POETIC DEVICE: ENJAMBMENT

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​I’m back with my series of blog posts about the use of poetic devices in picture book writing. We use poetic devices to enhance our written work and create a deeper connection for our reader. Today’s topic: Enjambment

Enjambment is the opposite of caesura. With enjambment a sentence or phrase runs over from one poetic line to the next without end punctuation. Its purpose is to speed things up in the reader’s mind.
 
You’ll find enjambment used effectively in verse novels, such as Kwame Alexander’s Newberry Medal winning book, THE CROSSOVER. In this ode to basketball, brotherly love, and navigating change you’ll see this poetic device at work to speed up the action for the reader, matching the play in an actual game:

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Basketball Rule #8
 
Sometimes
you have to
lean back
a little
and
fade away
to get
the best
shot.

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Of course this book is a perfect SWISH! I had the special pleasure of hearing Kwame talk about this project at the SCBWI National Conference in Los Angeles shortly after his Newberry Award was announced. (How lucky to be in the audience and hear him talk about this amazing book and his writing journey — and then later on, chat with him as I waited in line for him to sign my copy!)

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​​Of course, enjambment is used frequently in picture books, too. In Julie Fogliano’s MY BEST FRIEND, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, we feel the giddy rush of excitement as a young girl makes a new friend—a "best friend" that she has connected with so purely and perfectly.

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but I think she is a really
good best friend

because when we were
drawing

she drew me
and i drew her

and then we made hearts
around it

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The lower case lettering, use of enjambment, lack of formal punctuation, and striking illustrations all come together in a nice package to help convey to the reader the excited, sweet feelings of a young girl forming a bond with a new friend in Fogliano and Tamiki's lovely picture book.

Can you find a way to use enjambment to speed up the action in your work-in-progress?  I challenge you to give it a try. See you next time. Happy writing!
 
by Eileen Meyer, Rhyme Doctor

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