For me, rhyming has been the single skill that has made me the most money and brought me the most joy in life. It is a powerful tool in pitching, copywriting and campaign creation, as well as in writing things like wedding speeches! Here you’ll find my best tips, which I previously only shared with friends. They have all learned to rhyme like the pros, and you are next.
1. Let the end guide you
The last two lines of your rhyme are the most important part. You might spend 90% of your time here, and that’s totally fine. Think of yourself as a stand-up comedian and the end of the rhyme your punchline. It must be perfect and evoke some kind of emotion. I also see the ending as a kind of call to action. If it’s a wedding speech, you may want people to cheer and lift their glasses. In other cases, you may want them to recall your brand. A great example of this is the old whiskey slogan: “Don’t be vague. Ask for a Haig.”
When you’ve written an ending that you are happy with, it’s time to build the rest of the rhyme. Always have your call to action in mind. It’s easier finding the way when you know where you’re going.
2. Never settle for an orange
Unless you are Eminem, nothing rhymes with orange. “But I’m writing a rhyme for a company that sells oranges!” Relax, you still can do that! Just avoid putting “the orange” last in the sentence. This rule is applicable for a number of words that are hard or impossible to rhyme. Don’t settle for the first solution that enters your mind, there are more elegant choices out there. An orange is also a fruit, a citrus, a handheld snack, a sphere – you see, there are lots of ways to rephrase it to make it easier. Play around with it!
3. RIP, darling
Roses are red,
violets are blue.
This darling is dead,
and the killer is you!
Some rhymes are done to death, yet they still wander around like zombies. It’s comfy to stay with them, to use them as templates. But the end result is a reflection of the effort you’ve put in. If your rhyme is common, drop it and find a new one. You can use the melody of the rhyme as a base but change the content.
4. Feel the flow
A great rhyme flows. Always read your rhyme out loud. This helps you to hear where a sentence might be too long or complicated. Also, have a friend read it out loud to you. You’ll notice where you haven’t really found the flow when your friend stumbles or has a hard time finding the rhythm. A great way to ruin the flow is by constructing sentences that really don’t make any sense, just to make the rhyming easier.
5. Content is king
Your rhyme isn’t just a bunch of words that happen to end with the same syllables. You are telling a story, what is it about? Let’s say I’m writing a wedding speech. I gather a list of things I could incorporate in the speech. The place of birth of the bride and groom, funny stories about them, what their parents thought about them as a couple, etc. These are the pieces I use as a storyline. Putting it together is like laying a puzzle of a blue sky – I try piece after piece to see what works and in what order.
Rhyming is tedious sometimes, when you’ve tried fifty different words for “dog” and nothing works. But I promise you, when you finally nail it, the feeling is priceless! The best rhyme I ever wrote took me to the red carpet of the Cannes film festival. I hope these tips will take you even further.
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Note From Tongal: "Rhyming Tips You Never Knew For Copywriters And Creators Too" is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Tongal. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here and then Pitch us a topic you'd like to write about for the Tongal Blog!
