For me, at least, they're a part of writing that are difficult to practise. I've read to never use a simile you've seen in writing, and it seems like reasonable advice to me. If it's that unique a simile, you're just copying someone outright; if it's not, why bother using it? As such, my only choice seems to be either trying to change another writer's exact wording—which doesn't seem right—or coming up with new ones outright.
The process seems to be
- Find something that could be compared to something else without it obstructing the flow of the story.
- Figure out something interesting with the quality to be emphasised.
- Make sure the compared thing doesn't conflict with the narrator's knowledge or setting (e.g. a comparison to something that doesn't exist in the time period).
That's about how it goes with me. Recently, I had the idea to start a "Simile Bank" on the phone I carry around, so that when a good one hits me out in the field, I can save it right then. Unfortunately, it's rather rare that that happens, but it's a better bet than trying to puzzle it out in the midst of writing. I have about four right now, but you'll have to wait until they make it into my stories before you can read them. If I posted them here, after all, somebody else might put it into writing, and then I can't use it.
How are you with similes and metaphors? Other figurative language? What methods do you use to keep your comparisons fresh?
...Is the title of this a TFiOS reference? XD
ReplyDeleteLike you said, lack of much description/figurative language isn't always a bad thing. I'm a bit of a hypocrite, because when I'm writing, I try to stuff in as much descriptive prose as I can, but when I'm reading, I don't want too much of it clogging up the flow of the story. I do think your work could use a bit more in general, personally, but don't fall into the danger of adding too much and completely overdoing it. Your stories work fine enough on their own, and you know how avidly I read them :) (Which reminds me, yes, I know I have to read/review the latest chapter of Tributes and Tribulations. I'm at my grandma's all week getting ready for our trip to Europe, but I *will* find the time, I promise.)
I agree with your process - you shouldn't choose something so weird or out-of-place as a comparison that it jolts someone out of a story. Like, no "it was as shiny as a computer screen" in a medieval setting, for an obvious example. It's easy to say what you *shouldn't* compare something too, though, and harder to say what you *should.* I'm struggling to come up with some sort of surefire advice on this topic, too. I guess that staying true to the /feel/ of the thing is really quite important. Like, try to think of the five senses of the object and don't compare it with anything that would violate that. For example, you could compare a beautiful white dress to say, snow or clouds, but not, idk, milk or something. (Though, even that wouldn't be too bad.)
Overall, though, I think metaphors and such are better than similes. Like, describing someone's "porcelain skin" would be better than saying "her skin was like porcelain." I find it's the 'like' or 'as' that clutters up the sentence a bit.
This is a difficult topic, sorry that I can't be more help. :/
Haha, not particularly, but feel free to view it that way.
DeleteYeah, it's definitely a weakness for me, but I'm working on it.
So, more watching the connotations, I guess? Makes sense.
Hey, no problem. I appreciate your input, no matter how much it is.