#similes

[ria-writes-stuff]

terrible news, the simile i was trying to use doesnt exist and nothing else quite fits the vibe

'___ is like sucking water out of concrete' is real and logical to me but unfortunately me alone

[mellodivine]

Fight me—

don’t make love;

pull my fucking hair and bite me.

No gentle kisses, only eager hands

groping and grabbing,

forcing my body to bend and break however you please.

Concupiscent demands exchanged between our teeth.

I want to feel you swell in my palms,

I want to feel you twitch on my tongue.

I want you to fuck me like you hate me

and I’ll arch my back in prayer.

Caress all my curves

and grab onto my hips

as you take out all your frustrations on me

because I like it like that.

Limbs locked and held down,

my body is yours to ruin.

Good ol hate fucking where both of us are taking turns ripping each other apart;

my hair in your fist and

my nails raking your back wreathing in a naked sweat.

We can take it.

All of it.

I know you know I love the way we do it.

[meiyohakobune]

Why Use Metaphors and Similes (and what are they)?

My last guide did pretty well all things considered, so I decided to make another one! This time, it's on metaphors and similes and why you should use them in your writing.

To start off: what is a metaphor and/or simile?

Both are comparisons:

Metaphors compare 2 things by saying 1 thing is like another (does not use “like” or “as”). 

Ex: Her lips were the color of a pale rose, perfect and plump and delicate. 

A simile is a comparison accomplished using the words “like” or “as” 

Ex: She was small as an ant. 

Ex: He was tall like a tree. 

Similes suggest similarities whereas metaphors imply equivalence but I find them to be largely interchangeable depending on syntax, diction, preference, and writing style.

So now that you know what a metaphor and simile are, how do you use them in your writing? But rather more importantly, why should you use them?

In my opinion, metaphors and similes offer more vivid ways to describe nouns and verbs over adjectives and adverbs. That's not to say adjectives and adverbs are bad or useless; but when a big part of descriptive writing is "showing, not telling" (that age-old adage), a great way to show is through comparison. Metaphors and similes allow you to directly paint a picture in your reader's mind by having them draw upon past experiences, memories, or knowledge. In fact, metaphors and similes is to EXTRAPOLATE FROM ADJECTIVES.

What do I mean by this? In most cases, an adjective can be a springboard for the mood/tone of a metaphor/simile. The adjective informs what the comparison should be. If the stove was hot when baby Stevie touched it, maybe in a rewrite it "burned like the time a blazing ember landed on his soft, pudgy cheek." This provides two benefits: one, you paint a more evocative picture than if you just used "hot"; and two, you get to inform the readers more about baby Stevie's life and perspective. We learn that he's been camping before, which may be relevant later (or not, or maybe it becomes a spandrel).

Additionally, adjectives and adverbs tend to lack specificity. When prose claims a character "danced vividly," what does that actually mean? What does that look like? Can you imagine that in your head? But when prose says "she danced like there was no tomorrow," we can infer that the character is putting her all into her performance and enjoying it thoroughly because the implication is that she - and the audience - are assuming this is her last day alive (even when that's not actually the case, as it often is not; that's the power of a metaphor!). Combined with other descriptors, we get a very poignant and meaningful scene that is more than just "she danced vividly," even when that is also technically true.

There is also the range of specificity you can draw on using metaphors and similes. When using adjectives or adverbs, implying a certain feeling or tone mostly relies on word choice: "dreamy" will read very differently from "whimsical" or "lackadaisical" or "ethereal." But using metaphors and similes to accomplish the same thing often requires a lot more creativity and word-smithing. Here are some examples of what I mean:

She cried like a baby. 

Produces an image - more so than an adjective - but is still nondescript. 

She cried like a baby who just lost sight of its mother. 

Very specific. Paints an extremely clear picture in the reader’s mind. 

She cried like a baby who just lost its mother in Jehovah’s Flood, when the river turned crimson from blood and half of the children in town became orphans. 

HYPER SPECIFIC. Gee, I hope she’s okay. 

All of these similes started from the same core concept but by adjusting the specificity, they each paint extremely different images in the reader’s mind because of their varying connotations and intensity.

So now that I've convinced you (or not) to use more metaphors and similes, you're probably wondering: "How do I come up with my own?" While there are certainly some classics (sweet like sugar, flower metaphor/similes, calm like the ocean, etc.), metaphors and similes are a great way to flex your unique creativity and word-smithing; which is way easier said than done!

So my advice is this: write from life.

Writing from life is NOT NECESSARILY writing what you know; it is about drawing from your past experiences to inform your work. For example, not many of us have had our toes cut off. That might make it difficult to describe the pain of your character. HOWEVER, you’ve probably stubbed your toe really, really bad before. Think about how that felt. Yes, it hurt, but how did it hurt? Compare it to things that are known to you: the heat of fire, bee stings, and more. Most things are not absolute; they are a spectrum and that spectrum is a grocery shelf of things you can pick and choose from to build your metaphors and similes. Additionally, pull from the 5 senses: taste, touch, smell, hearing, sight. All of this will help create vivid and captivating descriptions.

So now that I've (hopefully) given you a starting point in creating your own metaphors and similes, here's an exercise I've come up with to help build those writing muscles! Feel free to include your responses in your reblogs; I'm excited to see what you come up with!

"Anna has just moved to a new city and is now exploring her backyard. What does she find? Tell us what her experience is like using metaphors and similes. What is happening? 

