Add Spice to Your Writing

Adding spices to food transforms the taste and presentation into a mirade of possibilities.  Of course there are the moments when a creative spice destroys a culinary recipe, like the time my son added dill to the meatloaf recipe ...well, let's not go there.

Spice, according to dictionary.com, adds an interesting element or quality; zest.  Zest is a good word.  I wonder, would someone describe my writing as zesty?  What could I do to bring zest into my WIP?

Recently I read an article by Dr. Dennis Hensley in  The Christian Communicator.  He discussed ways to add literary depth to our writing.  Dr. Hensley, author and director of professional writing at Taylor University, pointed out the importance of adding metaphors and similes to our work.  When I finished the aritcle I realized metaphors and similes are a type of spice that could bring zest into writing.

Before purchasing a spice, I smell the aroma. This way I'm reminded of the unique scent and how it might enhance a particular food item. Let's smell the aroma of metaphors and similes.

Metaphor

Details:  A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance without using "like" or "as."

Example: The following very old chorus could almost be titled:   The Jesus Metaphor

Jesus is the Rose of Sharon

He's the Lily of the Valley
He's the Fairest of Ten Thousand

He's the Bright and Morning Star

He's the Rock of my Salvation

He's the Risen Coming Savior
Open up your heart to Jesus
Let Him Come in

See how this chorus gives clues, ideas, paints a picture, and helps us understand even in a small measure something about Jesus? 

Example: 
 •"A man may break a word with you, sir, and words are but wind." (Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors) 

•"Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations." (Faith Baldwin, Face Toward the Spring, 1956)
  
A site that can give you practice: http://www.rhlschool.com/eng3n26.htm

Have you had a critque member say they didn't quite understand what your words meant? Perhaps a metaphor could help clarify.

Simile:

Details:  A simile is a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared.  A figure of speech that expresses the resemblance of one thing to another of a different category, usually introduced by "as" or "like".

Example:   This phrase from Michael W. Smith's song Above All  popped in my head as an example of a simile

Like a rose

Trampled on the ground
You took the fall

And thought of me

Above all

Words like these help readers/listeners to formulate pictures in their mind and understand a piece of what Christ did.

Example: 
•"She dealt with moral problems as a cleaver deals with meat." (James Joyce, "The Boarding House")

•"Life is rather like a tin of sardines: we're all of us looking for the key."(Alan Bennett)


A site that can give you practice:  http://www.rhlschool.com/eng3n25.htm
 

How have you added a bit of piquant, interesting element or zest to spice up your WIP?