Write Well: On rhythm, music, and prose that sings

Cadence (KAY-duhns) —n. the rhythm or flow of a sequence of sounds or words; in music, a sequence of notes or chords that brings a phrase to a close.

From the Latin cadere, meaning “to fall.” A cadence is a falling — the way a phrase descends to its resting place, the way a sentence lands.

The root cadere has dropped seeds all through English. Once you know to listen for it, you’ll hear it in unexpected places:

• Cascade—a falling of liquid

• Decay—a falling away

• Decadent—fallen (morally)

• Deciduous—leaves that fall

• Accident—something that falls upon you

• Coincidence—two things that fall together

• Incident—something that falls in

• Occasion—something that falls out (or out of)

• Recidivist—one who falls back (into old habits)

For the writer, cadence is the working word. A sentence has a cadence. A paragraph has a cadence. A scene has a cadence. The reader feels it before she names it.

The closing cadence of the eulogy was so quiet that the room held its breath through the silence that followed.

Question: Every craft book tells me to read my work aloud. I do it, but I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be listening for. Can you help?