To rhyme or not to rhyme...

When many people think of picture books, they automatically imagine a beautiful, lyrical rhyming story. Or maybe a rollicking, funny rhyme. Classics like Goodnight Moon or Dr. Seuss or more modern stories like The Gruffalo all have such a spot in our hearts and just FEEL like quintessential picture books.

So when many people start writing picture books, it is natural to start in rhyme. It's lyrical, it rolls off the tongue, it's fun and can be fast-paced. It's incredibly easy to start down this path without realising that it's easy to find fun rhymes, and oh so hard to perfect a rhyming story! I speak from experience. One of my first stories was in rhyme, and still is to this day, however I have been working on it for almost 2 years and it still isn't exactly right!

An excerpt from my first draft of my rhyming story (about a mermaid)!

Agents often have "no rhyme" on their wish lists and from what I have discovered it is down to two reasons:

1. Rhyme is SO hard to do right. Not only does the story have to be perfect with the right arc, pacing, balance, character development, etc. but you have to do it in perfect meter and perfect rhyme. Not nearly perfect...actually perfect (as a debut author that is).

2. Rhyme doesn't translate. Picture books span the globe and yet a rhyming text doesn't work in a different language. Even with the same language, accent variations make it a tricky sell (think about the United States vs. UK for accents and pronunciations). So it really narrows down the market.

I have also heard one or two agents say that they don't understand meter and rhyme well enough to provide editorial help to authors that write in rhyme, so that is why they stay away from it. All of these reasons make sense and are logical when you think about them. But so often we as new writers see agents saying "no rhyme" and yet half of picture books published every year are in rhyme, so it can be frustrating. I need to state here as well that rhyme for a debut author is different than an established author, as with many aspects of writing and publishing.

So, you have written a story and it is in rhyme. Do you have to change it?

From all of my experience, my answer is "yes". But not in the way you think!

The best piece of advice I received about rhyming stories (and I am still in the process of implementing it in my above-mentioned rhyming story) is this: write it in prose. Get the structure sorted. Figure out your character and story arc, the pacing and page turns. Run it past your critique group and make sure it flows and makes sense as a story.

High Five! A Handful of Rules for Writing in Rhyme by Patty Toht (one of the Rhyme Doctors) at Girl Power Hour, Oct 11 2025

Once that is done, then put it back into rhyme. That way you know your story is as strong as can be so you can concentrate on perfecting the meter and rhyme. If you are revising your story in rhyme, it can be hard to see the wood for the trees and you can easily get distracted. And by "you", I mean "me"! I am in the process of strengthening my story before putting it back into rhyme and it is very helpful.

Try it! You might find it helpful. And if not, then you know for next time. I have come across some amazing rhymers that seem to have a natural propensity for it. I can't say if that is just down to a natural sense of rhythm and words, or a LOT of research, reading and practice. Could be a bit of the former and a lot of the latter!

Some of the resources I have found really useful on my rhyme-learning journey so far:

• Renée M. LaTulippe - anything and everything she does!

  • She has a fantastic YouTube channel and series and, although nothing new has come out in the last two years, if you watch through her series it will give you the basics.

  • Her Lyrical Language Lab course. I haven't taken the full course, but I am on the waitlist. I am working my way through the offline course and it is fantastic. Everything is broken down to a very easy-to-understand level and the modules build nicely on each other. There are some great handouts that I have printed next to me right now.

• Rhyme Doctors - the name says it all! I have not used their services (although I know those who have and said they were fantastic!) but I do regularly follow their blog - House Calls. It is not searchable unfortunately, but if you have some time to spend, you can go down some fantastic rhyming rabbit holes and learn so much!

When it comes to actually writing in rhyme, I have found the resources that have worked best for me are:

• Rhymezone - this is a fantastic website that shows you all rhymes available for all words! It is amazing to help brainstorm and find unusual rhyme combinations. It has so many other functions, like synonyms, antonyms, near-rhymes, etc. but I have yet to delve into those.

• How Many Syllables - with rhyming texts, you don't count syllables (it is about stressed beats) but this website helps you discover where the stresses are in most words - such an amazing resource!

• Thesaurus - hopefully as a writer you already know how helpful a thesaurus can be! But when writing in rhyme, it is a powerful tool to help find the perfect word for the meter and the rhyme!

And one of the best resources out there - a critique group! You don't need to know or understand the ins and outs of rhyme/meter to know when something is off, so your critique group (with or without rhymers) is a great way to see how your rhyme is landing. And most critique groups will have different accents represented as well, which is a huge bonus for rhyme because it has such a big effect when people read it aloud.

If you do have another rhymer in your critique group (I am lucky enough to have at least one rhymer in each of my critique groups) then that can make a huge difference! They can do a scansion read and provide you with alternate ideas that fit your meter. So if you don't have a critique group, find one! And if you can find one with a rhymer, extra bonus!!

If you are able to spend a bit of money on rhyme, then definitely check out Renée M. LaTulippe's classes. There are also classes at SCBWI, The Writing Barn, Highlights Foundation and Inked Voices that you can take to help master the art. And communities like 12x12 has a dedicated space for rhyming and they were the first ones to help me on my way with my story. If you want to marvel at the masters at work, check out Madness Poetry - it didn't run this year, but hopefully back in 2026!

Rhyme is both the most frustrating and the most rewarding writing experience I have had. I am excited to keep learning, keep growing and keep writing in rhyme!

An excerpt from my most recent draft in rhyme!

What resources or courses do you swear by for rhyme? Please share in the comments below!