Daily Devices: Periphrasis.

The term ‘periphrasis’ refers to a writer's intentional use of excessive language and surplus words to convey a meaning that could otherwise be constructed with fewer words and more direct. The use of this device can be to exaggerate a sentence, to create a grander effect, to beat around the bush and to draw attention away from the core of the sentence's purpose

I'm eating an elongated yellow fruit for lunch today.

In the above example; "I'm eating an elongated yellow fruit for lunch today", becomes "I'm eating a banana for lunch" in its simplest form.

Instead of simply saying “I am displeased with your behavior”, a furious teacher might say, “the manner in which you have conducted yourself in my presence of late has caused me to feel uncomfortable and has resulted in my feeling disgruntled and disappointed with you”. I'm sure we've all had one of those teachers who spoke using periphrasis twenty four hours a day.

Creative Exercise: Abandon Sobriety.

"Write drunk, edit sober."

- Ernest Hemingway.

Poetic Forms: Clerihew.

Clerihews are generally short and precise in their form, with a focus on amusing the reader. These poems are simple in their construction and can be very fun to write. The name comes from Edmund Clerihew Bentley, who established the form as a teenager.

Clerihews are four lines long and have an AABB rhyme scheme. They are about a specific person, and the second line must rhyme with the person's name. This is where they make for good fun between friends. Clerihews are meant to be funny, even silly. There are no restrictions concerning rhythm or number of syllables.

An Example:
  
There once lived a hobbit named Frodo
Whose stature resembled that of a dodo
He liked to wander, get dirty, and sing
But when he took baths, he always left a Ring.

I found this cute nod to Tolkien's character Frodo on the internet, author unknown; however, I had to add it because it sparked my interest in clerihews again.

Daily Devices: Onomatopoeia.

Onomatopoeia is defined as a word, which imitates the natural sounds of a thing. It's that simple but can be used to great effect by talented writers. It creates a sound effect that mimics the thing described, making the description more expressive and interesting.

For example, “The gushing stream flows in the forest” is a more meaningful description than simply saying, “The stream flows in the forest.” The reader is drawn to hear the sound of gushing water which makes the expression more effective.
 

In addition to the sound they represent, many onomatopoeic words have developed meanings of their own. For example, “whisper” not only represents the sound of people talking quietly, but also describes the action of people talking quietly.

Generally, words are used to tell what is happening. Onomatopoeia, on the other hand, helps the readers to hear the sounds the words they reflect. Hence, the reader cannot help but enter the world created by the poet with the aid of these words. Animal sounds are great; Meow, Moo, Neigh, Tweet, Oink or Baa, all muster the image of their corresponding animal.

The beauty of onomatopoeic words lies in the fact that they are bound to have an effect on the readers’ senses whether they are understood or not. Moreover, a simple plain expression does not have the same emphatic effect that conveys an idea powerfully to the readers. The use of onomatopoeic words helps create emphasis.

What's the Difference?

What is the difference between a metaphor and a simile? Aren't they basically the same? While I'm afraid not. The terms metaphor and simile are slung around as if they meant exactly the same thing and as writers we need to know or craft inside and out.

A simile is a metaphor, but not all metaphors are similes. Metaphor is the broader term.

In a literary sense metaphor is a rhetorical device that transfers the sense or aspects of one word to another. For example: The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.

In the above example, the moon is being compared to a sailing ship. The clouds are being compared to ocean waves. This is an apt comparison because sometimes banks of clouds shuttling past the moon cause the moon to appear to be moving and roiling clouds resemble churning water.

A simile is a type of metaphor in which the comparison is made with the use of the word like or its equivalent. For example: My love is like a red, red rose.

This simile conveys some of the attributes of a rose to a woman: ruddy complexion, velvety skin, and fragrant scent.

Some metaphors are apt. Some are not. The conscientious writer strives to come up with fresh metaphors.

A common fault of writing is to mix metaphors.

A general during World War II was reputed to having mixed the metaphor don’t burn your bridges, meaning “Don’t alienate people who have been useful to you,” with don’t cross that bridge before you come to it, meaning “Don’t worry about what might happen until it happens” to create the mixed metaphor: Don’t burn your bridges before you come to them.

Many metaphors are used so often that they have become cliché. We use them in speech, but the careful writer avoids them: hungry as a horse, as big as a house, hard as nails, as good as gold.
Some metaphors have been used so frequently as to lose their metaphorical qualities altogether. These are “dead metaphors.”

In a sense, all language is metaphor because words are simply labels for things that exist in the world. We call something “a table” because we have to call it something, but the word is not the thing it names.

A simile is only one of dozens of specific types of metaphor.