As a creative writer, LB doesn’t follow standard writing conventions. Here are some details about what readers do. I call this the meta-game, but because without knowing this is the case, you are working at a dis-advantage.
The bad part - Consider it stupid things we do to service voter-psychology. Loads of LB battlers do not cap multi-syllable rhymes, use quotation, etc. However, very few are effective enough in their writing to rise above voter-psychology. These things are expected for readability (believe it or not) - some unskilled voters will actually write-off a verse if your verse does not have these qualities.
The catharsis - Over the years, I just used these traits to help me structure rhymes better. I have also learned to “Know my judges” as a competitive writer. The meta is a necessary evil. There are other guides on this, but I’ll keep it short. In my humble opinion, you NEED to know the meta before you get into the technical aspects of writing (on LB specifically). I’ll get into this more in later sections.
CAPPING MULTIES
to express rhymes, capitalize the rhyming words to help the reader stress the pattern. In text, it’s just a visual interpretation of your structure. This is optional, but current voter psychology is that this MUST be done for an effective verse. If you want to be competitive, do this 100% of the time. If you are weak at rhyming, DON’T cap the rhymes. Often, I see writers capitalize a whole phrase. This is a lazy habit, and you will lose votes for this.
Ending Punctuation
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Slash (/ or //) - shows the end of a bar or rhyme pattern. Some will use a dash or ellipse depending on their stylistic choice
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Period (.) – Rarely used (ironically) but still useful to full-stop a sentence or phrase
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Exclaimation (!) or
Question (?) – standard use to accentuate the idea
Inline Punctuation
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Single-quotations (‘ ‘) – use this for double meanings, wordplays, metaphors, etc.
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Double-quotations (“ “) – use these for direct quotations (what someone said, what you said, titles of books, movies, etc.)
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Comma (,) or
Ellipse (…) or – This breaks the phrase and gives a short (comma) or long (ellipse) pause before continuing. Commas are most useful in the beginning of a line and ellipses are useful in executing punches
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Dash (-) – This has two uses. 1. Between internal rhyme patterns 2. Used instead of the ellipse
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Parenthesis ( and ) or
Asterisk (*) – internal dialogue or what I would call a 4th wall break. Asterisk are usually used for sound-words or onomatopoeia (google it)
Bold / Italic / Underline – Use at your own risk!
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Bold – Use to highlight an impact point or heavy statement in the verse
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Italic – Can be used instead of single quotes (‘ ‘)
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Underline – Not aesthetically pleasing, but can be used instead of Bold or Italic.
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NOTE: Try to thing of these as a high-note in a song. You get one per battle before it looks cluttered, so choose wisely. 90% of the time you can write an effective verse without bold, italic, or underline.
EXAMPLES:
Old example: reEFer (vs DaDDiO)
Start TELLIN ME HOW any of thats RELEVANT NOW??/ ..like the fact every time you SEND BATTLEs it GETs WACKER, never DID HAVE THE "IT"-FACTOR' ..your jus one 'HELL OF A CLOWN'!!/
Meta NOTES: Reefer is a Grand Champion and one of my favorite writers on LB all-time. Notice that the multis are capped and he used punctuation to exactly get across the sentiment of the opening line. Don't worry about the technical aspects - every phrase has "The Meta" CAPPED MULTIES, good use of punctuation (inline and ending). When this is read aloud it's even better because some of the slants smooth over the rhyme scheme
Technical NOTES: Opening line is what's called a one-liner. TELLIN ME HOW / RELEVANT NOW is the end of that scheme. He then used what's called an internal scheme (SEND BATTLES/GET WACKER/DID HAVE THE/IT FACTOR) to link his first scheme back in as the end rhyme (HELL OF A CLOWN).
Is it technically perfect, no. Is it effective? Yes. Does he use the "meta" BIG YES! We'll revisit this scheme in the technical sections, but it's a banger. Just think, it's only the opening punch to a 32 line battle as well.
New(er) example: RhetoriK (vs Ice Bear)
sup faggot! u 'goin out w/two black eyes' - GOTH BITCHES! funeral attire - 'folded & packed in the baggage' u BROUGHT WITCHA, hard denim vs SOFT LINEN: our personals might 'cut similar' - my CLOTHS DIFFERENT!
Meta NOTES: This is another opener to a 32 line battle. Notice, I've used "the meta" but differently. There's a lot more cadence and pausing between the key terms. the punch method is different as well (more technical shit later). The meta is at full play. single-quotes to pull the eye to every double/triple entendre with a slight pause before the impact.
Technical NOTES: Nothing much to say here without spoiling some of the technical aspects later. Is this technically perfect. Hell no, but it's a winning verse. Compared to Reefer's more complex scheme (AABBBA) - mine's hella basic (AAAA). Trade off is punchworthiness between the two. if that makes sense to you, great - if not, don't worry.
Now that you have "The META" down, we can get into more technical aspects of writing a solid verse. Aye!!
And yeah, you gotta read to write in this shit. By no means is this the Text Battle Bible, but it's netted me a lotta wins over the years. Pack a lunch if you wanna get better
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