Writing With a "Beat" - How is it Done?

[Mordicai]

I let a friend read a rough draft, and they put it down because they thought the wording was atrocious.. When I asked them to say something constructive, They said that there needs to be a beat to it, and implied I should figure it out on my own. That's not constructive enough for me, so I've turned to this group.

What is this beat and how do you work towards it?

[B.A.]

A beat is a rhythm that you can hear in the wording. When you read it aloud or hear it read to you, the rhythm should fit the words.

A love scene should by lyrical, a fight choppy and angry. Think of music. If it doesn't fit the mood you are in, you change the channel. It's the same with writing. If you words and the rhythm of those words don't fit the story, people will put it down. The beat is the sound of the words as you read them.

The best advice I can give is to read the work aloud, listening to it as you would a record. In fact recording yourself while reading would help so you can hear how the words go together. If you stumble over the wording or it sound 'off' you probably need to rewrite it.

Hope that helps. It is a learned thing and takes time to get it smooth and with a good beat.

[John]

I doubt that your friend has written much. Rhythm becomes innate
when a writer builds a story - it becomes a part of the language. Write it the way you feel it, paying attention to rules of grammar, characterization and active verbs. Then you will find the "rhythm.

[Fiona]

Not very constructive at all! You might try setting this draft aside for a while, then come back later and read it as if it had been written by someone else. That might help you to hear how the words sound together.

Then next time, find a more constructive beta reader!

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Kai wrote: "I let a friend read a rough draft, and they put it down because they thought the wording was atrocious."

My advice? Don't let anyone read your rough drafts. Rough drafts are always atrocious. Wait until you have done a few drafts and have worked out the flow of the story. As you work out your story, you'll find a rhythm for it. You'll see the places that work and the places that do not. It's tough to teach someone how to have a rhythm to their work as we're all different.

When you read books similar to whatever you're working on, pay attention to how the words flow. Find books that have a rhythm that works for you and study how that author writes. When you find one that doesn't flow well, pay attention to why it doesn't work for you.

[L.K.]

When I read through one of my rough drafts, I put a tick in the margin next to bits I particularly like, and a cross next to bits I particularly hate. Over time, I think it has given me more of a gut instinct for what is particularly good or bad, and has helped me to improve.

As Dwayne says, rough drafts are always bad. You might find a few bits here and there which work, but don't expect a first draft to sound great. Making it sound great is something that happens later on in the process, and I find it is something I can only start focusing on when I've got the plot sorted out, otherwise there is just too much to think about. My books are built up in stages - first draft is just getting the initial plot down on paper, it usually sounds rushed and is unpleasant to read. Sometimes one or two scenes from the first draft will make it into the final book, but the vast majority is completely scrapped. Second draft is writing the story with better pacing (such as stretching out the tension in certain scenes), and making sure the plot makes sense, plus adding depth to characters so they become more like real people. The third draft is really where I start to focus more heavily on making it sound nice at a paragraph and sentence level (though even at this stage I find there might still be some minor plot issues to iron out).

Don't be disheartened by the feedback you have been given, read it through yourself (maybe after leaving it for a while) and see what you think about it. If you get really stuck, there are always books you can read on writing techniques which can give you some pointers.

[M.L.]

Read, write, and listen - to conversations, bits and pieces of dialog.

The good news is that your friend read it - and gave you feedback. (even if not the best or most descriptive) - whereas many will not say anything. If you pestered the person (since he--I'll say he for now--sounds impatient), try to find someone who actually wants to read it. Short pieces, like a chapter or two are less daunting and someone may be willing to read it.

Get into a critique group, one that meets in person, if you can.

Be sure the grammar, punctuation, spelling, are right, and the tenses consistent. When those things are off it's disruptive and can interfere with the flow, hence, make it sound like the beat, rhythm, cadence are off.

But read authors you like, and read the same passages over. (You could also ask your friend whose books he likes to read.) Good writing makes it look easy. Good luck!

