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: Less than 2 minutes I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a glorious handful of metaphors from New York Times writer David Carr… I came of age during Watergate. The Senate Watergate committee began its nationally televised hearings in 1973 when I was […]
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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 simile from Frances Itani. Frances Itani is a Canadian fiction writer, poet and essayist who has published 14 books. Her 2012 title Remembering the Bones, was shortlisted for a Commonwealth Award. Her 2004 novel Deafening has already won that award
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Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a metaphor from Ian McEwan… I’m a longtime fan of writer Ian McEwan. I found Atonement to be his best book ever, and I also appreciated Sweet Tooth. I even enjoyed On Chesil Beach
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Reading time: Just over 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about some similes from Phyllis Rose. I am a profligate reader. I told you earlier that a friend of mine had given me a copy of The Shelf: Adventures in Extreme Reading by Phyllis Rose. Today,
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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 simile from Yiyun Li. I first heard about Chinese-American writer Yiyun Li and her book Kinder Than Solitude when I heard her interviewed on the CBC radio program, Writers and Company. Intrigued by the novel’s
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Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about two similes from Lizzie Widdicombe… Call me naive, but I had never before heard of what’s called a Tough Mudder, which is a 10-to-12-mile obstacle race including fire pits, tightly enclosed spaces, mud baths and
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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 metaphors from Elizabeth Renzetti. I’m a big fan of the journalist Elizabeth Renzetti who writes for the Globe and Mail newspaper. She’s funny, opinionated and articulate — all qualities I seek
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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 metaphor from Nathan Heller. I love San Francisco. My husband and I went there for our honeymoon and returned for our 10th wedding anniversary. (The remarkable aspect of that, was that we left 5-year-old
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Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about an effective — and amusing — metaphor from Janet Maslin. I pay $3.82 per week for a digital subscription to the New York Times. To me, it’s worth every penny for ease
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Reading time: Less than 2 minutes I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about the metaphorical efforts of Tom Rachman. The book The Imperfectionists earned a spot on my top 10 list of novels for 2010. It stunned me that a first-time novelist could pull off such a
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