Using Rhythm And Sentence Variety For Better Flow

Gary Smailes | 12 December 2025

Rhythm and Cadence: How Prose Creates Flow

Flow is not luck. It is rhythm plus cadence. Rhythm gives you the pattern of stresses and pauses. Cadence gives you the feel in the ear.

Read this:

He walks to the door, freezes, thinks about the argument, hears the kettle, remembers the list on the table.

Now hear this:

He walks to the door. Freezes. The argument rings in his head. The kettle hisses. The list waits on the table.

Same facts. Different music. The second version lands in breath units. Short beats, then a longer one. Your reader rides those breaths.

Breathe your sentences

Readers process lines in lungfuls. Commas give a small lift. Periods give a full stop. If a sentence forces a gasp, shape it again.

Try a quick test:

• Read a paragraph out loud.
• Mark each place your mouth pauses, even a short hitch.
• Compare your marks to the punctuation on the page.
• Adjust punctuation to match the natural breaks, unless you want strain for effect.

You guide speed with timing marks. A light comma nudges forward. A clean period plants a foot.

Stress creates shape

English lives on stress. Strong syllables carry sense. Too many stresses in a row, the line turns to gravel. Too few, the line goes mushy.

Listen:

The truck roared past the school and scattered the pigeons.

Now pack the stresses:

The truck slammed past school, birds burst skyward.

Harder hits. Sharper edge. If a passage feels clunky, do a stress sweep:

• Underline stressed syllables in one paragraph. Trust your ear.
• If stress clusters pile up, swap word order or choose a lighter synonym.
• If the line goes mushy, strengthen one weak verb or noun.

Small swaps fix a lot. Example:

Weak: The wind was very cold in the alley.

Tighter: Cold wind knifed through the alley.

Fewer unstressed fillers, more load-bearing words.

Sound texture without a jingle

Alliteration, assonance, consonance. Useful tools, not costume jewelry.

• Alliteration repeats first sounds: cold creek, bitter bread.
• Assonance repeats vowel sounds: lean reeds, low moan.
• Consonance repeats interior or end sounds: blank bank, break brick.

Use for lift, not a tongue twister.

Overdone:

• Bright blue birds bobbed and bounced by the bay.

Scaled back:

• Blue birds bobbed by the bay.

Better still, anchor sound to sense:

• The blue heron stood bone-still in brown water.

Before you lean on sound, ask one question. Does the music serve meaning?

Quick guardrails:

• One sonic highlight per paragraph.
• If a string starts to sing, trim one echo.
• Avoid piling the same sound across three sentences in a row.

Align punctuation with intention

Punctuation sets tempo and tone.

• Commas braid clauses and soften pace.
• Periods give punch and clarity.
• Colons spotlight a reveal or a list. Use with a steady hand.
• Ellipses signal trailing thought or hesitation. Reserve for dialogue and interiority.

Give a fast scene crisp stops:

He slips the key. The lock turns. The light clicks on.

Give a reflective moment room:

He stands in the doorway, shoes wet from rain, pockets heavy with old receipts, a single note folded to a square no bigger than a stamp.

Both serve flow. Each matches intent.

Practice:

• Label a paragraph fast or slow in the margin.
• For fast, prune modifiers, choose concrete verbs, shorten the chain.
• For slow, extend with one measured clause, not three.

Measure sentence variety

Monotony dulls even strong ideas. A row of medium sentences lulls the ear. Mix lengths with purpose.

Try this quick track:

• Mark each sentence in a paragraph as short, medium, or long.
• If the pattern reads MMMM, change one to short or one to long.
• Avoid ping-pong SLSLSL for a full page. The rhythm turns mechanical.

Example set:

Flat:

I packed the box. I taped the seams. I wrote the label. I set it by the door.

Varied:

I packed the box. Taped the seams. Wrote the label, crooked at first, then straight. I set it by the door and waited.

Same actions. More shape. The line breathes.

Three fast drills

Read-aloud pass:

• Print a page.
• Read to the wall.
• Mark every stumble or lost breath with an X.
• Fix X spots by splitting, tightening, or shifting a clause.

Stress sweep:

• Pick one paragraph.
• Tap the stressed beats with your finger while you read.
• If your finger trips, swap a heavy word for a lighter one. Move the phrase with the weight toward the end of the line.

