: The best of all in dialogue, is often set in rhythm. To please the ear, to please the mind, is valued just as clarity, but please do use it sparingly, in principle for prose. Having a

@Looi5811334

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The best of all in dialogue, is often set in rhythm. To please the ear, to please the mind, is valued just as clarity, but please do use it sparingly, in principle for prose.

Having a little fun with it...Really depends on what advice you've been given on what clarity means. In straight prose, I'm saying: Some of the best dialogue is rhythmic. Writing a pleasing turn of phrase for mind or soul is more than clarity, but it shouldn't distract from the message. Myself, I love the sounds, the particular beat, the words that turn to song so easily once they've touched your mind.

You can make anything fit a particular form, however, particular forms outside of their milieu, when not used subtly or well, can sometimes be quite distracting, even if they don't rhyme.

One of the works that seems to baffle me in this respect is the King James Bible. I know it is the word of God but how did other authors imitate the style and rhythm of some of the books in it? They actually imitated the narrative style of the King James Bible. So they should be able to imitate the style of the prophetic books, the psalms, and the epistles as well. But how can this be done?

You asked about the Bible--actually I find the tone quite different in different parts of it, but the upshot is that it got edited by a specific group of people in the 1600s. So a lot of that has to do with the conventions of prose and poetic writing in the day--Shakespeare was very nearly contemporaneous with and certainly shaped it. It's got a sameness because a bunch of dudes from the 1600s who already thought in these forms edited it.

As to the HOW...well, it's a lot like music. You can learn to think in iambic given enough time.

What concerns me is the lack of synonyms we have available for a given word. Maybe I am over thinking this, but how can we possibly achieve specific rhythmic effects if we don't have the right sounding word available? if I want to refer to a specific thing or concept, what do I do if I cannot find a synonym that has the right sound?

That question is a question every single poet and rapper has ever asked. The answer is to put the wrong word in, but torture it until it cooperates. Or use two words instead to break up the syllable issue. I've done that to get around it.

how to use rhythm at all without being unnatural or indirect.

Using these things more subtly than in poetic form, and choosing when to.

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