Memoirs are enhanced by the use of similes and metaphors. Learn to use them easily.

Since memoirs appeal to the heart rather than to the mind of the reader—one might say, it is developmentally important to create a reading experience that addresses the reader’s emotions. One effective way of doing this is to use images. The images I want to present today are similes and metaphors.

While we’ve all studied these in high school and/or college, I have new thoughts this week as to how they apply to memoir writing.

A simile is a comparison that uses like or as.

When you say, “Life is like a merry-go-round”, you are making an image we call a simile. It’s an image of movement. It’s a simile, too, when you write, “I’m busy as a bee.” While this may be a bit overused, it conveys an image of focus and commitment.

In a simile, because of the use of like and as, it is clear that the writer is making a comparison. Comparisons ought to grow from the subject matter of the memoir and ought to be consistent with itself.

By that, I mean, if you were writing about a desert, your images would include things, plants, and animals that are found in the desert. You cannot say something foreign to the desert, something like “the ebb and flow of desert life.” Ebb and flow refers to water and deserts are lacking in water. The water image is therefore inappropriate for writing that focuses on the desert.

A metaphor is a comparison that does not use like or as.

Metaphors are images just like similes but they are different because the comparison is hidden. There is no like or as to cue the reader.

You make a metaphor when you write, “Life is a merry-go-round.”

Life, of course, isn’t a merry-go-round—but it can be like a merry-go-round: it has speed, a sense of thrill.

When you say “a busy bee,” you do not mean you are a bee but that you are busy like a bee.

Memoirs are enhanced by the use of similes and metaphors. Learn to use them easily.

An Action Step for Writing Similes and Metaphors

One exercise to develop your acuity is to make two columns. In the first, you write the name of a person or thing, and in the second, you write what this person or thing can be compared to.

For instance, in column one, you write ”my mother,” and in column two, you write “a drill sargeant” and then you write “an accountant who has found a reporting error.” Sooner or later you will come upon a comparison that makes you realize “Aha!” Use that comparison in your memoir, for sure.

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And remember: “inch by inch, it’s a cinch; yard by yard it’s hard.”

Good luck writing your stories!

Here is a free video course I have curated for you on writing a deeper story.

~ Negative Emotions In Your Memoir

~ Dialog: Emotions / Not Information

~ Why Be More Personal In Your Memoir

~ Ouch! Writing Painful Memories.