Length map:

• On a sticky note, write S, M, L as you move through a paragraph.
• Aim for a mix that suits the scene, not a uniform average.
• Adjust one sentence at a time. Hear the change.

A quick before and after

Before:

She walked along the path and looked at the river, which was running faster than usual because of the rain last night, and she started to think about the last time she came here with her brother.

After:

She walked the path. The river ran faster today, rain-fed and brown. She thought of the last time here with her brother.

Meaning holds. Breath returns. The reader moves.

You do not need a musician’s ear. You need attention. Read, listen, adjust. Give the line a beat your reader will follow.

Sentence Variety Basics

Sentence variety keeps readers awake. Mix structure, length, and openings with intention, and meaning snaps into focus.

Mix the four core structures

• Simple: one idea. The dog sleeps.
• Compound: two ideas joined with a coordinator. The dog sleeps, and the cat watches.
• Complex: one main idea with support. While the dog sleeps, the cat watches.
• Compound-complex: a blend of both. While the dog sleeps, the cat watches, and the fish hide.

Each structure sets a different pace. Simple brings punch. Compound balances. Complex shows cause, time, or condition. Compound-complex carries nuance without fog.

A quick test helps:

• Highlight one paragraph.
• Label each sentence S, Cpd, Cpx, or Mix.
• If labels repeat across a whole stretch, switch one sentence to a different type.

Loose and periodic

Loose sentences place the main clause first. They feel straightforward and confident.

Loose: I opened the letter, shaking with relief.

Loose with lift: He crossed the street, shoulders low, eyes on the curb.

Periodic sentences hold the main clause for the end. They build tension and land with weight.

Periodic: After scanning every line twice, after weighing each number, I signed.

Alternate modes to steer attention. Loose for clarity. Periodic for suspense or emphasis. Use periodic sparingly in fast scenes, or breath goes short.

Vary your openings

Subject-verb openings, line after line, flatten tone. Move the furniture.

• Prepositional: In the pantry, jars rattled.
• Participial: Humming softly, she tied the rope.
• Adverbial: Suddenly, the sky darkened.
• Infinitive: To save time, he skipped dessert.
• Transitional word or phrase: Next, we call the neighbor.

Review a page and mark each opening word. If three start with the same subject, switch two of them. Place a phrase up front, then return to a clean subject-verb line for contrast.

Fragments with restraint

Fragments bring voice and speed. Use for emphasis, not habit.

• No chance.
• Not today.
• Too late for apologies.

Balance fragments with full sentences, or rhythm frays into static. A good rule: one fragment earns a solid sentence before and after.

Punctuate for pace

Punctuation shapes breathing. Choose on purpose.

• A semicolon links two independent clauses that mirror each other in weight. When in doubt, use a period or a clear coordinator instead.
• A colon sets up a reveal or a list: one truth, three steps, a name you want readers to remember.
• An em dash throws in a sudden turn. Strong, quick, a bit dramatic. Save for moments that deserve a jolt.
• Parentheses soften an aside (a quiet nudge, a wink). Keep the aside short.

Test lines out loud. If a mark trips the tongue, simplify. One dominant mark per sentence helps.

A quick mini-lab

Take a 200-word passage from your draft. Revise so no two consecutive sentences share the same length or the same opening pattern. Mix short, medium, long. Rotate openings. Read aloud and listen for monotony. If a drumbeat creeps in, break the beat with a short line or a periodic sentence.

Now fix two weak spots:

• Find one sentence built on a form of to be, with a bland noun hanging off the end. Replace with a stronger verb plus a small image.
  Weak: The room was silent.
  Stronger: The room held its breath.
• Find one run-on. Replace with a clean compound, or split into two crisp sentences.
  Run-on: She grabbed her keys she raced for the door.
  Fix: She grabbed her keys, and she raced for the door. Or: She grabbed her keys. She raced for the door.

One paragraph, many moves

Flat version:

I packed the box. I taped the seams. I wrote the label. I set it by the door.

Varied version:

I packed the box. Taped the seams. While the tape squealed, I rewrote the label, crooked at first, then straight. By the door, the box waited.

Same actions, fresh shape. Meaning stays clear. Rhythm serves the point.

Build this habit during revision. Scan for sameness, tweak one choice at a time, listen again. Variety turns pages. Clarity seals the deal.

