LANGUAGE OF CREATIVE

WRITING
CREATIVE WRITING
 IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS

Idiomatic expressions or idioms are words, phrases or sentences that have meanings
different from the literal meanings of the words in the expressions.
Let us take the idiom hold your tongue, for example. When you are told, You must
hold your tongue during the meeting, the speaker does not actually mean that you
should stick your fingers in your tongue. The speaker means that you should not talk.
People hold their tongues when they are in situations where they want to talk, but it
would be better if they didn’t. So, while their tongue is ready to do some talking, they
hold it and don’t say anything.
Every language has idioms, and they can be difficult to learn if you are not a native
speaker of that language. Therefore, the best thing to do is to be sensitive as to how the
native speakers use their idioms in conversations and in their writing. Since idioms are
influenced by the culture, learning the idioms of a language can be very interesting and
enlightening
 IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS

Here are some idiomatic expressions in English used in sentences and their respective
meanings:

1. Anne was tickled pink by the good news that her husband will be vacationing from
work abroad. (made happy)
2. Hands down, Brandon is the best basketball player in the company team.
(no competition)
3. Crisha has been feeling pretty down in the dumps since she quarreled with her
boyfriend. (sad, depressed)
4. Emil is absent because he is feeling sick as a dog. (very sick)
5. There may have been a contagion in the office as Warren has been feeling under
the weather, too. (not well)
6. Every morning, my mother greets me with a Rise and shine. (wake up and be happy)
 IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS

7. Everyone thought that I would win as I was close, but no cigar. (close, but did not
make it)
8. Luisa could jog outside ‘til the cows come home. (for a very long time)
9. The weather bureau predicts that is going to rain cats and dogs today. ( rain very
hard)
10.That sound that Noe does in his sleep is driving me up the wall. (making someone very
annoyed)
11.This assignment in my creative writing class is a piece of cake ( very easy)
12.Bryan broke the office rules, but he was only given a slap on the wrist. (mild
punishment)
13.Despite the discount, Josies pair of shoes still costs an arm and leg. (very expensive,
costly)
 IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS

14. I was just pulling your leg when I said that I will go out with you. (kidding, joking)
15. Aldrin’s explanation of the mathematical solution sounds Greek to me. (beyond
comprehension)
16. Despite your failed attempts at the licensure examination, you need to keep your
chin up. (be happy)
17. Vanessa is new in the office, so you need to hold your horses with her. (be patient)
18. We all have been victims of that lady’s rumormongering, so we are all in the same
boat. (in the same position)
19. Maritess often forgets that she is a manager that she becomes a bit of loose cannon.
(unpredictable)
20. Tori promised Olga that he would clean his room when pigs fly. (never, time will never
come)
 FIGURES OF SPEECH

Figures of speech are literary devices that achieve a special effect

by using words in distinctive ways. They provoke a thought process
and bright depth to the language. There are hundreds of figures of
speech, but here we will focus on just 25 most commonly used figures
of speech.
To be able to use figures of speech effectively is an art, which can
be mastered over time. The more you read, the more you will be able
to understand them.
Figures of speech may be dichotomized into two categories: the
first are devices used to create sound or melody; the second are
devices that are used to evoke imagination and emotions.
 FIGURES OF SPEECH

Under the first category are the following figures of speech:

1. Alliteration. This refers to the repetition of an initial consonant sound. Example: Don’t
delay dawns disarming display. Dusk demands daylight.
2. Assonance. This refers to the identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in
neighboring words. Example: It beats…as it sweeps…as it cleans!
3. Consonance. Like alliteration, this is a repetition of consonant sound, but in the final
position. Example: Once you go black you can never co back.
4. Onomatopoeia. This is the use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the
objects they refer to. Example: The clock’s tick-tocks remind the old man of his
impending death.
Other figures of speech repeat not sounds but the whole words or phrases in passage
or verse like the following:
 FIGURES OF SPEECH

5. Anaphora. Same word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of successive clauses

or verses.
Example:
I’m not afraid to die. I’m not afraid to live. I’m not afraid to fail. I’m not afraid to
succeed. I’m not afraid to fall in love. I’m not afraid to be alone. I’m just afraid I might
have to stop talking about myself for five minutes.
6. Epiphora. What is repeated is a word or phrase at the end of succession of clauses or
verses.
Example:
Fie, fie, thou shamestthy shape, thy love, thy wit.
7. Anadiplosis. This is different in that the last word of a verse or sentence is repeated at
the beginning of the next one.
Fear leads to anger, Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.
 FIGURES OF SPEECH

