Literary Devices: Adding Color

Like artists who paint on canvases, writers can also create beautiful images and pictures by the use of their words. Aside from literary devices that add style and add voice, there are particular literary devices that can be beneficial for writers to add color to their writing, create intrigue, and engross their readers in their short stories and novels. Some of these include the following list of literary devices below.

Literary devices that add color:

• Similes

• Metaphors

• Personification

• Imagery

• Hyperbole

• Alliteration

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WATCH THE EPISODE

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See episode 3 of season 2 of my Journey of a Christian Writer series below to find out more about how writers can add more color to their writing to intrigue their readers by using the literary devices in the bullet list above.

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EXAMPLE OF SIMILES

The sun shone in the sky like a golden coin.

Her lipstick was as red as a rose.

The puffy clouds were like soft marshmallows.

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EXAMPLE OF METAPHORS

The following example of a metaphor below is from Book 1: "Precious Lord, Take my Hand" of my Hallelujah Praise series about the abusive fiancé of my character Denice Johnson.

Russell was a ball and chain on her ankle. Everywhere she went he followed her. He was her shadow, her reflection whenever she looked in the mirror.

In this example, I make the comparison of a prisoner to Denice in her abusive relationship with her fiancé Russell and how his overprotective, dominating nature doesn't allow Denice to have her own sense of individuality.

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EXAMPLE OF PERSONIFICATION

Fall leaves skipped down the street.

Marvin's flowers cried for water on the humid day.

The man's old truck coughed up smoke from the exhaust pipe.

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EXAMPLE OF IMAGERY

Below is a short excerpt from my Christian and Urban fiction novel, "Wisdom" from my spin-off series of my Hallelujah Praise trilogy series. In chapter one, I paint vivid imagery of my teenaged character Marcus Gooding and his junky bedroom.

Compared to his father, he wasn’t but skin and bones, which was more of a disadvantaged than anything else. Under his bare feet was a pair of blue jeans stained with tomato sauce. He had taken them off last night after having pizza for dinner. One thing about Marcus, he never wore nightclothes to bed, but only the shirt he wore during the day and his underwear. He picked them up from the carpet floor and tossed them in a straw hamper basket filled with a mountain of dirty clothes.

Marcus walked to his cluttered closet and forced it open. He flicked on a light bulb switch and narrowed his eyes, struggling to adjust them to the intense lighting. A rack of mostly sweatshirts, T-shirts, and jeans hung on a metal bar, except for a black dress suit hidden in the back for special occasions.

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EXAMPLE OF HYPERBOLES

I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!

She laughed so hard she died.

He runs faster than a cheetah.

There's so much snow it'll take years to shovel it!

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EXAMPLE OF ALLITERATION

Sally sold seashells by the seashore.

Peter Piper picked a pepper.

Betty bought better butter.

Andrew ate an awesome apple.

CLOSING REMARKS

Similes, metaphors, personification, imagery, hyperboles, and alliteration are some of the more colorful of literary devices. Each of them is like different hues of paint that adds a little something special to writing and writers' short stories and novels. Be creative and use some of these yourself in your own writing. You might be surprised of what sorts of images and pictures you're able to make from using your imagination. For more writing videos or tutorials, subscribe to my writing channel Journey of a Christian Writer series. All right, that's it for this post. If you liked it and found it helpful, please, give it a (heart❤️), take part in the poll 🤔, and share your thoughts or comments 💬 below.)

🤔Hey, writers, which of the three literary devices is your favorite to add color to your writing?

• ☀️ Similes
• ⛓️Metaphors
• 🌳Personification