Writing is like injecting your thoughts into the brain of our reader.

Well, that was a cheesy and exaggerated simile. But you get the idea.

Simile is a comparison between two different things that resemble each other in some way. This device is used to compare something unknown with something familiar (an object, event, process, etc.) known to the reader. You can use simile as a tool to clarify an idea or concept, but it is often used to make an impression, as an example of artistic or poetic style in writing.

In general, and especially when comparing a noun with a noun, the simile is usually introduced with the word like:

After a long time in the direct sun, my mother-in-law looked like an overcooked piece of bacon.

A person in jail is like a bird in a cage.

Some grammarians say that when a verb or phrase is compared to a verb or phrase, the word ace must be used.

They stayed focused on their goal, like a sunflower always turns towards the sun.

This is your great opportunity. You have to run like a person who runs for his life.

However, this may seem a bit forced. Usually the word like It is acceptable. This was once a big problem with a cigarette brand commercial: “Winston tastes as good as a cigarette.” Despite academic complaints, no one thought it was normal speech to say, “Winston tastes as good as a cigarette.”

Today, most people would say that the above two sentences could be:

They stayed focused on their goal, like a sunflower always turns towards the sun.

This is your great opportunity. You have to run like a person who runs for his life.

Many times the simile, the object with which it is compared, precedes the thing that is compared with it. In these cases, the word so is used to show the comparison:

The grass bends in the wind; so does the typical politician.

A silent stream runs deep, so does the thoughtful person.

But sometimes the word so it is understood more than it is expressed:

As wax melts before fire, let the wicked perish before God. –Psalm 68: 2b

Whenever the reader is not immediately clear about the point of similarity between different objects, a good writer should specify the comparison to avoid confusion and vagueness. For example, it is not enough to say:

“In my work, I am like a mushroom.” To be clear, the writer might say, “At my job, I’m like a mushroom. They keep me in the dark and feed me shit.”

A good name is like glass: the brighter the luster, the more easily it can break.

He was like a skunk, although it wasn’t his fault, he had a bad reputation.

It felt like an avocado in the store; She had been jabbed and squeezed so much that no one picked her up.

Often the point of similarity can be expressed in just a word or two, without explanation.

It is as useless as a bull’s teats.

Yes, he is a cute puppy, but he will be as big as a house.

Sometimes the word simile can be used as an adjective:

Use weasel words and elusive arguments.

His speech had a drum monotony.

Similes can also be negative, indicating that two things are different in one or more respects:

Seeing his artwork doesn’t make you say “wow!” But it has its charm.

I wouldn’t say that he fought like a tiger, but he possessed a quiet tenacity as he worked towards his goals.

Other ways to use similes include the use of comparison:

Ramiro ran looking for an apartment rather than a squirrel looking for acorns in the fall.

But this truth is clearer than spring water.

So there are a variety of ways to invoke the simile. These are some of the possibilities:

butter is like margarine

butter is not like margarine

butter is the same as margarine

butter is more valuable than margarine

butter is less valuable than margarine

butter better than margarine, also bacon

butter is similar to margarine

butter looks like margarine

butter is as similar to margarine as lard

butter is like margarine just like bacon

butter is more margarine than lard

butter is less margarine than bacon

But sometimes a simile can be implied. In such cases, a comparative word is not needed:

The English teacher was almost like a person with boxes and boxes of socks, but without feet. He had memorized thousands of quotes, but was never able to fit them into a conversation.

When I think of the ACT test, I think of slavery, torture, and evil teachers.

Leslie has the silky hair and skin of an angel.

Find more good writing tips at: http://www.BooksLibros.com/writingESLpdf&impreso.htm