The following are the figures of speech that evoke imagination and emotions.
8. Simile. This is a stated comparison usually using like or as between two fundamentally
dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common.
Example: On the ring, Muhammad Ali floated like a butterfly, but he stung like a bee.
9. Metaphor. This is an implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have
something in common.
Example: My heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill.
10. Personification. This is a figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction
in endowed with human qualities or abilities.
Example: The picture in that magazine screamed for attention.
11. Hyperbole. This is an extravagant statement or the use of exaggerated terms for the
purpose of emphasis or heightened effect.
Example: I’m so busy trying to accomplish ten million tings at once.
 FIGURES OF SPEECH

12. Understatement. This figure of speech deliberately makes a situation seem less
important or serious than it is.
Example: (Referring to a dent in a car) It’s nothing. It’s just a scratch.
13. Metonymy. This is a figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for
another with which it is closely associated.
Example: (Referring to the movie industry) Hollywood is undeterred by the mass
actions against stereotyping organized by the minorities.
14. Synecdoche. This is a figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole
or the whole for a part.
Example: Rationalizing guilt is a common trait of white-collar criminals.
15. Euphemism. This refers to the substitution of an offensive term for one considered
offensively explicit.
Example: Most of the informal settlers have been relocated outside Metro Manila.
 FIGURES OF SPEECH

16. Rhetorical Question. This is a question that needs no answer. Its purpose to impress to
the listener or reader an intended message.
Example: Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who would want to live in an
institution?
17. Climax. This is a figure of speech in which a series of phrases or sentences is arranged
in ascending order of rhetorical forcefulness.
Example: Let a man acknowledge his obligations to himself, his family, his country,
and his God.
18. Anticlimax. This is the opposite of climax.
Example: He has been the ravages of war, he has known natural catastrophes, he
has been to single bars.
19. Oxymoron. The figure of speech uses incongruous or contradictory terms usually side
by side with each other.
 FIGURES OF SPEECH

Example: She cannot be trusted. She is a real phony friend.

20. Parallelism. This refers to repeated syntactical similarities introduced for rhetorical
effect.
Example: When you are right, you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you
cannot be too conservative.
21. Sarcasm. This makes use of words that mean the opposite of what the speaker or
writer wants to say especially in order to insult someone, to show irritation or to be
funny.
Example: Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it?
22. Irony. This refers to a statement or situation that is contradicted by the appearance
or presentation of the idea.
Example: Who would expect that Bill Gates would win a computer in his company’s
raffle draw?
 FIGURES OF SPEECH

23. Paradox. This refers to a statement that appears to contradict itself.

Example: I must be cruel to be kind.
24. Apostrophe. This figure of speech addresses an inanimate object, an abstraction or
an absent person.
Example: Moon river…wherever you’re going, I’m going your way.
25. Prosopopoeia. An imaginary character or absent person represented as speaking.
Example: (Wisdom speaking) From the mouth of the Most High I came forth, and
mistlike covered the earth…
 ALLUSION

Allusion is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical,
cultural, literary, or political significance. It does not describe in detail the person or thing
to which it refers. It is just a passing comment and the writer expects the reader to
possess enough knowledge to spot the allusion and grasp its importance in a text.
For instance, one is making a literary allusion the moment he says, I do not approve of
this quixotic idea. Quixotic means stupid and impractical as derived from Cervantes’s
Don Quixote, a story of a foolish knight and his misadventures.
The uses of allusions are not confined to literature alone. Their occurrence is fairly
common in our daily speech. Here are some common allusion examples in everyday life.

1. Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her. (Romeo is reference to Shakespeare’s Romeo,
a passionate lover of Juliet, in Romeo and Juliet.)
 ALLUSION

2. The rise in poverty will unlock the Pandora’s box of crimes. (This is an allusion of one
Greek Mythology’s origin myth, Pandora’s box.)
3. This place is like a Garden of Eden. (This is a biblical allusion to the garden of God in
the Book of Genesis.)
4. Guess who the new Newton and Picasso of our school are? (Newton means a
science genius, alluding to a famous scientist Isaac Newton and a famous painter
Pablo Picasso.)
5. Mt. Apo is the Philippines Mt. Everest. (This alludes to the world’s tallest peak, Mt. Apo
being the country’s tallest.)
6. To the surprise of many, the corrupt politician decided to eulogize the departed
former leader and implied in his eulogy the he is the country’s Lee Kwan Yew. (This is
a political allusion to the former Prime Minister of Singapore.
 ALLUSION

7. Stop acting like my ex-husband, please. (Apart from scholarly allusions, where may
also refer from popular culture, too, as in this example, from a popular international
pageant.
8. My life will forever be the Ms. Universe of my life. (Allusions may be drawn from
popular culture, too, as in this example from a popular international pageant.

