Words & style · Tip 53 of 82 · 4 min read
Make Objects Come Alive (Personification)
Give a teapot a temper or a wind a whisper, and your descriptions will spring to life.
What if the kettle was grumpy? What if the wind was whispering secrets? When you describe a thing as if it were a person, that's called personification. It's a quick way to add feeling to a description.
Give things human actions
Things can't really sulk or giggle or march. But writing as if they do helps readers picture them, and tells them how the scene feels.
Okay 😐
The old car was slow and made a lot of noise going up the hill.
Wow! 🤩
The old car groaned up the hill, coughing and grumbling the whole way.
In the second one, the car sounds tired and fed up, almost like a grandpa climbing the stairs.
Match the feeling to your scene
The human actions you choose set the mood. Pick actions that match how you want your reader to feel.
- Cheerful: the sun smiled, the flowers danced, the kettle sang
- Spooky: the trees reached out, the door groaned, the shadows crept
- Calm: the sea sighed, the curtains breathed, the fire hummed
- Angry: the storm roared, the wind slapped the windows
The wardrobe watched Priya from the corner. The floorboards muttered under her feet, and the curtain twitched as if it knew something she didn't.
Personification or a talking object?
Personification is a little touch, a word or two. A teapot that actually talks and has adventures is something bigger: a character! Both are fun. Just decide which one you mean.