Tuesday Tunes - Analogies, Metaphors, and Similes, Oh My!

My original idea for today's post was verging on "hostile rant" territory. It might have been fun, but I decided against it. Let me just say this, then we'll move on:

Unless you go to one extreme or the other, social networking is not going to make or break you in the world of publishing. So stop stressing over it. Stop listening to people who don't practice what they preach (yes, I'm talking about certain agents who have an online presence). Be smart, but be yourself, not some other person's idea of what you should be. If you feel the need to drop an F-bomb in a tweet, by all means, go for it. If you hated a novel that everyone else is raving about, don't be afraid to say so. That's not going to keep you from getting a book deal. Seriously. If you can't have your own opinions, then you are just a robot, programmed to think, speak, and act a certain way. Readers are not interested in robots (maybe robot-characters, but not robot-authors). They want someone who will interact with them. Social networking is a way to connect with, not just others in the industry, but with your readers, and the best way to show your readers what kind of person you are is to be... social. Imagine that. There is nothing wrong with being a real person. So get real.

Okay, I'm done now. And yes, I purposely left that all in one big block of a paragraph so that only the people who really care what it says will actually read it. If you don't care, skip it.


Now for the real topic of this post, which is, ironically, connected to twitter. I've been working on some extensive rewrites lately. Rewrites are tough for me, even though I know it's for the best in the long run. I was feeling very frustrated with it yesterday, and tweeted this:

I love rewriting. Yep. Love it like a bad hair day. No matter what I do, it still looks wrong. #cries

That tweet got some attention, mainly because people thought it was a good analogy. So my point is this -- never underestimate the power of comparative imagery. When I'm reading a story, this is one of the main things that stands out to me in an author's presentation. It's the sole reason Lolly Winston is one of my absolute favorite authors, even though her story structure leaves much to be desired. Reading her words is pleasant. Her writing is rife with similes.

But you can't just throw these into your story for the sake of having them there. The best comparisons are CLEARLY RELEVANT. Like the example of a bad hair day above. Trying to perfect your hair is very similar to trying to nail a rewrite. You work at it and work at and work at it, your frustration builds, it seems like it's never going to look right. Ever. And yes, there is usually crying involved.

Also, the use of the word "love" there is OPPOSITE of the real meaning. In that instance, love actually means hate. This creates dry wit, which is an effective way to impress a point in someone's mind. If you can make them laugh, you're in.

Did I actually think about all that when I wrote the tweet? Nope. It just came out, because it was SO TRUE of how I felt at that moment. I wanted to rip my hair out/ burn my novel.

Have you ever been amazed by a picture-perfect comparison?

SIMILES (funny how much that word looks like "smiles")



The misuse of apostrophes in that video is hilarious. Non-writers. Psshh! Think they know what's what. But I couldn't resist the mad baby face. Haha.

METAPHORS (and a few similes... and a whole lotta innuendo. you've been warned)



Oh dear, did Lydia just post a highly inappropriate song? For shame! Get that woman blacklisted, STAT! (nonsense. all of it.)

Click here for the official video. I used to swing dance in my younger days, and yes, I try to dance along with this video. I can't breathe and nearly have a heart attack, but it's just so fun! Let me have my fun.

Not in the mood for stupid people today,
~Lydia