As far as rhetorical devices go, few can give your writing that impression of freshness as good figures of speech. They do for firing up imagination as a proofreading software does for your writing’s correctness and clarity. Using words in distinctive ways, they paint a picture that that many readers may find new and refreshing.
There are literally hundreds of different figures of speech, ranging from common ones such as metaphor and simile to less-employed tricks like assonance or onomatopoeia. Regardless of which ones you employ, using them to impart an original thought can turn ordinary text into an engaging piece of work.
Common expressions such as “stirring the pot,” “dressed for success” and “hitting a sales target” are well-worn examples of figures of speech. While using these to perk up your work is fine, do realize that years upon years of use have rendered them too familiar to make any significant impact on the reader. As such, it’s important to be inventive in employing these rhetorical devices, if you want to come up with ways to express ideas that create a good impression on your readers.
Most writers will struggle to write original figures of speech during drafting. After all, the goal of drafting for most people is to express their thoughts in as plain and as quick a way as possible. The best time to come up with creative figures of speech is during the editing stage, as you rewrite your text to express your thoughts in a clearer and more effective manner.
