One writer who does a masterful job of pacing dialogue is Noah Baumbach. Using iambic rhythm is something that can help screenwriters keep the pace of dialogue in their movies. If you’re wondering how to write in iambic pentameter, consider asking this question instead: what’s the purpose of writing in iambic pentameter? Well, the answer to that question is rather simple - iambic pentameter is an iambic rhythm meter and its purpose is to keep an “ear-pleasing” rhythm.ĭon’t get hung up on pentameter, iambs can be used in a variety of different ways. What is Iambic Pentameter Used For Today? How to write in iambic pentameter Perhaps that’s one reason why iambs aren’t as popular today as they were back in the days of Shakespeare.īut in terms of flow, we still see the influence of iambs in writing today, whether in pentameter or any other meter. Iambic pentameter isn’t a perfect science - accents, dialects, and translations all play a part in how syllables are emphasized. Of THAT For-BI-dden TREE, whose MOR-tal TASTEīrought DEATH in-TO the WORLD, and ALL our WOE. Of MAN’S First DI-so-BE-dience, AND the FRUIT Give ME ex-CESS of IT, that, SURF-ei-TING Here are some famous iambic pentameter examples: Twelfth Night (William Shakespeare) Whereas iambs are emphasized on the second beat, trochees are emphasized on the first.

Trochee: “DOUB-le, DOUB-le, TOIL and TROUB-le” The opposite of an iamb is a trochee - iambs are defined by an unstressed syllable leading directly into a stressed syllable, trochees are defined by a stressed syllable leading into an unstressed syllable. First, it's necessary to understand how stress works in English. But if you're not confident of your ear, there are certain techniques you can use to help you identify how a line scans. We’ve gone over how iambs are used by writers, but perhaps it might be useful to consider their opposites. 1 Answer Sorted by: 5 As the comments to your question have noted, the most reliable way to figure out whether a given line is iambic pentameter is to sound it out.

Sonnet 116 iambic pentameter