Need help to start writing a book (in Wattpad or anywhere?) you have chosen the right book! A guide for beginner writers (and for writers) from a prolonged reader. My own secret tips that I have observed as a reader from years of reading in Wattpad...
High school sucked, isn't it? For some it may had. Let me be your Literature teacher for a while! I'm not like a Literature teacher or something, but, I do have As for Literature. So, let's get into it!
1. Alliteration - Alliteration means that simply you have words closer to each other starting with the same letter. Let's take basic examples before moving to the book.
In "The Eagle" of Alfred Lord Tennyson, there's Alliteration in the line, "He clasps the crag with crooked hands" where three words have the same letter at the beginning. Clasps, crag, crooked.
In "War is kind" of Stephen King, there's Alliteration in the line "Mother whose heart hung humble as a button" where three words have the same letter at the beginning. Heart, hung, humble. Same poem, there's this line "Great is the battle god, great and his kingdom" where two words have Alliteration. Great, god.
And, it sounds good on tongue and creates a rhythm, isn't it? So, not only in poems but you can use them in novels too!
2. Comparison - Just like the word itself, it simply means you compare one thing to another. Like non-living things to living things. If you compare non-living things with non-living things to living things-living things it's Juxtaposition. A kind of a subset in comparison.
In the poem "I know why the caged bird sings" of Maya Angelou, she compares the free bird to the caged bird with stanzas.
In "The Eagle" of Alfred Lord Tennyson, there's Comparison in the line, "he clasps the crag with crooked hands" where he compares hands of a human to the claws of an Eagle. Because crooked means claws.
3. Personification - Like the word itself, it means you address an animal or a non living thing as a human, a person. The difference is that in comparison you compare, but in Personification, you directly address them (kinda like metaphor)
In the poem "The Eagle" of Alfred Lord Tennyson, there's Personification in the lines "He clasps the crag with crooked hands" and "He watches the mountain walls" because an Eagle is clearly an animal, but Tennyson directly addresses it as "He"
'He watches from the mountain walls'
He = the Eagle
4. Metaphor - In Metaphor, you either use 'of' in front of the word, or directly address some thing to another. It's simple as that. What you do in Similes is that you indirectly address an object or a person, an animal to another. It is kind of a comparison.
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5. Simile - I remember this from "similar" for simile. It means you use prepositions (like, as) in front of a word to describe another word. The difference between Similes and metaphors is that you never use prepositions in front of a metaphor, except 'of'. But in Similes, you do.
Ex - Your face is like the moon, Your life is like fire, Your lips are like rose petals. Your will is strong as iron, you're character is innocent as a baby's.
6. Hyperbole - You can use this when you need to hilight something important. A Hyperbole is an extreme exaggeration. You add facts that aren't even true to hilight how important the fact you're saying.
Ex - "And like a thunderbolt, he falls" - The Eagle - Alfred Lord Tennyson
The Eagle doesn't actually falls or like a thunderbolt, but it is an exaggeration by Tennyson to say how powerful and quick his sailing was.
When you use these literary techniques your writing becomes actually interesting to read! Let's take an example from a previous chapters.
"The snow ball was activated. Shestarted to fleck the snowflakes inside that little glass cage, trapped yet having an enjoyable time. Martha remembered how Kass bought that snow ball for her birthday. Seasonal surprises. Dainty discounts. An atypical gift from a typical boutique. An antique shop, perhaps. She remembers how he stroked her velvet hands, nudging and caressing. Petal skin. "What I love most about you" he said. "Is you being yourself. You're like you have just freed yourself from somewhere trapped. What is so great is that you are always like that. Nobody can be that excited in every time" he said, inching her closer as she was the goddess of the freedom, she was the wind in the meadows, she was the beauty in the darkest night. She, the ultimate Artemis, had fallen in love with a commoner. The Artemis who vowed to be single and virtuous"
I used all the techniques I had described. Now, isn't it interesting to read?
Good luck everyone! I would be glad if you vote as well as comment, as it means infinity for me to get appreciation from the work I do and for helping and sharing you with my 'secret' techniques of writing. Best of luck for the best books from you!
