Some Things to Consider When Making Line Breaks
by Pattiann Rogers
1. Try to make each line interesting on its own. This can be accomplished with an
interesting noun, verb, adjective, or adverb, or by a unusual ordering of the
words, by a rhyme or slant rhyme, even by repeating an important or original
combination of words.
2. End the line on a strong word, strong in both sound and meaning. The last word
in the line receives slightly more emphasis than other words in the line because its
sound and meaning will remain in the reader’s mind a moment longer as the
reader’s eyes move to the next line.
3. Bury rhymes in the middle of lines so that the poem retains the music and power
of rhymes without calling the reader’s attention to them, pulling the reader
momentarily out of the cadence of the poem.
4. Increase the interest and complexity of a poem that may be moving with a rather
dull music by playing the rhythm of the language over itself, layering the music.
5. Use line breaks to separate a series of adjectives or alliterative words.
6. Use line breaks to create the visual form of the poem on the page, to establish
symmetry or other visual esthetics on the page.
7. Add clarity by line breaks. Use them to help the reader through the logical
progression of the poem, if it has a logical progression. (Think of stanza breaks in
this way also.)
8. Use line breaks to place images in relationship to one another within the poem.
Think of the poem as a canvas and imagery and color as the paint of a picture
being created.
9. Let the last word in the line serve two purposes, being linked with the words
before it on the same line and the words which follow on the next line.
10. Long lines tend to increase the speed with which a poem is read. Short lines tend
to slow down the reading.
11. Avoid being clever or cute (concrete poetry, line breaks that mislead the reader).
12. Use line breaks to enhance the tone you wish to establish in the poem, perhaps
making line breaks at the natural pauses for breath, coinciding with punctuation
(end-stopped lines) or by choosing line breaks that play against those natural
pauses, unexpected line breaks that keep the reader unsettled or interested or
pleasantly surprised or propelled through the poem. Always breaking a line at a
punctuation mark can create a plodding music.