Thread by @MichaelDean_0

"Don't repeat yourself."

We live in an era of minimal, efficient, and robotic prose.

But repetition done well brings an intangible magic to your writing.

18 types of repetition in Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut you can try out:

There are dozens of formal, PhD-level, Latin-sounding types of repetition, like "epizeuxis," "anadiplosis," and "chiasmus."

Let's make it simple.

We'll break these 18 quotes into 3 groups: Stamps, Loops, and Mirrors.

Starting with Stamps ...

The most obvious form of repetition is to repeat words. Stamps are a tool to emphasize ideas and layer meaning. There are multiple ways to do it.

1. DOUBLE-STAMP (Epizeuxis)

Put two identical words next to each other for emphasis.

2. NEAR-STAMP (Diacope)

Repeat words and syllables, but with other words in between them.

3. FRONT-STAMP (Anaphora)

Repeat the beginning of a phrase.

4. BACK-STAMP (Epistrophe)

Repeat the end of a phrase.

5. CARRY-STAMP (Epanodos)

Carry an important word from sentence to sentence.

6. MULTI-STAMP

Weave multiple words from sentence to sentence.

It starts to get fun with Loops.

Create loops by repeating phrases across back-to-back sentences.

A loop lets you expand or relate ideas, while setting the pace.

Kurt Vonnegut does this in imaginative ways:

7. CUT-LOOP

Repeat a phrase, but make it shorter.

8. GROW-LOOP

Repeat a phrase, but make it longer.

9. ASYMMETRIC-LOOP

Make it so that the content after each loop are unequal in length.

10. FLIP-LOOP

Invert the meaning of a loop to its opposite.

11. LIST-LOOP

Start a bunch of sentences with the same phrase.

12. ARC-LOOP

Create an arc by varying the length of each loop.

13. BACK-LOOP

End nearby sentences with the same word.

14. MID-LOOP (Symploce)

Repeat the middle phrase in consecutive sentences.

Mirrors are the 3rd (and most challenging) type of repetition. They're about creating a "line of symmetry" and then repeating words either near or far from that line.

When done right, they create balance, show cause and effect, and sound phonetically pleasing.

Some examples:

15. EDGE-MIRROR (Epanalepsis)

Start one sentence with a word, and end the next sentence with that same word.

16. PIVOT-MIRROR (Anadiplosis)

Start a sentence with the ending of the last sentence.

17. DOUBLE-MIRROR (Antimetabole)

Flip the order of two adjacent fragments.

18. INVISIBLE-MIRROR (Chiasmus):

Create symmetry through meaning instead of identical words.

That's it. Study repetition, practice it, then forget it. Let it come out intuitively. Repetition is masterfully laced through all of Vonnegut's writing.

Here's an excerpt showing 7 types of repetition coming together.

18 types of repetition from Cat's Cradle, all in one image.

Bookmark this and use it when you write.

Once you get the hang of Stamps, Loops, and Mirrors, it adds a new dimension to your prose.

Follow for more breakdowns, RT, and let me know what to dissect next.