Crafting Similes

Writing Tip #7: Figurative language is a good way to move your writing from draft to craft. But all wording in your writing must be chosen carefully. If it doesn’t advance the plot, or add to character development or setting, it needs to be eliminated or changed.

I’m currently reading Cinder by Marissa Meyer, and while I love the story and most of her descriptions and word choice, I came upon this simile: “…Sybil floating into it like a feather upon a breeze.” At first I loved the simile, but the more I think of it, the more it bothers me. The words give me a pleasant image, and yet the character is rather sinister. The only way I can doctor the image in my mind is if the feather is a left-over from a raptor attack.

If you want to see examples of similes that truly, artfully add to the craft of the story, search for them in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Similes aren’t there just for the sake of simile, they build the story. “Aunt Alexander fitted into the world of Maycomb like a hand into a glove.” She could have fit like a foot in a boot, or cereal in a box, but the simile itself displays what part of Maycomb’s society Aunt Alexander fit into.

 

Use similes and other figurative language sparingly and use them well.