[Anna]

Although your friend was rather too dismissive, he/she has done you one of the biggest favours - bet they didn't know that!

We learn best when the lessons are hard and hurtful so long as we do what you have done and seek advice and aim for improvement.

I wish you all the best with your writing.

[J.]

There is a very literal beat/rhythm to the way that everyone speaks, almost without fail. Learning to pick up on it in speech will show you where it's lacking in your writing.

So this is going to sound like weird advice, but it works for me.

Try to bob your head when people speak as though you're listening to music. You'll hear the rhythm pretty quickly, and one thing that you'll notice is that filler words like 'um' and 'ah' and 'like' are often used to maintain the beat of their words while they search for the right thing to say. Rhythm is much more innate to human thought than a lot of people think, but it often gets diluted with writing.

I started doing this years ago just for fun, but it genuinely helps me. It also helps improve your speaking ability because you get more tuned into the spots where you're likely to drop filler words in.

A few people here have mentioned that you should read your work aloud to catch the beat, but I'd push you to go one step further. Read your work aloud and try to feel the rhythm of it by bobbing your head. You'll feel stupid at first, but once you start hearing it in people's patterns you won't be able to stop, and that will leak into your own writing.

Again, I know it's weird advice, but it's really helped me.

[Sherri]

Rough drafts are called "rough" for a reason. I'm on the third draft of my current work in progress, and I still cringe at some of the things I see that need correcting. It usually takes me about 9 -12 months to get a draft that's readable by anybody other than me.

Beats are basically rhythms of speech and action, as mentioned above. They usually start to evolve over several drafts, so try not to stress it too much. Put the manuscript aside for at least 6-8 weeks, then go through it again for an intensive round of rewrites. You'll probably see where the beats should happen and get them flowing then. It usually takes me until rewrites to find that rhythm in my own work.

[Micah]

Writing with a beat … seems to me that's about way more than just rhythm in the actual words. In fact, I'd say it's more about writing efficiently and it's about getting the pacing correct.

There are practically an infinite number of ways to say the same thing. Finding the right way of putting things is … complicated. It simply takes time and practice and developing a sense of awareness when you're editing.

As others have said, rough drafts aren't for getting things right like that. They're for just getting all the words on the page.

After that you've got to analyze and scrutinize and ask yourself on almost every sentence … What is the key point I need to make? What is the tone I want to strike? Is this as clear as it can be? Are there connotations I can inject (word choice, sentence structure, etc.), change, or remove that would liven things up or add sparkle and interest? Would breaking this up into shorter sentences or even into a few incomplete phrases improve the pacing?

And speaking of pacing … writing with a beat means paying attention to not just the sentences and paragraphs, but the structure of the work in a larger sense. Pacing can be improved, much like sentences can, by variety. When the emotion/action of the story hits an accelerated peak, it's often good to have the writing echo that by moving quicker with shorter more emphatic sentences. When the emotion/action moves into a lull or into a peaceful, thoughtful, tranquil area, longer more flowing sentences might be warranted.

It's the same thing as in the old days when musicians were focused on putting out albums not singles. An album was a collection of smaller musical pieces (chapters) strung together in a very purposeful way to lead from one piece to the next. It was called sequencing. String those songs together well and listening to the album as a whole work was way better than the individual songs themselves. That's how a book should be. It's got a beat not just in the sentence structure, but in the paragraphs and the chapters, etc.

[B.A.]

Writing with a beat is hard to define but if you take a book by Norah Roberts, James Patterson, JK Rowling, James Michener, PD James, Agatha Christie, etc and read them aloud, the words seem to flow and are easy to read. Try it.
Then to you what you wrote Feel the difference. You want to words to flow and have that punch when needed, a rhythm that keeps the readers reading. Choppy only works in tense scene. Lazy wandering prose only works for a paragraph, two at the most. Each word needs to count. Micah said it beautifully.