As a writer you need to enrich your work with figurative language and imagery. Three basic but super effective tools to have in your arsenal are similes, metaphors and analogies.
Similes
A simile is a literary device commonly found in creative pieces. A commonality between a simile and a metaphor is that they are both comparative literary devices. They both, however, use dissimilar language phrases to compare. To locate a simile in writing, the reader would have to look out for phrases that liken or juxtapose one thing to another, using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’. Two examples of similes are the phrases ‘As light as a feather’ and ‘ like two peas in a pod’.
I do enjoy locating similes in articles as I find that a simile can transform a piece because it provides effective imagery for readers. This can make a piece more interesting and eye-catching. I support this with an example of an extract from Roald Dahl’s novel, James and the Giant Peach.
‘She had small piggy eyes…She was like a great white soggy overboiled cabbage’.
How did the simile impact the sentence?
By Roald Dahl using words such ‘ soggy overboiled and cabbage’, it provides the reader with a visual representation of the disdain and disgust the character,James, has for his aunt. By comparing his relative to a 'overboiled cabbage', it gives the reader an idea of her shapely appearance, as well as her rotten behaviour, and possibly her stench.
In my opinion, similes are very significant in language and important for writers for many reasons. Firstly, similes can be found in any piece of writing. This is because it is a describing device that many writers use to create a vivid picture for the reader, and so it becomes much more than a phrase. It holds importance as it can shape the way a reader interprets a creative piece. Another reason why they're important is because it can rejuvenate a dull piece of writing. An example of this is Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita.
‘Elderly American ladies leaning on their canes listed toward me like towers of Pisa.’ — Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
By likening the women’s frail frames to the leaning tower of Pisa, it creates a clear image that they rely on the cane for the upmost support, and their physical health is deteriorating.
Metaphors
A metaphor is a form of imagery where you describe something by calling it something else, usually something that is completely different to what the subject actually is.
‘A metaphor fails if it’s obvious. Comparing two alike things is meaningless in terms of providing engagement and enlightenment’ (Wending C, 2012).
A metaphor is the paint that a writer uses to create a picture for the reader. Connotations play a large part in achieving this strong imagery – saying someone is a weasel, to use the above example, is effective as ‘weasel’ has connotations of slyness and trickery. On the other hand saying that a character you want to be seen as beautiful is a ‘weed’ is a poor use of metaphor as ‘weed’ has connotations of ugliness.
Similarly, an overused metaphor becomes a cliché and is thus ineffective as it has lost its impact. The best metaphors are unique and striking; they should make the reader think.
So how do you come up with a good metaphor? First of all, you need to understand what a metaphor is – hopefully this blog post has helped with that! Secondly, you need to pick a certain aspect of the thing you are trying to describe; for this example let’s use a chair, and the certain aspect will be the uncomfortableness of that chair. Thirdly, you need to choose something that shares that aspect (the uncomfortableness) but wouldn’t normally be associated with the thing you are trying to describe (the chair). To go with our example, we could say ‘the chair was a fist punching into his bottom’. So: understand, specialise, and think outside of the box.
Analogies
An analogy is a literary device that helps to establish a relationship between two different concepts or ideas.
It aims to explain that idea by comparing it to something that we already know. This is effective because we can use our understanding of a known concept as a basis for understanding the new idea.
Some examples of analogies:
‘Tim looked like a fish out of water when he arrived at the farm, and that comes as no surprise because he is used to living in a big city.’
This implies that Tim was not comfortable in his surroundings, just like a fish out of water, he felt like he did not belong there. By using this concept, the reader can understand Tim’s feelings of discomfort and alienation.
‘I didn't hear you come in last night. You must have been as quiet as a mouse.’
In the same way this sentence uses an analogy to compare the person to a mouse.
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