's mind. In The First Five Pages, Noah Lukeman writes that sound "is one of the distinctions between writing general and writing as an art form," because "prose can be technically correct but rhythmically unpleasant." To strengthen your sound, take a look at:

Poor sentence construction. In this blog post, as a part of her series on grammar, Beth Revis gives a few examples of how independent clauses and dependent clauses fit together in a number of different ways (as long as you use the correct rules). However, many people pointed out that, although technically correct, the sentences sounded wrong, like run-ons.

Echoes. Echoes occur most frequently when a character's name is repeated too often (Bill gave the map to Joe and Joe thanked Bill), when he/she is repeated to often, or when an usual word or phrase is repeated too often. In the case of unusual words, these can be as far apart as one every twenty pages, but still call attention to themselves. In On Writing, Stephen King tells of a novel he once read that constantly repeated the word zestful, and it annoyed him so much that he's never used that word in his own writing. Not once.

Alliteration and rhyme. In prose, avoid these two things like the plague, unless you have a very good reason not to. Alliteration and rhyme draw attention to themselves like nothing on Earth and pull the reader straight out of the story.

Resonance. This aspect of sound is subtle, and can be difficult to get right. It is the overall sound of sentences in contrast with each other. The resonance of a short sentence will be different when contrasted with long sentences, rather than other short sentences - and vice versa. Sentences starting with an independent clause will resonate differently to dependent clause starters, infinitive starters, participle starters, etc. It's your job to choose the write ones and then fit them together in a way that strengthens the overall sound of the paragraph, page, and book.

And that's it. If you can sort out these things, then your sound will be strong enough that the reader doesn't notice it. Instead, they'll be focussed right where you want them: on the story.

24 comments:

  1. Well said, Nick. An excellent post and "sound" advice!

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  2. Haha, thank you Bryce :) Made me laugh.

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  3. I have serious issue with repeating words. I read my MS out loud, and then I use command F to highlight all the words I've been using too often. Time consuming, but crucial.

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  4. Very sound advice. Hehe. I'm really digging your blog, Nick! Thanks for stopping by Oh, Restless Bird and following! =)

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  5. Okay. That was an incredibly awesome advice post. I learned most of this stuff in the last couple years, but found new stuff just now. I love learning stuff! Thanks for all the awesome links. :)

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  6. Great advice! You write very well too!

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  7. Jolene: Ctrl F is good like that :) I'm so glad we don't write books on typewriters anymore.

    Sarah: Haha :) Thanks a lot! Now worries, I'm liking yours also!

    David: Thank you. Hooray for new stuff! I love learning too :) And, yeah, quite enjoyed putting all those links in. I really recommend Story - it's the best book on writing structure I've ever read.

    Kamille: Thanks!

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  8. I think sound is a very difficult-- and very important-- thing to get right in a novel. I love the things you point out here. Sentences, words, and the way they fit together can create a more (or much less) pleasant book to read.

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  9. I agree there. It's the thing I struggle with most - and all that fixes it is lots of time, lots of patience, and lots of rewrites.

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  10. Excellent post - thoroughly enjoyed it. So many good points, useful information and links. Going to go and read your previous posts. You are inspiring! I look forward to following your blog. Good on you! :-)

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  11. Heh, I just posted about word repetition, too. Great post, good advice!

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  12. Thanks, Diane :) It's nice to meet you!

    Yvie: Thank you! I will go and check out that post of yours :)

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  13. Just came over from Lynda's BBQ.

    It's funny how some words just pop at your when you're reading. They can become annoying fast. I've noticed that if people rely on "said" for nearly all their tags, I begin to notice it. Then it becomes almost as intrusive as people who try to pepper their tags with everything but "said".

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  14. Hi, Theresa, nice to meet you! :) Said is usually pretty invisible, but as you say, if it's used too much it becomes noticeable. That where action beats come in handy, because you can tell who is saying what (and often how they're saying it), with no dialogue tags at all.

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  15. I'm new here, via Lynda's BBQ. *waves* Nice to meet you. :)

    'Sound' advice, indeed. :) These craft points are especially crucial during edits (line and copy).

    Have wonderful weekend,
    Lola

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  16. Stopping by from Lynda's BBQ!

    All very good advice. I'm in the middle of editing and sound can be tricky to get just right.

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  17. This is a brilliant post. I love the music of words and all the subtleties to be aware of when writing.

    Thank you so much for the sidebar BBQ reminder. I appreciate it!

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  18. Lola: *waves back* I've just been to check out your blog before I saw your comment. It's great! Yes, sound usually has to be sorted out during edits, especially line and copy (as you say). Have a great weekend to you too :)

    Caitlin: Thank you! I agree with you there. Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynda: "The music of words" - that's a great way to put it. Thanks very much :) And no worries about the BBQ button; I thought I may as well :)

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  19. Great post. Stuff to live by. I know many writers that will feed their manuscript into a dictation program so they can hear their work. I actually read aloud my stuff.

    I want it to sound right.

    I especially HATE echoes.

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  20. Thanks, Jay :) Sound is important enough to make it worthwhile reading an entire manuscript aloud - because, as you say, it has to sound right.

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  21. Good observation and one that is rarely mentioned. Thanks for posting this.

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  22. Thank you :) I suppose you're right - I haven't actually seen a post on sound before. Thanks for visiting!

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  23. What a fantastic post! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it & I'm so impressed at your insight and research. THANKS!

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  24. Thank you! I'm very glad you liked it :)

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