Young Writers Society

So, my teacher just gave us the news today that we need to write a ballad that rhymes.
Problem, I don't really rhyme good. More importantly, I don't rhyme in poetry well.

Any tips, besides using a rhyming dictionary?

Read Shakespeare. Buck stops there.
The only other worthwhile advice is to get a dictionary. A list of rhyming words is no good if they mean nothing when put together, unless you're crafty and going super modern.

Don't sacrifice meaning for rhyme. Or I will be forced to hunt you down and stab you with the nibs of my calligraphy pens (they're nicely sharpened, by the way, and it would be a shame to dull them on your eyes).

In all seriousness though, ballads are a very flexible rhyming form. Unless your teacher has given you a set number of syllables, I suggest using a larger syllable count per line (eight or more) as it makes natural rhyming easier. Also, with ballads, there's no need to rhyme or keep the syllable count the same every line; there's many different patterns.

A ballad, as you now will see
with this here demonstration,
can alternate the rhyming lines
which aids in their creation.

Here, I used an 8/7/8/7 syllable pattern with a mostly iambic meter. So long as you keep the meter and rhyme scheme consistent throughout the ballad, you should be fine.

One technique I find that helps me pick words to rhyme is to pick ones that have direct relevance to the subject. For instance, in the example, I was giving a demonstration on ballad creation, and so those were the rhymes I chose. Browsing through thesauri and dictionaries is a good starting place to find relevant words that might be worth rhyming.

From there, it also helps to start out with the rhymes in place and construct the poem around them. If a rhyme refuses to fit, however, don't force it. Instead, I suggest finding another one to take its place.

You can try rhyming ever other word. I dont know what a ballad is, but I ussually go through the alphabet and write down tons of words for each letter. Then I go back through my list and I can ussually find a word that rhymes. I just brainstorm words. Idk if that will help you, but I hope it does(:!

I too hate rhyming >.<

The things that I've found is to rhyme the actual sound of the word, the middle of it, rather than the ending. When you rhyme endings and do it all the same length for each line, you generally make the rhyme scheme completely dominate the piece altogether, which is of, not a good thing. Sorry I'm not more helpful. Good luck!

-Coral-

You could always try to rhyme meanings and say that you like that Hebrew way of doing it! 'Course I tried that once and made my teacher really mad...*shiver*. Yeah...don't listen to me.

rhyming is great but do not make it to sing-song like then it seems immature almost. Its a thin line between rhythm and sing-song like.