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If you are going to write metered poetry (that is, poetry that is not in free verse style), a good rhythmical structure can make the difference between professional looking poetry that wins awards, and amateur looking poetry that never gets taken seriously. Funnily enough, a good sense of rhythm can also have a dramatic effect on the emotive power of a piece of free verse poetry as well. Being able to cause the reader to read with a specific rhythm, or intentionally breaking them out of it, can have a significant effect on what can be conveyed through the poetry. This is the reason we (that is creative writing lecturers) insist on students learning to at least master something like iambic pentameter and have a basic understanding of some other commonly used rhythms. *Note - I am from South Australia and my pronunciation notes might not fit if you are from some other part of the world. The key to good rhythmic poetry is recognising the natural stresses in the English language...

In creative writing, there is a useful technique for getting information to the reader without a long introduction with copious background information. No doubt we’re all aware of the movie that opens with a narrator giving us the back-story to set the scene for the action to come in a massive info-dump. “It is the year 2268 AD and the world’s population have rebelled against the technology of terror warfare, blamed for the great holocaust of 2207...” This could go on for several pages before we actually get to even meet the protagonist. Most writers know that info-dumping like this is to be avoided. But there is a better way to get this information to the audience, and good writers do it well. The technique I'm talking about is clever use of dialogue. The trick is to get your characters to say things that will clue your audience in on what they need to know. Imagine a couple of field workers taking a break from their work, and one saying to the other, “My Grandfather always s...