Know your Similes and Metaphors

Do you sometimes get your similes and metaphors mixed up? You're not alone. Here's a short brush up.

Metaphor: Some writers consider a metaphor as nothing but a strong, or strengthened simile. While a simile says something is like something else, a metaphor says something is something else, which in literal truth is not.

In a metaphor, a word or phrase that ordinarily means one thing is used when speaking of another thing to suggest a likeness between the two things. For example: A copper sky - He's a rat - Her eyes were smoldering black coals - He's nothing but a big bag of wind - She has a heart of stone - That kid is a monster.

The metaphor nowadays has become the strongest and most popular of all the figures of speech. It seems we no longer use the more polite figure of speech of saying that someone is like some thing else, but rather we state that the person IS something else.

Simile: A simile is a figure of speech that tells us something is like something else - it compares one thing with another. For ex. the cliche; "Like father like son" is a comparison but not a simile. Why? Because the comparison is based on many qualities and not just a few. Therefore, to form a simile, base your comparison upon things that are similar in only one or two ways. For instance, if you want to describe a woman who is large, has a deep voice and is strongly built, you could use a simile by saying: "As strongly built as that woman is, she could easily handle a Mack truck." Because your reader is probably familiar with truck drivers being burly and deep-voiced, the comparison to a truck driver makes an appropriate simile.

On the next blog, I'll cover a couple other figures of speech. Visit again in a couple weeks.

Member Announcements: Pete Shianna's second novel "Love Tag" will launch on Dec. 1st. You can obtain a copy immediately by simply sending Pete an email at pshianna@embarqmail.com Give him your name and address and he'll not only sign his book but also write a personal msg. to you. Go to www.petershianna.com for the full lowdown about the story. Congratulations Pete!

Mary Lois Saunders highly recommends the St. George Island Writers' Retreat - November 12-15, 2009 Visit www.PersisGranger.com for more information and registration.

Lorraine Harris will be teaching a course at the Villages Lifelong Learning College - Why Authors Need A website. Oct. 5 - 7 1:00 to 4:00 pm. Cost. $69.00. Register by calling (352) 753-3035.

Other announcements: Our basket for the Fla. Writers Foundation silent auction is filling up nicely. If you haven't had a chance to donate an item for the cause, you will have one last chance at our September meeting at both the Lady Lake Writers Group and at The Oxford Writers Group. FWF greatly appreciates your efforts to help promote statewide literacy in our sunny state of Florida. If you need ideas email me at cocowriter@yahoo.com or Oxford WGL Chris Coward at chriscoward@comcast.net .

WORKSHOP THIS MONTH: Mary Lois Saunders will give us a 30 minute workshop on self editing. As writers, we are continuously self editing. ML will give us the best approach in doing that task. We will have time for critique. Those of you who didn't get a chance to read last month, will be first on the list this time around. See ya' on Thursday the 24th! Where? Lady Lake Public Library on Guava St., Time: 10:00 a.m. till noon.

Oxford Writers Group: Thursday 17th. Time: 6 - 8 pm. Location: Oxford Community Center. Need directions? contact Chris Coward at above stated email address.

Writer Quote for this week: "To scratch your head and bite your nails." Jonathan Swift.