My Top 5 Sexiest Literary Devices, for Your Reading Pleasure

My Top 5 Sexiest Literary Devices, for Your Reading Pleasure

When you tap out a brilliant sentence, headline or article — you just know it’s good. By the feel, the rhythm, the power of the ideas brought to life with the right words in the right way. To me, that’s what makes the literary devices in a writer’s toolkit so, well, sexy. Here are my personal favorite devices for powerful writing that leaves your audience powerless to resist your message.

1. Alliteration

You discerning readers may have already gathered this is a fave based on my newsletter’s name. Also, Chappell Roan agrees that alliteration is totally sexy. Only she stopped at 2 Ps in her Pink Pony Club song. Chappell, it could have been Pink Pony Pole. Methinks more accurate based on the video? And I’ll just go ahead and say it… a one-trick-pony mindset?

Though you should certainly never force alliteration where it doesn’t fit, this stylish literary device is most at home in headlines, subject lines, product/brand names, slogans and taglines, where it can capture attention and rev up recall. Why else do you think so many iconic brands employ this dependable device in their brand names? Think Coca-Cola, TedTalks, TikTok, Mickey Mouse, Krispy Kreme, PayPal. The list literally goes on forever. So if you want customers to remember a key phrase or get a product benefit stuck in their head, reach for alliteration.

If Chappell Roan was a pineapple…??

2. Rhyme

Popping in an unexpected rhyme infuses writing with sparkle and verve. It’s a level of playfulness and care that invites readers to savor the lines, not just plow through them. You can rhyme anytime, as long as you don’t overdo it. Be ready when inspiration strikes, as a well-placed rhyme can add rhythm to your writing. But also be prepared to discard the rhyming endeavor if it’s not a fit for the flow (which it won’t be, more times than not).

This one gets high sexy points because it’s also backed by science. Yep. It’s called the Rhyme-as-Reason Effect, and it’s been exhaustively studied and proven. You see, people give more credence to advice and information delivered as rhyming phrases—they believe them more and remember them more vividly than the same information delivered sans rhymes. So it pays to take the time to rhyme, especially if you want to be tricky and make your content sticky.

Super smart people who have studied this say that using rhymes helps us break down information into a format that can more easily be stored and retrieved. It’s called semantic encoding. To rhyme is sublime!

Remember this throwback? Be kind, rewind. I can instantly snatch that one from the depths of memory, even though I haven’t watched a VHS tape in a couple of decades. 

Or how about this one, which I’ve been teaching my kids: If you sprinkle when you tinkle, be a sweetie, wipe the seatie.

3. Suspense

Ever wonder why questions work so well in email subject lines? Or why click-bait focuses on finding something out or promises to reveal a secret or #1 tip? Because suspense is sexy. It’s why (some) people are hooked on horror and why Apple mercilessly teases its next new release. Really, though, suspense is about tapping into anticipation and expectation. It’s what investor, entrepreneur and former Apple brand evangelist Guy Kawasaki calls “letting 100 flowers blossom.”

Suspense makes room for the imagination to fill in the blanks, and it’s untethered from a concrete promise or a commitment to satisfaction because mystery is the point. So use this one in ways very big as well as small.

For example, in marketing a product before it’s live, you can drop hints that stimulate customers’ creativity – without giving them anything actual. They’ll be thinking about your brand, filling in the blanks. But they know you haven’t said exactly what they’ll be getting, so their daydreams are flexible and forgiving. In short, it’s a bit of brand foreplay leading up to the big reveal.

4. Wordplay

This is the wink-and-smile of the word world. I’m intentionally using the term “wordplay” to broaden the scope, because it can encompass puns, innuendo and even downright jokes (corny and otherwise). It’s leaning into double meanings and asking your reader to play along. I may or may not be engaging in some wordplay in my headline…

Sometimes puns get a bad name because they can be clumsily wielded and frankly, lazy. But some of our biggest literary heroes are pun afficionados, including Shakespeare himself. Here’s one of his best, from Romeo & Juliet. Although Mercutio is mortally wounded, still he makes a joking pun with his dying breath: “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.” Do you dig it?

Consumers do. Research actually shows that puns in particular turn on shoppers’ brains. In one eye-tracking study, participants rated advertisements with puns as more attractive, original, effective and positive compared to advertisements without puns.

5. Motif

Much like Christian Louboutin’s iconic (and incredibly costly) red-soled heels, you’ve probably noticed I’ve woven a sexy red thread through these examples. It’s a titillating motif, a playful peek-a-boo that bubbles along beneath and springs to the surface now and again.

A motif adds depth and layered nuance, creating emotional resonance and a feeling of cohesiveness. In marketing, motifs are often visual — repeated patterns, colors and shapes that create brand consistency and a core identity that’s instantly recognizable. In longer-form content, a motif can feel satisfying, evoking a certain mood. And a skilled practitioner can follow it all the way through to its natural conclusion, bringing it back in the end so the reader can bask in its afterglow.

Shakespeare loved wordplay, often using puns and sexual innuendo.