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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Tactics. Analogy, Simile, and Metaphors

Subtitle: “It’s alive.” – Young Frankenstein

Words take you to another realm if you let them. Using the paintbrush of mental images, you are transported to another planet, a different age, or into the world of the author’s own making. But what ticket makes this possible?

The breath of Life.      
What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet. – Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare


Metaphors, similes, and analogies are pretty much the same thing. All compare one to another. It’s mostly how they are put together.


  • When she stopped, the field of sunflowers beckoned to her like a buttery cake waiting to be tasted.
  • There are many speed bumps on the journey to Published Author.
  • The house waited for the next thrown rock, its broken windows in a silent stare of acceptance.

Take a scene out of your wip and put in a metaphor at some point. You don’t need to overdo it. Use a light touch, but create something that gives the scene Life. Especially practice comparing things that aren’t remotely related:
He’s as edgy as a hacky sack. – Greg Gutfeld, odd person who creates more similes in five seconds than an average writer can in five hours.
If you combine things out of left field, it forces the reader to look at Normal in a different way.
(the idea) came and went like an ice cream headache – Greg Gutfeld, strange man who mixes words like an eclectic interior designer.

If you let them, if you allow your imagination to roam free, your mind creates the picture. Words start you on the road. 

But it is up to you to arrive at the destination.

1 comment:

Liz A. said...

Metaphors are hard. At least for me.