Don't rhyme every time...

So it is once again the weekend. Happy Easter. I have been thinking about what to post here this weekend, to kind of kick off these weekly talks. Lucky for me, no one reads this, so I can go on about whatever I want. I had thought this weekly post would be more about substantive things, but I suppose stylistic things are good to talk about from time to time as well. So, this week's topic is just going to be about writing. Specifically, I want to talk about

Rhyming

It seems simple, right? Poems and songs rhyme. That's just a part of what you do when you write. Of course, it's not that simple. First of all, some really great poems don't rhyme. I've had friends over the years tell me that they hate rhyming poems, because they sound trite. I've gone through phases of my own where I both praise and denigrate rhyming. These days I see it simply as a tool. When something rhymes, it makes your brain kind of latch onto it. It's a great memory tool, and just in general fun to do. It is entertaining for readers and listeners.

So why wouldn't you want to rhyme? Well, it's surprisingly easy to choose the wrong rhyme. Certain words just feel cliche when you rhyme them, and sometimes if you stick too hard to the rhyme, it can convolute your message. Since one of the goals of good writing is to clearly communicate your message, this would make rhyming a bad idea in some cases.

I'm not going to offer examples of bad rhyming. You can look through my past posts and find plenty of examples, both good and bad, if that's what you're looking for. And the truth is, it's all subjective anyway. As with any art, there are things that are generally considered good, and the opposite is true as well, but in the end, if your end product communicates the idea or feeling that you were trying to portray, then whether or not someone else likes it is completely on them. It's important to listen to criticism, but it's also important not to get so caught up in making everyone like your work that you lose your unique voice.

So just remember when you're trying to decide what rhyme to use, or whether you even want to rhyme:
Does this word choice help convey the feeling or idea that I'm writing about, or does it just sound like I needed a rhyming word?