Last weekend, I joined a local writing workshop for the first time. I am involved in a few groups online based around writing, publishing and marketing but I have never participated in an actual real time writing group. Because of Covid-19, we couldn’t get together face-to-face. Thirteen of us gathered via zoom.

Our instructor, Jan, gave us a lesson on metaphors (poetic comparisons) and similes (which use like or as for the comparison between things). First, we were provided the prompt to describe how different fruit ripen using a simile. These are the ones I came up with.

Bananas ripen like early love, quickly sweet and bright then passed without a goodbye.

Plumes ripen like a child learning to read with patience and the fullness of time.

Then we had to use similes to describe our interpretation of love. The following are mine.

Love is sharing the last bite of your favourite food.

Love is being the rock for the waves of your lover’s grief to crash upon.

Love is like a hand stitched quilt keeping you warm on the coldest of days.

I really enjoyed making the smiles about love and I was surprised with how quickly they came to me. We only had a few minutes to write them down and share.

The final challenge was to write an extended metaphor. We were instructed to write a short three paragraph story and then go back and add as many metaphors and similes as we could all along the same theme. This was definitely a struggle. We only had fifteen minutes. We wrote them out and a few people read aloud before we ran out of time during our two hour zoom. We then emailed our stories to the other participants and got feedback on the best metaphors used.

The Forest Encounter

She met him in the woods. He meandered through the pine trees like a stream, unhurried and cool. He was as quiet and calm as the fog hanging over a lake on an autumn morning. She spoke to him, he did not reply. He stayed silent like a wild hare in the undergrowth. She blinked and he was gone like a lightning flash leaving her blinded yet enthralled. 

She retraced her steps every day thereafter. She scanned the forest like a lighthouse keeper searching for ships on a stormy night. Vigilant yet disappointed like a war bride waiting with bated breath for news of her love. 

At last, he was there. Appearing like a camouflaged hunter breaking away from the backdrop of foliage. Again in silence like the deer he could have been hunting. He held out a hand. She knew, as an eagle knows where the wild salmon swim, that she stood on a precipice. If she clasped his hand would she fly like that eagle or would she fall like an unsuspecting lemming?

She took his hand and jumped. 

By Kristen Bobbitt

I love pushing myself in outdoor adventures and now also in writing. I was honestly quite uncomfortable about joining a writing group via zoom. I had never done such a thing and was outside of my comfort zone. Coming in late to a group that had already been meeting for awhile. But everyone was welcoming and I forced myself to share and not be shy. Many people would never post publicly, as I am, the scribblings of a creative writing time-crunched session. But this is all a part of my journey in writing and I am committed to sharing. Not everyone will like my writing and that is okay. It felt wonderful to be surrounded, even virtually, by the creative energies of my fellow writers.

The writing workshop was a fun exercise and a broadening experience. I am looking forward to the next session at the end of the month.

Thank you for reading. Which of my metaphors did you like the best? Can you create your own simile of what loves means to you? Please leave it in the comments below.

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