Tools of Language and Expression - 2

This week's two tools are simile and metaphor. They are a super way to compare items in literature. The first, simile, makes the comparison by using the adverbs "like" or "as." For instance, "That wide receiver can jump like a gazelle." Or "Andy's knee swelled up until it was as big as a watermelon." 

A metaphor makes the comparison without the use of those words. Instead, a writer compares the items through the use of implication. In other words, he/she uses one object as another. As an example, we can indicate that a child often repeats the actions of his/her parents by saying, The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree. An old metaphor that comes to mind is the one that describes a person who ridicules someone else's physical fault when, in fact, the person speaking suffers the same physical anomaly. As an example: 

In Greta's opinion, Wendi was an obese slob, but Greta was at least 50 pounds overweight herself. So when she said, "Wendi should take some advice from the diet ads on TV and lose that extra flab," I thought, Well, if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black! That's a really good metaphor because it compares the two overweight girls to two cooking utensils that both hang over the open coals and are covered with black soot. But the pot remarks that the kettle is black, as if the pot refuses to recognize its own soot-covered blackness. 

In the current book you're reading, or in the next one you pick up, see if you can identify the similes and metaphors used by the author. Then try to come up with a couple of similes and metaphors on your own. For some reason, people have a tendency to confuse similes and metaphors. I have my own way of helping me remember which is which. If a sentence says one thing is the same as (or if I can substitute the word "like" for "same as") I know it's a simile. If one object is used to mean another, I know it's a metaphor.

Tidbits from JOURNEY TO PUBLICATION: The General Rule Is, Stay Away from Cliches

   Cliches, those "old saws" that are used to make a point by applying them as similes and metaphors to people and situations in your writing, need to be avoided. Why? First of all, they make you appear less creative than you actually are. Let's face it: if you are a writer you are certainly creative enough to invent your own similes and metaphors and not rely on using the old worn-out ones. 

   Take a look at the examples below: 

        The two lovers did not see or hear one another on opposite sides of the sidewalk. They were 

            like two ships passing in the night. 

        Grace and Emily stuck together like two birds of a feather; neither was ever seen in circles 

            other than the ones they both shared. 

   Each of the above examples contains a cliche highlighted in boldface. Though they may not be familiar to you, they are old and have been worn out by the general public over the years. Beware: when you think you have created an original, it may well be one that has come and gone but is still familiar to enough readers to make you, as an author, appear non-creative. That makes it important to have several people of different ages read your work before you submit it for publication. 

   There are times, however, when using cliches may be permissible. For instance, look at the example below. It is dialogue, and it sounds as if it is coming from a character who is more than likely quite adept at using cliches. 

        "Why, I love eatin' jack rabbit. By damn, I'll gobble up a bowl uh jack rabbit stew, er                               even Welsh rabbit, in a New York minute if'n you'll cook it fer me!"

If cliches are appropriate for a character, you can get by with using them, even to the point of ridiculousness.

Tidbits from JOURNEY TO PUBLICATION: Simile and Metaphor

   A writer needs to express ideas, create moods, develop characters, introduce conflicts, entertain the reader, etc., and the best way of doing this is through the use of some of the tools of language. There are well over 100 tools used by writers to accomplish these feats, but two of the most common are simile and metaphor. A simile compares items or ideas by using the adverbs "like" or "as." A metaphor is a comparison that is implied by using one object as another (without the use of "like" or "as"). 

   Here is an example that demonstrates the difference between the two:

          The truth was like a bad taste on his tongue.   This is a simile--it uses the word "like" to          

               compare truth and bad taste on his tongue.

          Each blade of grass was a tiny bayonet pointed firmly at our bare feet.   This is a metaphor--it 

              implies that the blades of grass hurt their feet by comparing them to tiny bayonets, and it 

              accomplishes this without using the words "like" or "as."

   I think it's pretty clear that saying things with simile or metaphor makes the whole idea much more fun to read. The author could have said, He was upset about telling the truth. Or, The grass was really pointy and hurt our feet. But isn't it more fun to provide the reader with something a little more creative? It's definitely more fun to read because it stimulates the brain by causing the reader to imagine exactly how it feels without being told in a more plain--and boring--manner. 

   OK, so you've heard these two words before, but you can never remember which is which, right? Here's a simple way to keep them straight. Simile has an "l" in it (for "like") and metaphor doesn't. So if the word "like" appears in a comparison, it's a simile. 

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