The Original Simile

The Original Simile

The purpose of this activity is to play with figurative language, specifically the simile. Think up a simile that you haven't heard before. Smooth as silk will not do. Try to think of something smooth that you haven't heard used in that connection. Chocolate pudding perhaps.

Work quickly. Five minutes for the whole list. If you work quickly enough, your internal censor will not get a chance to stifle your efforts.

Step 1

Start by filling in these similes. Let your creativity flow. Don't worry. We won't be looking at your work.

as blue as a… SKY

as rough as a… SANDPAPAER

as lonely as a… A TEENAGED BOY

as tall as a… GIRAFFE

as talkative as… MY SISTER

as eager as a… BEAVER

crying like a… WIDOW

praying like… A MONK

reliable as… A BANDSAW

as expensive as… A LAMBO

as mad as… A HATTER

milling around like… A MILLER

common as… THE COLD

regular as… A ROCK

as pretty as… A FLOWER

as reluctant as… JESSE

as smooth as… ICE

as quick as… A FOX

running like a… THE WIND

creeping like a… A CROW

as loud as a… TERRA

as nervous as a… A TEENAGED BOY

as green as… GRASS

as angular as… A TRIANGLE

as mellow as… A CELLO

as sure as… A POLITICIAN

shaking like a… LEAF

as rich as… TRUMP

as perky as… A STUDENT

growing like a… A WEED

Step 2

Now we proceed to the twisted simile. Select six or eight of the most satisfactory similes you just created, and and mix them up. That is, move words from the right side of the like or as and connect them with the words on the left side from another line.

You will find you now have some more interesting similes, if more peculiar.

For instance, if you had written
as common as dirt and
as rich as Bill Gates

That wouldn't be all that interesting, since both of those are extremely cliché.
When you swap endings, you have
as common as Bill Gates
and
as rich as dirt

This might prove to be more thought provoking.

Step 3

· The third step is to take your twisted similes and play around with them.

See if you can turn them into a poem.

It helps if you believe that these mismatched scraps of words came from your subconscious, and therefore might very well unlock some little bit of knowledge you have been keeping a secret from yourself. You may be surprised at what you write.