One thing I notice frequently but discuss rarely is rhythm. 

When I read a great ad, website copy, or LinkedIn post, I feel it. It's an intangible force pulling me to the end.

Without rhythm, reading is like moving upstream in Jell-O.

With rhythm, reading is like gliding downstream on a slip and slide.

Rhythm in writing is critical to a successful reading experience. Without it, the reading experience becomes a drudge.

So, how can you keep your reader engaged by writing with rhythm? 

If you use a very long sentence to start your paragraph, use a shorter and snappy sentence to give your reader a breath. Like this. And then stretch it a little. But make sure not to overkill it by using too many snappy sentences. That also makes for a shitty reading experience.

Let's look at music to clarify this: With music, you cannot play the same tone repeatedly. That's repetitive. While that sometimes works, it's usually done in the macro rather than micro. 

What I mean is that the chorus will repeat itself, but the notes in the chorus are different, slightly or vastly, to give delight to your ear. If someone played a high C repeatedly, that would bore you.

The same is true with writing. To create rhythm and a joyful reading experience, change the pace, words, and tone you use.

Share the long description of a scientific element but finish with your quirky comment. Controlling the variance is not only done with sentence structure but with all writing components.

Let me ask you: Who would you rather listen to?

A. The person who talks in long monologues, rarely changes their tone of voice, and uses zero hand gestures.

OR

B. The person who talks in both long and short ways, uses tone to dictate their emotions, and lets their hands fly if needed to convey the message better.

I'm picking B every day of the week. What about you?

Marketeer Insights ⚔️

🧠 + ❤️ // JO