Similies or Metaphors - which to use
Okay so this is pretty much a stylistic thing, so Iâm going to give some pros and cons, but note that this is more heavily my opinion than straight fact. Also note that I tend to favor metaphors, so thereâs a bit of bias there.
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First a quick refresher:
A simile is a direct comparison. Something is like something else, or shares the same qualitiy as something else. If there is the word âlikeâ or âasâ in the phrase, itâs a simile.
A metaphor is an indirect comparison, usually characterized by describing something in a way thatâs not technically possible. For example, a common metaphor is âtheyâre a ray of sunshine.â Technically theyâre not, but the indirect comparison is that a ray of sunshine is usually associated with comfort and warmth, as is this person.
Similies:
pros:
clearer and more direct - harder to misunderstand
theyâre easier to use, as you can compare almost anything
more effective at incorporating worldbuilding itâs easier to compare things that the readers arenât going to be as intimately familiar with
you can emphasize exactly what aspect youâre comparing
cons:
can come across as heavy-handed if youâre not careful - many readers can draw what comparison youâre making even if you donât directly make it
often uses a lot of words - annoying if youâre trying to lower your wordcount
really easy to draw on cliches - avoid this.
fewer sentence structures to pick from - more rigid