Match Rhythm to Narrative Pacing

Pacing lives in your sentences. When the scene sprints, your lines sprint. When the scene lingers, your lines breathe. Match rhythm to intent, and readers feel pulled, not pushed.

For speed: strip and strike

Fast scenes like clear edges. Short sentences. Concrete verbs. Minimal modifiers. Keep clauses in a clean chain, subject to verb to object.

Slow version:

He was running across the market, which was crowded, while he tried to remember where he had parked, and he desperately pushed past the vendors, who were shouting at him.

Fast cut:

He ran through the market. Stalls blurred. Vendors shouted. He searched for the blue hatchback. There. He vaulted a crate.

Sharper verbs remove the need for padding. Moved quickly becomes sprinted. Looked over becomes scanned. Cut helper verbs. Trim trailing phrases that trail only to echo the same point.

One more tweak:

She reached out and tried to pull the door.

Better: She yanked the door.

Build speed into structure:

• Keep subjects close to verbs.
• Favor one action per sentence.
• Cap a fast paragraph with a punchy line.

An editor’s trick: highlight adverbs in a chase. Swap two of them for stronger verbs. Read aloud. Your breath tells you where to cut again.

For reflection: lengthen and layer

When the story turns inward, give the prose room. Longer sentences work, provided the spine stays firm. Guide the reader through the line with clear anchors.

Plain version:

The lake was calm. I felt tired. I thought about home.

Lingering version:

The lake held a pewter sheen, and the ferry hummed across it as I leaned on the rail and let the day loosen its grip, the phone heavy in my pocket, the light draining from the pines on the far shore.

Notice the spine. Lake held. Ferry hummed. I leaned. Each clause builds on a clear subject and verb. You still move forward, only with a wider lens.

A check for clarity:

• Underline the main clause.
• If it hides behind three phrases, pull it forward.
• Keep imagery to a small cluster. Two or three well-chosen details beat a parade.

Dialogue: pace on the page

White space speeds the eye. Short exchanges snap.

Quick version:

“Where’s the bag?”

“In the car.”

“Keys.”

“On the hook.”

“Go.”

Minimal tags keep the line hot. Add beats only to steer tone or give bodies something to do.

With beats:

“Where’s the bag?” He scans the counter.

“In the car.” She twists the ring on her finger.

“Keys.”

“On the hook.” Her voice tightens.

“Go.”

Read the page. If chatter pools into long tags and throat clearing, strip. If the talk floats without context, thread in one beat or a gesture that hints at stakes.

Paragraph shape sets tempo

Paragraphs are tempo boxes. One core idea per box. Break early for speed. Merge related beats for depth.

Bulky version:

Smoke rolled through the hallway and I tried to stay low while I crawled toward the door because the handle looked hot and the alarm kept shrieking and my knees hurt.

Shaped for speed:

Smoke rolled through the hallway. I dropped low and crawled. The handle glowed. The alarm shrieked. My knees burned.

Shaped for depth:

Smoke rolled through the hallway, and I dropped low and crawled, counting tiles, six, seven, eight, the floor tacky under my palms, the alarm a needle in my ear while the handle glowed in the dark like a warning I had ignored before.

Same moment, different containers. Pick the box that serves the beat.

Genre sets expectations

A thriller leans toward staccato. A literary voice tolerates more play in syntax. The scene still rules, though.

Same action, two treatments:

Thriller-leaning:

Footsteps. Closer. He kills the light and waits.

Literary-leaning:

He hears footsteps nearing the door, a measured tread that lifts the hairs on his arms as he reaches for the switch and lets the room fold into darkness.

Neither is wrong. Keep audience in mind, then bend toward your voice.

Action steps

Label intent before you revise a scene.

• Write one word in the margin: accelerate, steady, or linger.
• For accelerate, shorten sentences, swap vague verbs for concrete ones, and clear out modifiers.
• For steady, hold a mix of short and medium lines, maintain clear sequence, and avoid flourishes that distract.
• For linger, allow one or two longer sentences with layered detail, keep the main clause visible, and prune any image that muddies the line.

Build a cadence map for a chapter.

• Draw a simple timeline across a sticky note.
• Mark three types of movement with symbols. Sprint for action. Breath for pause. Glide for transition.
• Place a tick where you want a paragraph break or a one-line paragraph.
• During revision, align sentences to those marks. If the map says sprint, cut clutter. If the map says breath, open a sentence and let it roll.

