A dance of sound and silence
Sounding the depths of language
Hello, fellow writers and language lovers -
I thought I’d share some thoughts about how sound informs language, and where I find inspiration.
In the next few days, I’ll be putting some ideas up in a series of three videos on my YouTube channel, in which I go progressively deeper as I explore the theme of SOUND in language and in writing. There will be a transcript for each video that you can read through if, like me, you’re a visual reader, or you can listen to it if you prefer to process aurally.
The most obvious way in which we use SOUND in language is the level of sound patterns. These include rhyme, alliteration, onomatopoeia. All of these and more are explored in the first video in the series. You’ll find exercises to develop these skills in many creative writing and poetry classes.
Dig a little deeper, however, and you’ll find a more subtle way in which writers draw on sound patterns - and that’s the level of rhythm. It’s not just poetry that can be rhythmic. Prose can be, too. I explore rhythm as an aspect of SOUND in language in the second video in the series. Finding exercises for this aspect of writing isn’t that frequent, but you’ll find them here.
At the deepest level, we find the basic distinction between vowels and consonants - this is where I think the most interesting level is. It’s the focus of the third video in the series.
All three videos will give you some hints and ideas for what I hope you’ll want to explore in your writing if you’re planning to submit an entry to this month’s competition. And there’s more to come!
I’d love to hear your ideas or learn of any examples you find. Are there writers you’ve come across that use the sound of language particularly well? Are there passages that you’ve come across that link to the theme of sound - and particularly the sounds of words and language? Why not share them with us - I look forward to doing the same!
Remember … this month’s competition task is to write a 200-word story (not a word more, not a word less) that shows off your ability to reference, or feature SOUND in your writing in some way based on Carol Michelon’s illustration here.
I’ll also be posting up an exercise next week in which we’ll be exploring sound in more detail, and really digging into differences in vowel sounds, in particular, exploring their effects in context and on the reader or listener.
In the meantime, you can find out more about Carol’s work in an interview I did with her which I’ve just released on my YouTube channel here.
View full competition details, entry link, and rules here.
Remember, the deadline is midnight GMT on Sunday 25th March 2022.
Feel free to ask your friends to subscribe to get subscriber-only emails like this.
Good luck!
Leon