Writing Tip #11: What Rhymes with Pomegranate?

My songwriter friend David Christman (http://www.myspace.com/haolewolf) sent me the lyrics of a new song about pomegranates, which was bursting with fun, juicy rhymes. An unexpected rhyme is such a pleasure.

I like to consult my rhyming dictionary when songwriting to make sure that I haven’t overlooked any gems or to get out-of-the-box ideas and was encouraged to keep doing this in a songwriting workshop I took with Pat Pattison (Berklee School of Music). Pattison said that his beginning students mistakenly assume that using a writer’s tool, such as a dictionary, is cheating; but relying only on the rhymes that are in the alphabet of your own brain doesn’t prove anything. He says that your creative talent emerges by choosing the best rhyme possible, so it makes sense to comb through as many rhymes as possible.

David told me that he uses www.rhymezone.com on the web after first tapping his own inner rhyme-maker, which he imagines “to run much like an ice cube maker in a funky old hotel.” Love that image!