A quick drill:

• Take a page. Circle four spots where you want the reader to lean forward. Put a short sentence in each spot.
• Now find two places where the reader needs reflection. Add one well-built long sentence in each place with a clear subject and verb.
• Read aloud from start to finish. Note where your voice trips or gasps. Smooth the tripping point with a cleaner clause order. Shorten the gasp a little.

Rhythm serves story. Give pace a job, and every sentence earns its keep.

Rhetorical Devices as Tempo Controls

Style choices set speed. Think of these moves as your metronome. Use them to push, to swell, to land.

Parallelism and the rule of three

Repeat structure to build rhythm. Not the same words, the same shape.

Flat:

She wanted to run quickly, winning the race, and she hoped for a medal.

Parallel:

She wanted to run, to win, to medal.

Hear the drumbeat. Three beats, rising. Keep forms alike. Infinitive, infinitive, infinitive. Noun, noun, noun.

Another fix:

He likes reading, to swim, and playing chess.

Better:

He likes reading, swimming, and playing chess.

Two tips:

• Trim extra glue words so the pattern shines.
• Aim for similar length across each unit.

A triad lands in memory. First sets up. Second confirms. Third hits.

Anaphora and epistrophe

Anaphora repeats openings. Momentum builds with each return.

Anaphora:

We wait at the door. We wait in the hall. We wait until the lights fade.

Epistrophe repeats endings. The refrain lingers at the tail.

Epistrophe:

I want a day without alarms, a night without alarms, a week without alarms.

Use sparingly. Reserve repetition for peaks. Overuse drains force and turns sing-song.

A quick tune-up:

• Pick one key word or phrase.
• Place it at the start for drive, or at the end for echo.
• Limit to two or three rounds.

Asyndeton and polysyndeton

Asyndeton drops conjunctions. Pace quickens.

Asyndeton:

He grabbed keys, phone, bag, wallet.

Polysyndeton piles conjunctions. Pace swells and grows heavy.

Polysyndeton:

He grabbed keys and phone and bag and wallet.

Same items, different breath. Use asyndeton for urgency. Use polysyndeton for weight or overwhelm.

Mini test:

Original:

She stared at the wreckage and thought about the call and the bill and the deadline.

Asyndeton pass:

She stared at the wreckage, the call, the bill, the deadline.

Polysyndeton pass:

She stared at the wreckage and the call and the bill and the deadline.

Read aloud. Choose the pulse that suits the mood.

Appositives and participial phrases

Appositives drop quick info without halting the line.

Appositive:

Marisol, a former paramedic, checks the wounds.

Keep the insert short. One or two words often suffice.

Participial phrases add motion or detail at the edge of a sentence.

Front-loaded:

Breathing hard, she leaned on the rail.

Mid-line:

She, breathing hard, leaned on the rail.

Tail:

She leaned on the rail, breathing hard.

Place for balance. Front spots heighten urgency. Tail spots soften into afterthought. Avoid strings of phrases. Too many, and the sentence buckles.

Two sanity checks:

• Read without the insert. The core sentence should stand.
• If the phrase steals focus from the main action, trim or move.

Sound devices for mood

Sibilance softens. S sounds whisper and smooth the edge.

Example:

Small seas sigh against the stones.

Plosives punch. P, B, T, D, K, G thump and pop.

Example:

Pack the bag. Drop the box. Kick the door.

Match sound to scene. Storm on the page, plosives help. Lull on the lake, sibilance helps. A little goes far. One sonic highlight per paragraph keeps music under control.

Quick swaps:

• Weak: heavy use of mixed hissing and popping in one line.
• Better: one cluster of soft s, or one crisp burst of p and b.

Action steps

Test asyndeton vs polysyndeton.

1. Copy a five-line paragraph with a list or a series of beats.
2. Version A, remove conjunctions where the sense stays clear.
3. Version B, add and between each item in one sentence.
4. Read both versions aloud. Mark which version fits the scene’s mood.

Write a triadic sentence with escalation.

• Pick a base pattern. To run, to learn, to lead. Or a noun set. Heat, smoke, flame.
• Raise stakes or specificity with each element.

Examples:

She wants relief, she wants answers, she wants names.

The box holds photos, the folder holds records, the safe holds the truth.

