How to Make Your Book Rise Above Others

I often get blog ideas as I read for enjoyment.  It doesn’t matter whether I’m reading non-fiction or fiction, good writing is good writing.  So what is good writing? When you can’t wait to turn the page; when you stay up half the night to finish; when you recommend it to your friends; when you give it a five-star review?  All of those.  Or when you read a sentence several times because it is so beautiful, so aptly said, so visual.  Ahh.

Reading the latest book by Julia Keller, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has three mysteries out, I said “Ahh,” often.  Many times it turned out to be a simile she used so sweetly.  For example: “. . . the crowd sank back down like a half-baked soufflé, rising and now cratering.”  Or: “. . . letting the story unfurl bit by delicious bit like a wide red ribbon coaxed slowly and dramatically off its spool.”  Lovely use of language, and particularly artful use of similes.

As writers we all use similes, metaphors and analogies, but how well do use them?  Haven’t you written, “blind as a bat,” “cold as ice,” or “light as a feather?”  Bleh.  Oh please, you can come up with better similes.

Now metaphors.  They don’t use “like” or “as” or “than.”  They get right to the point.  “My mom is a witch in the mornings.”  “Is a witch” as opposed to “Like a witch.”  Gives you a different feeling, even though you know my mom is not really a witch, right?

An analogy is a bit more complex.  It’s kind of like a simile, but stretched further.  Sometimes a simile doesn’t make a lot of sense without more explanation, or could be misinterpreted.  This is a fun example from the movie, “Shrek.”

Shrek:         Ogres are like onions.

Donkey:     They stink?

Shrek:         Yes.  No!

Donkey:     They make you cry?

Shrek:         No!

Donkey:     You leave them out in the sun, they get all brown, start sprouting little white hairs?

Shrek:         No! Layers.  Onions have layers!

Since Shrek’s meaning wasn’t obvious to Donkey, he had to explain.  Thus, an analogy.  Analogies can but don’t need the words “like, than, as.”

Remember the old Miller Analogies Test?  Mama Mia!  I had to take it as part of my Masters’ Degree.  Here are some questions.  Fill in the blanks.

1. (           ): Puccini :: Sculpture: Opera
   1. Cellini     b. Rembrandt    c. Wagner    d. Petrarch
2. (            ): Speech :: Coordinated : Movement
   1. predictive    b. rapid    c. prophetic    d. articulate
3. Scintillating : Dullness :: (             ) : Calm
   1. erudite    b. boisterous    c. cautious      d. exalted

Good luck and don’t you dare ask me the answers.

The bottom line (ach, a cliché!) is that artful language can make your writing memorable.