Learning the Craft: Metaphors and Similes

What is a Simile?

In our last blog, we got rid of most of our adverbs. So how do we add descriptive, figurative language to our work? Good writers learn the benefits of using metaphors and similes. What is the difference? A simile is a type of metaphor, but a metaphor need not be a simile. Similes are metaphors that compare the subject with the words as or like. 

One such simile is the famous quote from Forrest Gump: “My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”

This is a simile because of the use of the word like. It works because it uses something familiar and obvious to the reader. Everyone remembers picking out a piece of chocolate not knowing what flavor they might end up with. A real simile must compare two unlike things that have a similarity between them. You can’t compare things, people, or places that are the same to have an effective working simile. Some effective similes from literature are:

“… and snow lay here and there in patches in the hollow of the banks, like a lady’s gloves forgotten.” — Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor by R. D. Blackman

“She entered with ungainly struggle like some huge awkward chicken, torn, squawking, out of its coop.” — “The Adventure of the Three Gables” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Why are these similes so powerful? Because they are simple and clear. They are original, yet use subjects that are familiar to everyone. The use of the comparison of snow and a ladies gloves conjures up an image that is clear to the reader. And everyone knows the harried sight of a chicken fussing and squawking. It paints a clear picture of the woman in the reader’s mind.  

What is a Metaphor?

A metaphor is a literary device that gives the reader a description without going into a wordy explanation. It is made up of two parts, a tenor, which is the subject of the metaphor, and the vehicle, which is the thing that illustrates the metaphor. Here is a famous example from F. Scott Fitzgerald: 

“All good writing is swimming underwater and holding your breath.” 

It is clear because everyone knows what it feels like to hold their breath underwater. Yet it compares two actions that are completely different. There is more difference between similes and metaphors than the use of the words as and like. A metaphor is more complex. It is open to interpretation. It gives pause and makes the reader stop and think unlike the more simplistic simile. In other words, a simile is used for clarity, a metaphor is used for power. 

Here is another example of a powerful metaphor. It is one I read as a teenager, but still seems to come to mind, especially in the present day:

“He could hear Beatty’s voice. ‘Sit down, Montag. Watch. Delicately, like the petals of a flower. Light the first page, light the second page. Each becomes a black butterfly. Beautiful, eh? Light the third page from the second and so on, chainsmoking, chapter by chapter, all the silly things the words mean, all the false promises, all the second-hand notions and time-worn philosophies’” — Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

See if you can find the simile and the metaphor!

Should Metaphors and Similes be unique?

Yes, yes, and yes again. We are all familiar with common similes. Here are some examples. 

1. As cold as ice
2. As innocent as a lamb
3. Work like a dog
4. As clean as a whistle

As far as I’m concerned, the only time you should use a cliché simile or metaphor is in dialog. People commonly use cliché similes during speech. It might actually make your character more realistic. However, to use clichés in your descriptive narrative is a sure sign of an amateur writer. If you are struggling to come up with a great simile or metaphor, forget it. Your reader will pick up your struggle. 

Does using metaphors and similes frequently improve your writing?

No! Metaphors should be used sparingly. They are powerful imagery to captivate your reader and add musical originality to your words. If they are used too often, they become burdensome to the reader and weigh down the text. Use powerful, original metaphors to add punch and description. I am not very talented in using metaphors. When they do occur to me, I’m sure the words are inspired. Therefore I was very flattered (and surprised) when one from my novel, In the Midst of Wolves, was featured in quotestat.com. 

“Life takes twists and turns that lead us on an unplanned journey. With our own wishes tucked away in our pockets we button our spiritual coat and trudge through the storms of reality. We follow fate. — In the Midst of Wolves by Karen Kelly Boyce