One final pass before you move on:

• Flag one paragraph for parallel structure. Fix mismatches.
• Add one precise anaphora or epistrophe where emotion peaks.
• Choose asyndeton or polysyndeton for one series, not both.
• Keep appositives and participials tight.
• Tune one line for sound, either soft s or hard p and b.

Rhetoric is not decoration. Rhetoric is tempo. Use form to set pace, and the page starts to breathe on cue.

Practical Revision Techniques for Cadence

You fixed plot and logic. Good. Now tune the music of the line. Give rhythm its own pass. One focus. One goal.

Do a cadence-only pass

Close the style guide. Ignore plot. Ignore grammar for now. Read one page aloud. Pencil only. Mark where you breathe. Mark where you rush. Mark where your tongue trips.

Quick marks help:

• Slash for a breath.
• Dot over a stumble.
• Circle for a spot where you run out of air.

Later, adjust to match those marks. Shorten a clause. Add a clean stop. Merge two tiny beats. You are shaping time on the page.

Merge choppy runs, split bloated lines

Choppy drains energy because every start costs a breath.

Choppy:

He stood. He looked around. He took a step. He stopped.

Smoother:

He looked around, took a step, then stopped.

One sentence, three beats, clear forward motion.

Now the other side. A sentence that tries to hold the whole room goes flat.

Bloated:

Because of the heavy rain which fell through the evening, the volunteers who were in the field tried to assess the damage in a thorough manner despite the mud and the failing light.

Split:

Rain hammered the field.

Volunteers worked through mud and failing light.

They assessed the damage.

Guides:

• One main action per sentence.
• Subordinate the lesser point.
• Trim where a reader already understands the link.

Subordination in action:

While the crowd filed out, she counted cash.

After the lights went up, we checked the aisles.

Bring subject and verb closer

Distance blurs energy. Pull the doer to the action.

Slow:

A survey of outcomes in schools in rural counties in the region was conducted by the board.

Tight:

The board surveyed outcomes in rural schools in the region.

Another slow one:

The report on the effects of the policy on small towns was released by the committee.

Tight:

The committee released a report on policy effects in small towns.

Two quick checks:

• Find the true subject. Put it near the verb.
• Highlight of, in, on, for, with. If three stack up, rework the phrase.

Swap nominalizations for verbs

Nouns that hide actions add weight. Verbs move.

Common swaps:

• make a decision → decide
• give consideration to → consider
• perform an analysis → analyze
• hold a discussion → discuss
• provide a description → describe
• reach an agreement → agree

Before:

Her team made a decision about the selection of vendors, and they performed an analysis of cost in order to reach an agreement.

After:

Her team chose vendors and analyzed costs. They agreed.

Clearer, shorter, faster.

Use text-to-speech for stumble checks

Use your phone or laptop. Play a page. Follow with a finger. If the voice surges through a long chain, mark it. If the voice hiccups on a knot, mark it. If the voice turns dull for a full paragraph, mark it.

Then revise where the voice flagged:

• Split one marathon sentence.
• Combine three clipped lines.
• Swap a be-verb for a precise action.
• Shift a phrase to bring the verb forward.

Build a sentence-variety checklist

Keep a short list at your desk. One pass per page is enough.

• Openings. Mix subject-first with prepositional, participial, and adverbial starts.
• Length. Aim for a pattern, not a flat average. One short, some medium, one long.
• Punctuation. Periods for stops, commas for links, a colon if you need a spotlight.
• Devices. One clean parallel line or triad per page.
• Fragments. Purposeful and rare, paired with full sentences.
• Verbs. Strong and concrete. Fewer be-forms.
• Sound. One sonic highlight per paragraph, not three.

Tick each box once, then move on.

Build a before and after sandbox

Give yourself a safe lab to test pace. Copy one paragraph into a new file. Save three versions. Label them so you remember the sound you chased.

Base sentence:

The city woke to sirens as smoke drifted and neighbors watched from windows.

Staccato:

The city woke to sirens. Smoke drifted. Neighbors watched from windows. Cars crept. A dog barked.

Balanced:

The city woke to sirens, smoke drifting past windows as neighbors watched and cars crept through the haze.

Lyrical:

When the city woke to sirens, smoke drifted along the block and neighbors watched from their windows while cars crept through the haze.

Read them out loud. Feel your breath. Pick the version which fits the scene’s intent. Save the others. You might need a faster or slower take in a later draft.

