The Four Styles of Figurative Language

If you’ve been around as long as this blog, then you know I put an emphasis on the use of figurative and descriptive writing. I’m always looking for ways to make my stories as real as possible; to make the reader get lost in my world, and like it.  Face it, if you cannot show a reader something as simple as a character’s environment, then you’ve already lost half of the battle. Mastering this ability is what makes writers like Stephen King so fun to read.

I don’t want it to sound like I know what I’m doing, because I usually don’t. I’m always researching, researching, writing a little bit, and researching some more. I’m sure this’ll go on for a while until I have a good grip on this craft.

The following is an article by Niko Silvester, who writes for About.com. Niko goes over the four types of figurative language, which include:

Lexical Figures of Speech - Extending the written language to convey meaning. By far the most popular.
Phonological Figures of Speech - Using sounds to convey imagery
Orthographic Figures of Speech - Makes use of the visual aspects of the written word
Syntactic Figures of Speech - Uses non-standard language

Most of what we covered in the past regarding figurative language involved the Lexical variety (such as metaphors). I wasn’t too familiar with the other three, which is why I’m sharing this article with you.

I do wish that Niko would’ve expanded a little bit more with the detail. Unfortunately, articles that are found on About.com are notorious for being a bit too quick to the point. But it should get you started on the right path.

Read "The Four Types of Figurative Language" by Niko Silvester