I know I risk sounding like an English teacher when I use the words “figurative language.” The phrase may sound frightening but figurative language will make your writing more interesting evocative and memorable. And who doesn’t want that –even in non-fiction? Here are some examples of figurative language:
• allusion
• hyperbole
• metaphor
• oxymoron
• personification
• paradox
• simile
I read widely and follow many forms of media, keeping my eyes and ears attuned to figurative language so I can share a piece of it with you each week.
Reading time: Just over 1 minute Jesse Green writes for the New York Times. Today, I discuss his great facility with figurative language… I stopped paying attention to contemporary music in 1979 when I graduated from university. I didn’t stop listening but I stopped caring about the names of the songs […]
The figurative language of Jesse Green…. Read More »
Reading time: Less than 2 minutes I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of similes from novelist Katherine Heiny…. I seldom read what might be described as “chick-lit.” That kind of writing usually doesn’t appeal to me.
The figurative language of Katherine Heiny Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of similies and metaphors from omaopy editor Mary Norris…. The majority of people who are really good at grammar often aren’t hugely creative. It’s
The figurative language of Mary Norris Read More »
Reading time: Just over 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of metaphors and similes from novelist and screenplay writer Tom Perrotta…. Tom Perrotta (pictured above) is the bestselling author of nine works of fiction, including Election and Little
The figurative language of Tom Perrotta…. Read More »
Reading time: Just over 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of metaphors and similes from Emma Straub…. I don’t normally enjoy books that might be described as “chick lit.” I find them too banal
The figurative language of Emma Straub Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about similes and metaphors from American writer Maria Semple… American novelist and screenwriter Maria Semple (pictured above) earned her first writing credit in 1992 for the television show Beverly
Maria Semple and her figurative language… Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about similes and metaphors from Isabel Wilkerson…. Isabel Wilkerson is an American journalist and the first woman of African-American heritage to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism in 1994. She is also
The figurative language of Isabel Wilkerson Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about similes and metaphors from Kate Elizabeth Russell…. A client of mine recommended I read the Kate Elizabeth Russell novel My Dark Vanessa and when I checked out
The figurative language of Kate Elizabeth Russell…. Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of similes from Patrick Radden Keefe… Patrick Radden Keefe is an award-winning staff writer at The New Yorker magazine and one of the most remarkable
More figurative language from Patrick Radden Keefe Read More »
I am not writing a regular blog post today as it is Canada Day, marking the country’s 154th birthday. That said, Canada has many reparations to make to the Indigenous people who lived here first, for countless generations. I was recently deeply saddened to learn of the 215 Indigenous children