A quick routine to lock in cadence

• Cadence pass, marks only.
• Fix choppy runs or bloat.
• Pull subject and verb together.
• Turn heavy nouns into verbs.
• Listen with a synthetic voice.
• Run the checklist.
• Try one sandbox variant for a key paragraph.

Small moves, repeated with intent, reshape flow. You earn pace line by line. Keep your ear in the chair, and the page will start to sing.

Pitfalls Disrupting Flow (and Quick Fixes)

Rhythm slips for simple reasons. You know the moves. You forget them under deadline. Here is a quick tour of common traps, with fixes you can apply in one pass.

Monotonous length

A page of medium lines hums at one pitch. Eyes glaze, even when the scene holds stakes.

Flat run:

She parks behind the market and walks to the back door. She waits for the clerk to return with the box. She reads the notice on the wall while the fan clicks. She signs the form and takes the box to the car.

Snap it awake with contrast.

Option 1, a punch:

She parks behind the market and walks to the back door. She waits for the clerk to return with the box. The fan clicks. She signs the form and takes the box to the car.

Option 2, a slow swell:

While she waits behind the market, the fan clicks and the notice curls at the edge, and by the time the clerk returns with the box, heat has gathered at her collar.

Two rules:

• Add one short line for shock or emphasis.
• Add one long periodic line for tension or weight.

Run-on fog

Comma splices smear meaning. The eye tries to track the link and loses the beat.

Fog:

He loved the city, he wanted to move there, he thought the rent would drop, he doubted his savings would last.

Clear air:

He loved the city, and he wanted to move there. He thought the rent would drop, but he doubted his savings would last.

Another option with a colon for spotlight:

He loved the city for one reason: the noise felt like home.

Fixes to reach for:

• Split into two sentences.
• Add a conjunction.
• Use a colon when the second part explains or reveals.

Fragment overuse

Fragments add voice and speed. A page full of fragments wheezes.

Breathless:

The park at noon. Sun on benches. Kids in clusters. A dog. Another siren. No shade. No quiet.

Anchored:

At noon, the park hums. Sun warms the benches. Kids cluster near the fountain, and a dog noses a snack wrapper. A siren fades. Then quiet.

Keep fragments rare and pointed. Pair them with complete sentences that carry grammar and sense.

Over-punctuation

Too many marks fight for attention. Dashes, commas, and ellipses in one line create static.

Noisy:

She wanted to go, but, after thinking (and rethinking...), she decided to wait, for once, and see.

Choose one dominant mark per sentence.

Clean:

She wanted to go, but after a long think she decided to wait.

Another fix with parentheses for a gentle aside:

She wanted to go (she even grabbed her keys), but she decided to wait.

Pick the mark that matches tone. Remove the rest.

Alliteration overload

A little music pleases the ear. A tongue-twister turns prose into a jingle.

Overdone:

Slick salespeople sang syrupy slogans in the sunlit showroom.

Scaled back:

Salespeople pitched while light pooled across the showroom floor.

Keep one sonic highlight per paragraph. Two if you must. No more.

When polish erases voice

Smoothing rhythm helps, until voice goes flat. Characters start to sound alike. Narration loses grit.

Voice before the wash:

Nah. Not tonight. He folds the flyer, slides it in his pocket, and keeps walking.

Washed out:

He declines the offer. He folds the flyer and places it in his pocket. He continues on his way.

Restore edges:

Nah. Not tonight. He folds the flyer, pockets it, keeps walking.

Guardrails:

• Preserve idiom and diction tied to character or narrator.
• Keep sentence shapes that signal voice. Clipped. Loping. Wry asides.
• When a line rings true, leave it alone.

Action step: one-page triage

Print one page. Grab a highlighter and a pencil.

• Mark every sentence five to fifteen words long. If you see a long streak, insert one short line or one long periodic line.
• Circle comma splices. Split or coordinate with a conjunction. Use a colon when the second clause explains or reveals.
• Box fragments. Keep one or two for punch, restore the rest to full sentences.
• Underline sentences with two or more kinds of extra marks, like commas plus parentheses plus ellipses. Pick one mark, rebuild the line around it.
• Squiggle under heavy alliteration. Pare to one sound echo.
• Star lines where voice thinned out. Restore phrasing and rhythm that belong to the speaker.

Read the page aloud. If your breath flows, keep moving. If you trip, adjust. Small fixes, steady ear, smoother prose.

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