Finding Musicality in Your Writing

Music, Language and a Lyrical Prompts Exercise

Photo by Austin Neill on Unsplash

Cerdd is a Welsh word that means both music and writing. It’s pleasing that there is a single word for this, because it encapsulates how much is shared between these two different artistic forms.

The more you think about it, the more you realise how much crossover there is. Like a musician, a writer needs to understand about the impact of the opening of their work (those opening ‘bars’), about pace, rhythm, subtle changes of tone and mood, the importance of layers and textures, repetition, deviation, and the journey through a story, the delivery of word-sounds (even if the sound of those words are being uttered by the inner voice of the reader).

Both writers and musicians strive for the same thing - to seduce and persuade our readers or listeners to feel utterly immersed in a piece of art that will change them and stay with them.

The rest of this piece will look at some aspects where music and writing fuse (along with some examples of illustrative stories) as well as a lyrics-based prompt exercise that can be used as a way to discover musicality in your own writing. If you are a paid subscriber then please read on. If you are a free subscriber then consider becoming a paid member and help me build this writing and creative community.