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