Language for creative writing
Transcript of Language for creative writing
Similes
A simile describes something by saying it’s like something else.
Similes
His face is so cut up he looks likehe’s been tattooed.
Applause battered my ears likebeating wings.
I’ve seen your frown and it’s like looking down the barrel of a gun.
Similes Recap
Got it? Prove it. Something like a Something else
Cracked skull like an eggshell.
His teeth were
sharp
like
like a dancing flame
The fields were
still
like
like broken stones
like searing hot
summer
Rhetorical questions
Rhetorical questions are questions without an obvious answer.
If there is an obvious answer:
“Is it Tuesday today?”
“Yeah.”
Then it’s not a rhetorical question.
Rhetorical questions
In rhetorical questions, the answer is implicit.
That means your reader already knows the answer.
Rule of three
1
2
3
Things written in threes sound powerful, persuasive, and structured.
They can be a list of words or phrases.
They will stick in the mind of your reader.
Original word choices
1. We walked across the battlefield. There were injured men on the ground. Others were walking back to the trenches.
2. We stumbled across the battlefield. There were bloodied, beaten men sprawled on the ground. Others were shuffling back to the trenches.
pummelpound
beatstrike
hit
Powerful verbs
shrill
thunderous
piercing deafening
loud
Interesting adjectives
Original word choices1. I started to walk back too. An officer told me to keep moving, so I reluctantly moved forward. The soldier next to me said something, but I couldn’t hear him. His khaki uniform was covered in bloodand he had lost an arm. My hands were cut and bleeding.
Based on the images, write three adjectives for each sense:
Taste: sharp, bitter, sweet, metallic.
Touch: soft, silky, coarse.
Smell: rancid, rotten, pungent.
Sound: hoarse, deafening, crackling.
Sight: blinding, light, shadowy.
TasteTouch
Sound
Smell
Sight