By and large, the use of allusions enables writers or poets to simplify complex ideas
and emotions. The readers comprehend the complex ideas by comparing the emotions
of the writer or poet to the references given by them. Furthermore, the references to
Greek Mythology give a dreamlike and magical touch to the works of art. Similarly,
biblical allusions appeal to the readers with religious backgrounds.
 DICTION

Diction can be defined as a style of speaking or writing determined by the choice of

words by a speaker or a writer.
Diction or choice of words separates good writing from bad writing. It depends on a
number of factors. Firstly, the word has to be right and accurate. Secondly, words should
be appropriate to the context in which they are used. Lastly, the choice of words should
be such that the listener or readers understand easily. Besides, proper diction or proper
choice of words is important to get the message across. On the contrary, the wrong
choice of words can easily divert listeners or readers which results in misinterpretation of
the message intended to be conveyed.
In literature, writers choose words to create and convey a typical mood, tone and
atmosphere to their readers. A writer’s choice of words and his selection of graphic
words not only affects the reader’s attitude but also conveys the writer’s feelings toward
the literary work. Moreover, poetry is known for its unique diction that separates it from
prose. Usually, a poetic diction is marked by the use of figures of
 DICTION

speech, rhyming words, etc.

Individuals vary their diction depending on different contexts and settings. Therefore,
readers may come across various types of diction. It may be formal where formal words
are used in informal situations, e.g. press conferences, presentations etc. Similarly, we use
informal diction in informal situations like writing or talking to our friends. Moreover, a
colloquial diction uses words common in everyday speech. Slang is the use of words that
are impolite or newly coined.
Depending on the topics at hand, writers tend to vary their diction. For example,
Keats in Ode to the Grecian uses formal diction to achieve a certain effect. He goes:
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes play on
Notice the use of formal ye instead of informal you. The formality here is due to
respect the urn inspires in Keats. In the same poem he says:
 DICTION

Ah, happy boughs! that cannot shed

Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu.

It is more formal to use adieu than to say goodbye.

In sharp contrast to Keats, John Donne uses colloquialism in his poem The Rising Sun:
Busy old fool, unruly Sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains, call on us?
Must to thy motions lover’s seasons run?
Saucy pedantic wretch
Treating the sun as a real human being, the poet speaks of the sun in an informal way
using colloquial expressions. He rebukes the sun because the sun has appeared to spoil
the good time he is having with his beloved. Further, he orders the saucy pedantic sun to
go away.
 DICTION

Writers skillfully choose words to develop a certain tone and atmosphere in their
works. Read the following excerpt from the short story The School Boy Donald Barthelme:
And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I don’t know why they died, they just
died. Something wrong with the soil possibly or maybe the stuff we got from the nursery
wasn’t the best. We complained about it. So we’ve got thirty kids there, each kid had his
or her own little tree to plant and we’ve got these thirty dead trees. All these kids looking
at these little brown sticks, it was depressing.
The use of the words died, dead, brown and depressing gives a gloomy tone to the
passage.
Sometimes, writers repeat their chosen words or phrases to achieve an artistic effect.
Read the following example from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens:
 DICTION

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the
age of foolishness, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the
season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.
By repeating the phrase, It was… throughout the passage, the writer ensures that the
readers will give more consideration to characteristic of the age they are going to read
about in the novel.
Meanwhile, Rozakis (1997) defines diction as proper words in proper places. She went
on in her book, in her attempt to describe good diction, using the opening of Thomas
Paine’s The American Crisis:
These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot
will in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; he that stands it now, deserves the
love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we
have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
 DICTION

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: - “Tis dearness only that gives
everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it
would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly
rated…
Rozakis (1997) observes that Paine selected the precise words he needed to make his
point and reach his audience. For example, notice the implications in the descriptions
summer soldier and sunshine patriot. Paine’s words suggest that these are the people
who support you only when it is convenient. Using celestial to describe freedom conveys
the priceless quality of independence.
Rozakis (1997) continues her discussion by saying that diction a writer selects make up
his diction. His diction affects the clarity and impact of his message. Diction is measured
from high to low, high being multi-syllabic tongue-twisters and low being slang and or
bad; rather, each is appropriate in different writing situations.
 DICTION

An example of elevated diction is this passage from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal
palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be
goodness.
An example of low diction, on the other hand, is this plain speaking using the
vernacular from Mark Twain:
I do wonder what in the nation that frog throw’d off for – I wonder if there aint
something the matter with him – he ‘pers to look mighty baggy, somehow.