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Writing Tip Think music. A personal essay might have a structure like a two minute song, where you communicate one basic idea with variations; a novel might resemble a long opera, with each major character having her own regularly reappearing, recognizable but never static, melody line. Really good writing has music in the words, and music in the structure, with counter-point, texture, surprises, piano and fortissimo. Hint: write an important scene while listening to a rousing piece of orchestral music, and again while listening to a quiet meditative piece. Second hint: listen to piano concertos of Beethoven to see how he handles conflict between the soloist (hero) and the orchestra (the problem). Hint #3. Stand up and read your writing out loud. You'll get a clear idea of what works. |