First of all, what is a sonnet?

A sonnet is a 14 line poem that was usually written during the times of William Shakespeare. It consists of an a, b, a, b, c, d, c, d, e, f, e, f, g, g rhyme scheme. This means that Line 1 rhymes with Line 3, Line 2 rhymes with Line 4, Line 5 rhymes with Line 7, Line 6 rhymes with Line 8, Line 9 rhymes with Line 11, Line 10 rhymes with Line 12, and Lines 13 and 14 rhyme together.

 

What is iambic pentameter?

Iambic pentameter is a form of writing that sets each line to a meter. This means that each line has a certain "beat" to it. Iambic pentameter consists of U_U_U_U_U_. Each U indicates an unaccented syllable. Each _ indicates an accented syllable. For example, the line "A feeling which you can feel all day long" is in iambic pentameter. Try it out by accenting and unaccenting the appropriate syllables (to start you off, unaccent the syllable "A", accent the syllable "fee", unaccent the syllable "ling", etc.). If written correctly, the entire line will fall into the U_U_U_U_U_ meter.

 

How to write a Sonnet in Iambic Pentameter

Now that you know what a sonnet is and what iambic pentameter is, it's time to start writing a sonnet in iambic pentameter. This can be awfully tricky because it is necessary to make the sonnet fit the rhyme scheme (a, b, a, b, c, d, c, d, e, f, e, f, g, g) while also making the sonnet fall into iambic pentameter.

 

Here is an example of the first four lines of a sonnet in iambic pentameter:

Some day I want to be a therapist,

The patients are all nice and welcoming,

Some day I want a watch that's on my wrist,

Some day I'll give my fiancé a ring.

 

Notice that the first and third lines rhyme and the second and fourth lines rhyme. Also, all four lines stick to iambic pentameter (also note that in the fourth line, by the word fiancé, you accent the "fi", unaccent the "an", and accent the "ce").

 

Now you try! Have fun!