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Empire:ZINE - A Monthly Writing Publication
http://www.spydersempire.com/empirezine
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The Simile

The simile is a great comparison tool. The key words are "like" and "as". For instance, "You are as beautiful as a star". "You are really slow, like a turtle." And this great tool is also the most abused when used with clichés. How many times have you seen the same olde tired cliché used over and over and over again, until you are totally sick of it. This is one of the keys for writing good poetry-namely to find fresh language. So here's an exercise for you to fill in the simile with fresh, original language. 

She was as talkative as __________.

The bird sang like __________.

The car was as fast as __________.

While dancing, his body was as loose as __________.

The picture was as sad as __________.

She can really rap, like __________.

The cat purred, like __________.

Big Ben bonged, like __________.

It smelled familiar, like __________.

Everyone was as warm as __________.

It tasted as good as __________.

His desk was as messed up as __________.

The clowns froliced, like __________.

He's as crazy as __________.

My depression is as dark as __________.

My anguish pours of me like a __________.

His leaving me hit me like a __________.

The tingle of her kiss was as good as __________.

You're goodbye was as hard as __________.

Your fingers in my hair are like __________.

I feel alone as a __________. 


This exercise will help you to see how boring clichés are and help you on the eternal quest for fresh language. Notice how you immediately wanted to put in a cliché. Stop and consider again and look for fresh language for your simile. The simile, like the metaphor, is a tool that adds depth and deeper meaning to your poetry. 

For instance, say you were writing about your cat, and wrote:

My cat purred contentedly.

The lines OK, but let's spice it up a bit by adding a simile:

My cat purred contentedly, like Buddha meditating. 

Now we have added a whole new flavor and meaning to the cat purring. We've added spiritual content to the cat and equated purring with meditation. With a little 3 line simile, we've changed a mundane line to something with several other meanings. Lets try another example:

The drunk stumbled on the stairs.

Yawn! Now lets add a simile:

The drunk stumbled on the stairs, like a dying bird, falling and getting up, over and over again.

This simile has added the picture of a dying bird being equated with the drunk. Here's a few examples of similes from my poetry class:

In her pregnancy, she was as big as a camel's hump.
Our love affair was as dead as dried buffalo dung.
The neighbors, sounding like muffled morons.
Cold as a fundamentalist preacher's stare.
Quiet, like the desert in the shimmering noonday heat.
Smooth as a slicing samurai sword.

As an exercise, write a new poem or take an old poem and use some original similes to spice them up.

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Empire:ZINE - A Monthly Writing Publication
http://www.spydersempire.com/empirezine
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