Challenge yourself to NOT USE adjectives or adverbs EXCEPT in the concept of metaphors or similes ('sticky like honey' or 'running as though she couldn’t stop to hastily swallow a single breath'). 

If you struggle to come up with descriptors, use adverbs and adjectives as placeholder words so you can continue your work. You can go back to those placeholders later because they will help INFORM your metaphors and similes; again, metaphors and similes EXTRAPOLATE from adjectives! Oftentimes a metaphor or simile will derive from adjective to paint a certain mood or tone."  

[sr-roto]

[ferns-musings]

Fatigue weighs in my bones like led, it curls in my chest, making itself at home, it spreads throughout my limbs like water splashing onto shore, except it’s not peaceful, though it does come in waves.

Sometimes I’ll be alright, the shoreline has receded, and the sand is exposed, but I am not, and it’s as if things might be okay. Then a storm comes, the tides become choppy, the water murky, the sky dark, and it’s as if all progress has been lost, it’s as if I’ve always been dragged down by the storm, the riptide, and there is no escape from it, and it’s all I’ve ever known.

There are times between these two extremes, times where the water isn’t as rough but the sky is dim, or times where the shore has receded yet the waves continue to crash hard; the only thing that stays the same is the uncertainty of it all, and despite everything I am fighting, fighting against the tides and the rain and the sand, fighting against the storms and the waves, fighting to take control, but what is the opposite of control if not the ocean?

[gowerhardcastle]

i’ve noticed similes are kind of at the heart of both Wodehouse’s stuff and yours. they’re always so colorful and unexpected. How do you come up with them? Any tips or tricks? I really struggle with making similes funny or just fresh, especially since English isn’t my first language. Would love to hear your thoughts!

I thought and thought about how I wanted to answer this, and I was about to answer, "well, I just do it."

But that seemed unsatisfying.

So I did a search in one chapter of Tea and Scones and picked out a random assortment of similes to see if I could identify how I write them.

Here is what I learned about my method of writing similes.

All emotions are over-the-top, felt at the highest possible pitch:

Uncle Preston Plops' words are quite literally boring, as in "boring like a drill or auger," directly into into the sulci of your brain and squirming around in there as if to devour it.

You focus your efforts, trying to bring to bear every last bit of social grace and training, but no, no, it is like a piece of tissue paper trying to hold back a raging river.

"I have seen his spirit, and it is beautiful.  Like a strong but tender oak sapling, pushing up its tendrils from the earth to bid good morning to the day."

You let it fall to the ground, your pulse pounding in your temples like an angry judge calling for order.

Animals are funny:

Rory jumps into the driver's seat, and you jump on top of her, thrashing like a fish flopping around on land.

In this position, with neck lifted high, she looks like a horse who is also an empress, cold and commanding, preparing to prove her worth on the field of battle or the racetrack.

She hisses at you like a territorial goose who has just staked out a claim on an entire pond.

Her lips meet yours, her mouth seeking yours like a fox seeking berries and small rodents.  You shake your head and try to focus.

Food is funny:

You try to force thoughts through your fevered brain.  It feels like attempting to push a cup of very hot tea through a heaping bowl of mashed potatoes.

She holds her teeth against your arm tightly, as if to let you know that she could take a generous bite of you like a celery stalk stuffed with crumbled gorgonzola cheese and sliced green olives.

I like similes that tell a little story, a story that extends the simile just a little too long and gives a little too much detail:

Then he makes a sound like a laugh, but one without any humor at all in it.  A gloating, wheezing whisper of a laugh, dry like a desiccated arm bone lying out in an uncared-for churchyard.

You feel something like a skydiver who has jumped from a plane, and then, and only then, begins to feel around in his pockets to see if he has remembered to pack his parachute.

You can tell that he is a bit uneasy about your words, like a person who has been handed a cup of coffee that they have been assured is decaffeinated by a distracted coffee-maker.

Above all else, I'm a student of Homer's when it comes to epic simile, and of Wodehouse's when it comes to bonkers comparisons. I find the well-wielded simile hilarious and evocative, and I reach for them very frequently as a way of adding extra jokes, and extra-lavish description into a situation.

Thank goodness, I don't have to know how to employ them in non-comic genres.

Why do I write at such length about simile and other fascinating elements of writing and interactive game design? It is solely to lure you to the Noble Gases Club, your sole destination for well-written prose, an unaccountably lengthy demo of Jolly Good: Tea and Scones, and a freely available discussion of pre-physical intimacy.

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The Noble Gases, est. DCIVMCD

[fflittermouse]

I used to think that when someone said a person’s smile “reached their eyes” or was “ear to ear” that it was literal and I was so confused as to how they got their mouths that big.

[oogelyboogely]

I love literary comparisons. Hate that they can become pale and thin through overuse. Phrases like “a bull in a china shop” or “the wind whispered through the trees” don’t conjure particularly strong images in your head anymore, right? What a goddamn shame.

Think about it for a moment. Imagine being the first person to really notice the wind that way.

Perhaps it’s midday in long summer. You’re sitting in the shade, taking shelter behind your favorite peach tree. A warm breeze rolls over the tree, lifting dust from the sides of your face, gently rustling the dry leaves overhead. You close your eyes and listen to the swaying of the branches. Everything is quiet.

You open your eyes and think: The wind is whispering.

You have just found a description so instantly comprehensible, so right and true, that it will be used in conjunction with that phenomenon until the words stop conveying an image.