658349328743289

Chapter 15: Managing Metaphors, Similes and Symbols
195
✓ Appeal to all the senses – don’t just use visual similes.
✓ Don’t use too many similes together in the same place.
✓ Make sure that your simile makes sense and the two things you’re comparing
share some similarity!
Try this exercise to practise writing similes. It helps if you think of what an
object reminds you of and whether it might remind your character of something
different:
1. Pick half a dozen objects in your home. Make them as varied and interesting
as possible.
2. Describe each one using a simile. You don’t have to stop with just one –
think of as many things each object is ‘like’ as possible!
Standing for Something with Symbols
A symbol is an object that represents an idea, a belief or another object.
Symbols are slightly different from signs, which are simpler, more direct and
easier to understand. Street signs, for example, are necessarily simple, with
red standing for stop and a wavy line meaning a bend in the road. Signs usually
have only one meaning, while symbols are normally far more complex
with many layers of meaning. Symbols can work at two levels:
✓ Universal level: Although some symbols are considered to be universal,
their meaning can vary in different cultures. Escaping such symbols
is difficult because you’ve absorbed them (often unconsciously) from
other works of literature, art and your own experience.
✓ Personal level: Some objects are symbolic only to the individual concerned,
because they represent something specific that happened in the
person’s life. These symbols are often connected with people or places
from a person’s past.
For more on symbols, check out the nearby sidebar ‘Symbolising through
the ages’.