Searching for Beauty

Amidst the drab browns of this land, their beauty shines like the hand-blown glass goblets I saw hidden away in dusty heaps in a local shop last year.

~taken from “Searching for Beauty: Confessions of a Non-girly Girl”
by A.R., WOTH onlineMagazine, Sept/Oct ’10.

I love a beautiful sentence. I paused when I read the one above. The writer did a remarkable thing—she created a picture in my mind depicting the women of her region and drove home the theme of her piece in 29 well-chosen words.

I congratulated her on that one sentence alone (and then went on to publish her piece).

Writing Tidbit: Never underestimate the power of a simple simile and its more complicated sister, the metaphor.

• Simile is a comparison of two dissimilar objects that uses the words like, as or than.

• Metaphor is an implied comparison that brings together two dissimilar objects, persons, or ideas. Unlike a simile, which uses the words like or as, a metaphor directly identifies an obscure or difficult subject with another that is easier to understand.

Jesus knew how to keep His audience’s attention with the beauty and power of speaking metaphorically: “you are the light of the world,” “a farmer went out to sow his seed,” “I am the bread of life,” etc.

So be like Him…and here is how I’ll know…

Enter our writing contest: “Searching for Beauty”

• Write a one sentence simile that depicts the women of your region.
• Submit it me: editor@womenoftheharvest.com by Monday, October 11, 10:00 AM (MST) with “Searching for Beauty" in the subject line
• I’ll post all the entries next week and you all will vote on your favorite.
• A $15 iTunes card will be awarded to the winner! (my one e-point)