Great Writing: Similes - Some Figurative Writing DOs and DON'Ts

In my last blog, 'Great Writing: Why Figurative Language Matters', I looked at why writers use figurative language. Similes, for instance, can allow readers to picture scenes in their heads.

Writers, however, must be careful. One student recently wrote: "...and the road was as long as Mount Everest on its side."

While creative, this simile is also illogical. When someone mentions Mount Everest most people often think about its height, rather than its length. A more appropriate comparison would have been "...and the road was as long as the Nile."

Students, like writers, will receive extra admiration from readers if they use a suitable simile in their work. Under the NAPLAN marking rubric, for example, teachers give extra marks to those students who use appropriate similes.

Once students grasp the idea of comparing one like thing to another like or similar thing, it is only a matter of time until they come up with a gem like what one student wrote for us recently, "…and heat draped itself around him like a blanket."

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