Imagery in Your Writing: Metaphors, Similes & Personification

If you haven't been using imagery in your writing, now might be a good time to learn. Most of the great writers of our time are masters of imagery, creating unique ways to use metaphors, similes and personification. Other imagery skills -- such as assonance -- are far more advanced and take more time to master, but even the most novice of writers can use imagery to make their work more powerful and whole.

Imagery is a method writers use to paint pictures of scenes and characters in the minds of their readers. While plain old description works well in some instances, imagery takes description to an entirely new level. It gives the reader tools that help him or her to imagine the scene the writer has created; when an author correctly uses imagery, the reader can feel as though he or she is actually experiencing the place and time of the scene.

Create Imagery Using Metaphors

Wikipedia defines a metaphor as a "direct comparison between two or more seemingly unrelated subjects". This is a more than accurate explanation, though the usage of metaphors in your writing is not quite that easy. Metaphors, when used as imagery, are often on-going comparisons throughout a paragraph, page or chapter of a book, and can be used as a reference later on in the manuscript. For example, Stephen King often compares one thing to another in the first chapter of his manuscript, but he takes the reader back to that comparison several times throughout the course of the book.

Metaphorical imagery should be intertwined with the rest of the text. It isn't necessary to call undue attention to the metaphor itself; rather, the words should flow with your story. Many beginning writers approach metaphors far too enthusiastically and when their manuscript is complete, it reads like one long cliche. Your job as a writer is not to use metaphors already created by other writers, but to create your own through imagination and logic.

As mentioned above, many writers incorporate metaphorical imagery in their writing that continues throughout the manuscript. This is commonly called an extended metaphor and can add clarity and life to your story.

Examples: