Similes and Metaphors: What And What NOT To Do

My favorite holiday Christmas was a week ago already. I miss it. But Happy New Year!

As you should know, a simile is used in a sentence as figure of speech comparing something with another. It's used chiefly in describing something. The tomato soup was as red as blood. And a metaphor is also figure of speech describing something, except that the word is applied to what it's describing, but is not literal. He was a tree. In other words, he was really tall.

But, as with all prose and poetry, there are many things you should and should not do when using similes and metaphors. Let's get on with it.

Use similes and metaphors sparingly. Don't use similes and metaphors every time you describe something. That makes bad writing.

Make sure that your similes and metaphors make sense. Obviously, you don't want to write, "The computer looked like a ceiling." How in the world would a computer look like a ceiling?

Do not name. Obviously. Similes and metaphors describe, not name. They are not literal. "Mars was like a planet." And it would be even worse if you wrote "Mars was a planet." That's not a metaphor anymore. That's telling you was Mars was (and still is.)

Do not go cheesy. Seriously. Don't go over the top. Don't say "Her face was as red as red construction paper." No over-exaggerating either. "The man was a skinny mountain." So the man was tall and thin? Why not stick with "The man was a tree."

I hope this helps. This is very important when writing your novels. I don't write poetry, but I can tell you that a lot of these tips apply to poetry. If you have any other tips, let me know in the comments.