Writing Flash Tools

Isn’t it fun when you read about helpful tools that you are able to put to immediate use?  Well, that is what The Writer’s Dialog has in mind for articles found in Writing Resources like the one you are about to read: Writing Resources: Building Metaphors and Similes.  Remember when you were in school and your parents, or fellow students used flash cards to help when learning skills, such as the multiplication tables?  Well get ready to “flash” some grammatical tools that will help make our writing more memorable, richer, and deeper.  Let’s use our flash tools to add dimension, and enhance our craft. 

Growth happens with the expansion and expression of ideas.

Writing Resources: Building Metaphors and Similes 

 You probably remember learning about metaphors and similes in some of your writing classes, where comparisons are made of one object to another.  When using a simile, which is a specific type of metaphor, we are taught to use the words, “like” or “as” when comparing two objects, where using a metaphor does not, usually stating A is B or substitutes B for A.  It doesn’t really matter which you decide to use; metaphors and similes are terrific flash tools in that they can be used to add understanding or even humor to your writing.  They can also be used to alter the way we see things, or offer a new way of looking at the same thing.  

While checking my resources about Metaphors and Similes, I found a website that you may enjoy referencing:

http://metaphors.com/

http://www.saidwhat.co.uk/spoon/similes.php

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If you need practice in utilizing this flash tool, here are 4 quick simple steps that will help.

1. Write down a short list of nouns.
   • bear
   • lake
   • man
2. Now, write down some adjectives that can be used to describe those nouns.
   • White polar bear
   • Smooth lake
   • Strong man
3. Think of a few other nouns where these same adjectives can be used.
   • White snow
   • Smooth glass
   • Strong bull
4. Are you beginning to see a few good metaphors and similes?
   • The polar bear was so white you could hardly see it against the snow.
   • The lake was as smooth as glass, and the trees across the way were mirrored in its reflection.
   • The man was as strong as a bull charging through the streets of Spain.

This is a fun exercise and like any muscle that you work, the more you use it, the easier and more effective it will become.

Use metaphors and similes to give your stories a deeper,

more clear understanding that your readers will find to be relatable.

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