Craft Glossary · term

Cadence

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Plain English: Cadence is rhythm at the sentence and paragraph level: the pattern of long and short, hard and soft, statement and fragment. Good cadence is modulated — it speeds a chase, slows a reckoning, lands a joke, delivers a blow. Bad cadence is even — every sentence the same length and shape, producing a hypnotic flatline (the signature machine tell).

Rule: Read aloud. Vary length deliberately: a short sentence after several long ones punches; a long sentence after clipped dialogue is an exhale. Match cadence to emotion — monosyllables and hard consonants for urgency; polysyllables and subordinate clauses for atmosphere.

Fail: Even cadence — prestige-TV uniformity, no contrast. Forced lyricism — every line poetic, so none can land. Cadence without content — beautiful sentences that do not move story or character.

See: Sentence rhythm · Modulation · Evenness of register

Arjuna Badger Press · Craft Library

Glossary · Doctrine · Anti-patterns · Triptych form · LLM tells

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