A simile paints a word picture by likening one object to another. In travel writing, a simile is a great tool for making a description more emphatic or vivid. “The Mediterranean lay before me like a sheet of glass…”
Thinking up great similes is fun. Some have a natural flair for it, and some (like me) struggle a bit. Here’s a clever way to coax those comparisons into your mind.
Say you wanted to come up with a poetic way to describe the sun.
Step 1: Jot down as many round objects as you can.
Button, grape, berry, pinhead, ring, pea, coin…
Step 2: Now try and compare them to the size, shape and sheen of the sun.
OBJECT + SUN
The sun shone like a button in the distance.
The sun was a pinhead on the canvas of the sky.
The sun glinted like a gold coin.
The sun shimmered like the wedding ring on Roma’s finger.
The sun spilled red juice like a bruised berry!
Now try this: The room was as hot as a ….
12’o clock sun. Or ripened chilli or boiled cup of tea.