Stressed and unstressed syllables are as important when writing rhyme as the rhyme itself. Some writers are better at this than others are. The most successful writers of rhyme understand the importance of syllables. How can you bring this important aspect of writing in rhyme into your work? Listen to your story, line by line, and mark where the stressed and unstressed syllables fall. You should not hear any blatant discrepancies, any jarring positions as your work is read aloud. Too often, if you read it yourself with no outside input, you can convince yourself that it sounds perfect when in fact it does not. This can be corrected by having others read the work aloud to you and to themselves. Ask them if any parts hang or trip them as they read. A story that has good flow will not do either.
The Basics
Any story, no matter the genre it is written, must include the same basics: a beginning, middle, and an end. The story must have some type of conflict that will propel the reader to turn the page, a need to know what comes next. The words must also support enough pictures to either fill the pages of a picture book or evoke a few strong pictures to accompany it as a magazine piece. Without these basic beginnings, no story, no matter how well you have perfected the rhyme aspect, will ever become published by a reputable company.
What is Good Rhyme?
Good rhyme has effortlessness about it when you read or hear it. You hear the story. You hear the rhythm. Then you hear the rhyme. Many assume that the rhyme should be the focus and they would be right. For the rhyme to be the focus and work though, it must appear to be a secondary consideration to the overall story itself. This takes work.