Write down the rhyme scheme associated with the Shakespearean sonnet: abab cdcd efef gg. This means lines one and three, as well as two and four, will rhyme in each quatrain.
Compose one quatrain at a time. Each quatrain consists of four lines grouped in sections. Try to find a unifying theme for each quatrain. Meter is important within the sonnet; typically, all sonnet forms adhere to iambic pentameter. An iamb is "an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable." Pentameter refers to the total number of iambs in the line, making iambic pentameter a "five-stress iambic verse." For instance, this line from Shakespeare's Sonnet 12: "When I do count the clock that tells the time"
The second quatrain builds on the initial idea from the first. For instance, if the first quatrain's theme is the object's external beauty, use the second quatrain to discuss the object's internal beauty. The rhyme scheme will shift to cdcd.
Use the third quatrain to again develop the previous two quatrains. The writer can discuss how much the object means in an emotional sense, using an efef rhyme scheme. The writer can use the third quatrain to express his or her feelings toward the object.
Create a genuine or bold statement with the couplet. A couplet is a pair of rhyming lines that have the same rhythm and structure. In a Shakespearean sonnet, the lines of the couplet must rhyme with one another, gg. What makes the couplet in a Shakespearean sonnet a little different is that it is meant to act as a commentary on what came before. Rather than repeat what has come before, the couplet acts as a departure into a new idea.