100 Best Writing Devices For Writers With Great Examples

Writing Devices are very important for every writer and student.As you gain more experience as a writer, you should begin to build your writer’s vocabulary. For example, you should, in time, know what in means to write with sensory details. You should also know the difference between exposition and persuasion, between sarcasm and smile, between puns and personification, and so on.

You’ll find this article very helpful because it explains all of the important techniques and terms associated with writing—including Use seven italicized above. It’s important that you understand these repressions because your teachers will use them in writing assignments, is: your writing peers will use them in group-advising sessions.

Being A Creative Writer You Must Know The Importance of Writing Devices With Examples

Writers use different techniques or methods to add interest an details to their stories and reports. Look over the following writing techniques and then experiment with some of them in your own writing

Allusion : A reference to a well-known person, place, thing, or even that the writer assumes the reader will be familiar with.

Hector rushed in like Superman and rescued the cat from the burning building.

Analogy : A comparison of similar objects. An analogy suggests that since the objects are alike in some ways, they will probably be alike in other ways.

Pets are like plants. If you give them lots of care and attention, they grow strong and healthy. If you neglect them, they become weak and sickly.

Anecdote : A brief story used to illustrate or make a point.

Abe Lincoln walked two miles to return several pennies he had overcharged a customer. (This anecdote shows Lincoln’s honesty.)

Antithesis: Antithesis means “exact opposite.” In writing, it usually means using opposite ideas in the same thought or sentence.

We decided to have the bear for supper before he “had” us.

Colloquialism:

A common word or phrase that is used when people talk to one another. Colloquialisms are usually not used in a formal speech or in most assigned writing.

“How’s it goin’?” and “What’s happenin’?” are colloquialisms for “How are you?”

Exaggeration:

An overstatement or a stretching of the truth to emphasize a point. (See hyperbole and overstatement.)

My shoes are killing me.

Flashback:

A technique in which a writer interrupts a story to go back and explain an earlier event.

Foreshadowing:

Hints or clues that a writer uses to suggest what will happen next in a story.

Hyperbole:

An extreme exaggeration or overstatement that a writer uses for emphasis. (See exaggeration and overstatement.)

My brother exploded when he saw the damage to his car.

Idiom :

Words used in a special way that may be different from their literal meaning.

Rush-hour traffic moves at a snail’s pace. (This idiom means “very slowly.”)

Irony:

A technique that uses a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its normal meaning.

Danielle smiles and laughs all of the time, so we call her Grumpy.

Juxtaposition:

Putting two ideas, words, or pictures together to create a new, often ironic meaning. (An ironic statement uses words to mean the opposite of their usual meaning.)

Oh, the joys of winter blizzards!

Loaded words :

Words that make people feel for or against something. Persuasive writing, such as advertising, often uses loaded words.

This new product is very affordable and easy to use.

Drinking and driving is a deadly combination.

(The underlined words are loaded words.)

Local color:

The use of details that are common in a certain place (a local area). A story taking place on a seacoast would probably contain details about the water and the life and people near it.

Metaphor:

A figure of speech that compares two things without using the word like or as.

The cup of hot tea was the best medicine for my cold.

Overstatement:

An exaggeration or a stretching of the truth. (See exaggeration and hyperbole.)

We screamed until our eyes bugged out.

Oxymoron:

A technique in which two words with opposite meanings are put together for a special effect.

jumbo shrimp, old news, small fortune, bittersweet

Paradox:

A statement that is true even though it seems to be saying two opposite things.

The more free time you have, the less you get done.

Parallelism:

Repeating similar grammatical structures (words, phrases, or sentences) to give writing rhythm.

The doctor took her temperature, checked her heartbeat, and tested her reflexes.

Personification:

A figure of speech in which a nonhuman thing idea, object, or animal) is given human characteristics.

The low clouds bumped into the mountains.

Pun:

A phrase that uses words in a way that gives them a funny effect. The words used in a pun often sound the same but have different meanings.

That story about rabbits is a real hare raiser. {Hare, another word for rabbit, is used instead of hair. A hair-raiser is a scary story.)

Sarcasm:

The use of praise to make fun of or “put down” someone or something. The praise is not sincere and is actually intended to mean the opposite thing.

“That was a graceful move!” he said, as I tripped over the rug.

Sensory details:

Specific details that are usually perceived through. the senses. Sensory details help readers to see, feel, smell, taste, and/or hear what is being described.

As Derrick spoke, his teeth chattered and his breath made little clouds in the icy cold air.

Simile:

A figure of speech that compares two things using the word like or as.

The dog danced around like loose litter in the wind.

The ice was smooth as glass before the skaters entered the rink.

Slang:

Informal words or phrases used by particular groups of people when they talk to each other.

chill out , hang loose totally awesome

Symbol:

A concrete or real object used to represent an idea. Example: A bird, because it can fly, has often been used as a symbol for freedom.

Synecdoche:

The use of part of something to represent the whole.