Figurative language improves creative writing only when it earns its place — a fresh metaphor can illuminate a scene, but a clichéd simile deadens it. The skill is not how many devices you use, but whether each one does something the literal word cannot. Choose deliberately; revise ruthlessly.
Why does figurative language sometimes weaken writing?
Many students learn a list of figurative devices — simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia — and then try to include as many as possible in their creative writing. The result is often writing that feels forced and cluttered.
Figurative language weakens writing when:
- The comparison is clichéd and the reader has already read it a hundred times
- There are too many devices competing for attention in the same sentence
- The comparison breaks down logically when you examine it closely
- The device is decorative rather than functional — it adds imagery without adding meaning
The question to ask before every figurative device is: what does this allow me to say that a direct, literal description cannot? If the answer is 'not much', the device is probably unnecessary.
How do you choose the right figurative device for your purpose?
Different devices do different jobs. Choosing the right one for your purpose gives you precision:
| Device | What it does | Best used for |
|---|---|---|
| Simile | Explicit comparison using 'like' or 'as'; the comparison is visible and acknowledged | Moments when you want the reader to consciously notice the comparison |
| Metaphor | Direct identification of one thing as another; the comparison is absorbed into the description | Sustained descriptions where you want the comparison to feel real rather than illustrative |
| Personification | Gives human qualities to non-human things | Creating atmosphere, especially in setting — weather, landscape, buildings as agents |
| Pathetic fallacy | Environment reflects character's or narrator's emotion | Establishing mood at the opening of a scene |
| Symbolism | An object or event carries meaning beyond its literal function | Themes that run through a whole piece |
| Hyperbole | Deliberate exaggeration for emphasis or humour | Character voice; comic writing; expressing extreme feeling |
What is the problem with clichéd figurative language?
A cliché is a comparison so overused that it no longer creates any image in the reader's mind. When you read "her eyes were like stars", most readers process the meaning automatically without actually imagining stars or eyes. The comparison is dead.
Clichéd similes and metaphors to avoid in your own writing:
- As cold as ice / as fast as lightning / as white as snow
- Her heart was pounding / his blood ran cold / butterflies in her stomach
- The wind howled / time flew / eyes like stars / hair like silk
These phrases were once vivid — they became clichés precisely because they were so effective at first. The solution is not to avoid figurative language, but to create original comparisons that make the reader actually see something.
How do you create an original metaphor or simile?
The process of finding an original comparison involves slowing down and thinking specifically about the thing you are describing:
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Identify the precise quality you want to convey. Not just 'the old building looked sad' but: it looked what specific kind of sad? Abandoned? Resigned? Exhausted? Waiting?
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Ask what else has that same quality. The comparison does not need to be visual. A sad building might sound like a particular piece of music, feel like a particular texture, move like a particular kind of person.
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Choose an unexpected source domain. Comparisons from unexpected areas — science, sport, food, music — are more surprising and therefore more vivid than comparisons from the 'poetic' vocabulary that writers reach for automatically (waves, stars, fire, silk).
Example process: Describing a character who is pretending to be calm but is secretly anxious.
Clichéd: "She seemed calm on the surface, like a still lake."
Original approach: What specific quality of pretended calm? — The gap between the visible surface and what is underneath. What else has that gap? — A compressed spring. A smile during bad news. An actor hitting their mark.
Revised: "She smiled with the precision of someone who had rehearsed it."
The second sentence has no simile at all — but the figurative thinking has produced a more specific and vivid image through word choice alone.
How much figurative language is too much?
A useful rule: one strong figurative device per paragraph is usually enough. If two or three images compete in the same sentence, none of them lands.
Cluttered (too many devices): "The moon, like a watchful eye, cast silver tentacles of moonlight across the brooding, dark sea, which whispered secrets to the waiting shore."
This sentence contains a simile, a metaphor, personification (twice) and an extended metaphor — all in 28 words. The reader cannot attend to all of them; each device cancels the others out.
Focused (one device, clearly doing its job): "The moon cast long shadows across the water, turning the surface to hammered pewter."
This sentence uses one metaphor — 'hammered pewter' — that does a precise job: the image is cold, worked, unyielding, slightly industrial. It creates a specific mood without crowding the sentence.
How do you revise figurative language in your own drafts?
When you have a complete draft, work through it with this audit:
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Highlight every figurative device. Similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole — mark them all.
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Ask of each one: does it make the reader see something new? If it is a cliché, cut or replace. If it is doing nothing the literal words could not do, cut.
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Ask: does it fit the register? A sad, quiet scene does not need a dozen vivid images. A fast-paced action sequence does not need an extended metaphor that slows the reader down.
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Test it out loud. Figurative language that sounds forced when read aloud usually reads as forced on the page.
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Ask: is the logic sound? Extended metaphors must be internally consistent. If the sea is a person in line one, it cannot suddenly become a machine in line three without a clear reason.
Frequently asked questions
Should I always use figurative language in a creative writing exam?
Only when it adds something. A narrative or descriptive piece that uses precise literal language well — choosing exactly the right verb, building a clear setting through specific sensory detail — can score very highly without relying on figurative devices. Examiners reward sophistication and control. A few well-placed figurative devices used purposefully score better than many devices scattered indiscriminately.
How do I know if a metaphor is original or clichéd?
If you have read or heard the comparison before, treat it as clichéd. If you feel a slight surprise when you read it — if it makes you think, even briefly, 'I hadn't thought of it that way' — it is doing its job. When in doubt, cut and use a precisely chosen verb or adjective instead. Direct, specific language is almost always stronger than a tired comparison.
Is it bad to repeat a figurative device?
Not always. A carefully developed extended metaphor — one central comparison sustained and developed across several sentences or a whole piece — is a mark of sophisticated writing. What is weak is using the same type of device (e.g., four consecutive similes) without varying the approach.
What if the figurative device I want to use makes the sentence awkward?
If you have to twist the sentence structure significantly to accommodate a figurative device, the device is not working. The best figurative language sits naturally in the sentence — it feels like the most obvious and efficient way to say what you mean. If it feels forced, try removing it and asking whether the sentence is better without it. Often it is.
Bring your creative writing draft to Professor Quill at aitutors.me — he will help you see which images are earning their place and which are cluttering the page.