In a writing group I recently attended, one
member followed up with an email to ask why editors did not like rhyming
stories. I certainly can’t answer for editors, and since I don’t (and can’t)
write in rhyme, my reply is based on the information I’ve heard in workshops
and discussions with several editors.
Rhyme does not work when the rhyme is the most
important factor. The story reigns supreme and should have an arc with a
beginning, middle, and ending, as with non-rhyming stories. The words should
read well and be fun to say, and the rhyming words should be exact rhymes. Near-rhymes don’t cut it.
The strength of the story comes from the voice,
emotion, plot, character, and resolution/change at the end of the story, not
from the rhyme. It’s easy to write bad rhyme (I know because the rhyme I’ve
written is not contract worthy), and good rhyme is extremely difficult to
master.
Editors often steer away from rhyme since it is
difficult to translate into other languages, making the sales market smaller.
The manuscript must tell a good story. If you
can do that and follow the rules of rhyme, give it a try. Many authors do and
are successful.
Call
for Submissions for Adult Writers:
Chicken Soup. Christmas and
Holiday Collection – 2018. Our next holiday collection will not be released
until 2018 but we are already collecting stories for it. People love reading
about the winter holidays – from Thanksgiving all the way through New Year’s
Day. We want to hear about your traditions and how they came to be. We want to
hear about your holiday memories and the rituals that create the foundation of
your life. We love to hear about the funny things too: the ugly holiday
sweaters, the gingerbread house that kept falling down, the re-gifting
embarrassments and the fruit cake disasters. Please be sure your stories are
“Santa safe” so we don’t spoil the magic for any precocious young readers. The
deadline date for story and poem submissions is October 31, 2017.
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