Using Figurative Language to Connect With Your Readers

My Miriam bat Isaac stories are set in Roman-occupied Alexandria during the first century CE. My job as a writer is to make my readers feel as if they’re right there. Then they can connect with the story and its characters.  But even with a contemporary setting, the author needs to set an emotional tone so readers feel they’re there. The writer does this with figurative language.

In the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Edgar Allan Poe uses the “vacant eye-like windows” of the Ushers’ house to personify the dying state of the family. He counts on the reader’s being able to relate to eyes like that, eyes that show no intelligence or spark of interest.

When introducing Miriam bat Isaac readers to the setting, I use figurative language to alert them as well to trouble ahead.

For example, in “The Bodyguard”, a story in The Deadliest Returns,  I start with the setting and a sense of trouble: “The old fart’s eyes were drilling into me. I shouldn’t have risked coming."

And in “The Guest”, a story in The Deadliest Deceptions: “The stranger’s imploring voice invaded my stupor while a tsunami of pain crashed inside my head forcing me to blunder back to consciousness.” So, don’t forget to bring the reader to your story with figurative as well as literal language.

Being aware of the author’s use of figurative language will enhance your appreciation of any story. Better yet, see how in the Miriam bat Isaac stories, the figurative language brings you right to the first century and the trouble ahead. Just click here.