July 1, 2021

Lyrical writing

From a young age, I studied piano and sang in various groups. Now, as a writer, I realize that when a proposal, report, or other document – or even just a sentence – has a lyrical quality, it’s enjoyable to read and gets attention. It can simplify and strengthen your case for support.

However, I couldn’t figure out how to talk about lyricism in writing. 

Then I heard Scott Simon interview the poet Yusef Komunyakaa. Simon asked him, “What makes two words go together?” Komunyakaa responded, “Well, an idea about musicology – how those two words fit into the mouth with a natural tonality that goes for the heart and the mind.”

I thought, now I get it. Then I re-read the interview and realized I still didn’t understand how listening to music translates into words that fit together.

More help from the experts
I started searching for answers.

Consider this from Barak Obama: “We come from everywhere and contain multitudes.”¹

Or this from Isabelle Allende: “Write what should not be forgotten.”

These two lines are powerful and lyrical. They linger.

I read Verlyn Klinkenborg. He writes succinctly and persuasively about writing. Here’s what he says about rhythm and writing:

“If you don’t know what I mean by rhythm, imagine a singer’s phrasing of the lyric in a song. In prose it’s subtler, the beat and the music quieter.”²

Serendipity took me to Quntos KunQuest, author of the recently released book This Life, about his 25 years, so far, in Angola for a carjacking he committed when he was 19. In a recent New Yorker article, he discussed the influence of hip-hop on his writing.

“I began to see how writing prose was different from rhyme, in the sense that you got away from the metronome. But there’s still a metronome in writing. There’s still a beat to it.”

From hip-hop to grant writing
You might say this is all very good, but how does one achieve lyricism when, for example, writing grants? Here are a few ideas.

• Try deleting words you don’t need that may get in the way of lyricism in your writing.
• Rearrange what’s there. What’s first might sound better last, or vice versa.
• Learn from Isabelle Allende. What do you want the reader to remember? Then say it in as few words as possible.
• Klinkenborg suggests reading your writing aloud. “This is how you’ll begin to understand rhythm and its absence.”¹

I don’t know if playing music while writing helps. I don’t usually, but I’m going to try it. So, crank up some summer music and see what happens!

¹ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/books/barack-obama-promised-land-reading-writing.html
² Verlyn Klinkenborg. Several short sentences about writing. New York: Vintage Books. 2012.
³ Ibid