If you want to write a novel, you’ll need to start by developing your concept, storyline and characters. These are the key components of your story but there is so much more to what makes a novel shine and linger in the memory of your reader.
There are many literary tools at your disposal to help bring out your themes and evoke emotion. Learning how to use them will help you elevate your writing, taking your novel from a great story to a story that is told with finesse. Understanding the key concepts of writing fiction requires an understanding of the tools known as rhetorical devices.
Reading & rhetorical devices
Even if you haven’t heard of some of the terms covered in this blog, chances are that if you are a keen reader (which it’s likely you are if you’re reading this!) you will already be familiar with a lot of them. You may not always think ‘hey, that’s a brilliant rhetorical device’ as you’re reading. In fact, if used well, rhetorical devices will help make your writing feel more vivid and real, and will help immerse your reader more fully in your story.
Becoming familiar with the vast array of rhetorical devices at your disposal will give you fresh ways to bring your story to life on the page and take your writing from good writing to great writing.
In this article, Libby Page takes a deep-dive into rhetorical devices and how to use them to take your writing to the next level. Libby Page is the author of five Up Lit and romance novels. Her first book, The Lido, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller, published in over 20 territories.
What is a rhetorical device?
A rhetorical device might also be referred to as a literary device, a stylistic device or a persuasive device. Essentially it refers to a language technique used to evoke emotion in your reader.
It’s a broad term that covers a wide range of specific techniques, many of which will be covered in this article.
If the characters, plot and storyline are the what of your novel, rhetorical devices fall into the how. How are you going to structure your sentences, paint a picture through words, and play around with language to tell your story in the richest, most compelling way possible?
Rhetorical devices fall into a number of different categories. For example, sonic devices are rhetorical devices that use the sounds of words and phrases to create a certain effect, whereas other rhetorical devices might be more figurative, drawing on comparison and imagery to evoke a certain feeling in your writing. See how you can employ a kind of rhetorical strategy in your writing?
Why are rhetorical devices important?
Getting familiar with a range of rhetorical devices will give you new ways to lift your writing from the page.
Think of rhetorical devices as tools you can turn to when you want to provoke a certain reaction or emotional response in your reader.
If you think of yourself as a cook, then the basics of your story (who is the main character, where does it take place, what is their emotional journey?) are your ingredients and rhetorical devices are your seasoning. And would you look at that? I just used a rhetorical device—a metaphor—to get my point across.
Getting familiar with a wide range of rhetorical devices will allow you to bring variety to your writing. It will put a broad range of techniques at your disposal to enrich your writing and get across your themes and the emotions you want to convey.
They say that variety is the spice of life and this applies to writing too; mixing things up and playing with different literary techniques will keep your reader engaged and make your writing more dynamic.
How to use rhetorical devices
With the idea of variety in mind, it’s worth being mindful not to overuse any one rhetorical device. Always administering alliteration may make many readers rightfully recoil, for example, and make your sentence structure read awkwardly.
Overuse of any one device can become tedious and may draw the reader out of the story when you want them to be right there with your characters, feeling what they’re feeling.
Ideally, you would use a mix of different devices to the point that the reader doesn’t necessarily even notice you’re using rhetorical devices—they just feel transported into your story.
On the flip side, don’t feel that you have to make use of every rhetorical device out there within your novel. Think of it like a toolbox, not a checklist. Pick and choose the tools that are right for the job. Some rhetorical devices will be more appropriate for your novel, or a certain chapter, than others.
Which rhetorical device should I use and when?
How you choose which rhetorical devices to use will depend on the kind of emotion you want to evoke in your reader. So before even thinking about which rhetorical devices to use, it’s worth asking yourself: how do I want to make my reader feel? What tone do I want to convey in my novel?
A sense of voice will also come into play when picking your rhetorical devices, especially if you are writing from the first-person perspective. What rhetorical devices best communicate the characteristics of your narrator or protagonist?
Examples of rhetorical devices
Alliteration
A sonic device you are probably very familiar with, alliteration involves the repetition of initial consonant sounds in each word. It can bring rhythm and drama to your writing.
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Alliteration can be an effective technique to use when naming your characters, especially within fantasy and children’s fiction—for example, Bilbo Baggins (J.R.R. Tolkien), Luna Lovegood (J.K. Rowling), Peter Pan (James Matthew Barrie), Willy Wonka (Roald Dahl). These alliterative names have a whimsical, song-like quality to them.
You might also consider using alliteration in your book’s title to make it memorable, like in these examples:
- Doctor Dolittle, Hugh Lofting and Ellen Miles
- The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
- The Paper Palace, Miranda Cowley Heller
- The Sunrise Sisterhood, Cathy Bramley
- Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
- Oona Out of Order, Margarita Montimore
- Revolting Rhymes, Roald Dahl
- My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Ottessa Moshfegh
- The Kiss Quotient, Helen Hoang
- Miss Benson’s Beetle, Rachel Joyce
Allegory
An allegory is a device used to convey a complex issue or idea in an easy-to-understand way that creates some distance between the issue and the reading experience. It is like an extended metaphor, where the entire story makes subtle comparisons to another story or with a broader issue. An allegory can help a reader absorb an important message in a more easily digestible way.
Famous allegorical novels include The Chronicles of Narnia, which is considered a Biblical allegory, drawing from themes of good and evil in the Bible and with Aslan’s character representing Jesus, and Animal Farm, which can be interpreted as an allegory for communism.
Using an allegory can be an effective way to give a well-known story a unique spin or to get readers to engage on a personal level with a complex theme. Allegories are particularly prevalent in fantasy and dystopian novels.
Allusion
Using an allusion in your novel means alluding to well-known references from the real world that help build up a picture of your character and make your writing feel real.
If a character references a phrase from a novel or a catchphrase from a film or TV show, that is an allusion. The allusion could be subtle, like describing two characters as being the ‘Ross and Rachel’ in a friendship group, or it could be an overt reference, like this one in Love Story by Lindsey Kelk:
She couldn’t have looked more thrilled if she’d just found out Hanya Yanagihara had written a prequel to A Little Life.
—Lindsey Kelk, Love Story
If you are writing a contemporary novel set in the real world, you might consider using allusions to make your writing feel grounded and real. Make sure that the allusions are references that your reader is likely to understand and that they reveal something about the characters or the world in your novel.
Anaphora
Anaphora is when several sentences begin with a repeated word or phrase, often at the beginning or end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. You might use this device to create a sense of rhythm and momentum and to emphasize an important moment or feeling.
Charles Dickens used anaphora in the opening of A Tale of Two Cities:
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 belief, 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.
—Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
The repetition of ‘it was’ creates a steady beat and also helps to emphasize the contrasts between the opposing ideas mentioned in this paragraph.
Another example of anaphora comes in this passage from Fredrik Backman’s novel Anxious People:
Sometimes it hurts, it really hurts, for no other reason than the fact that our skin doesn’t feel like it’s ours. Sometimes we panic, because the bills need paying and we have to be grown up and we don’t know how, because it’s so horribly, desperately easy to fail at being grown-up.
Because everyone loves someone, and anyone who loves someone has had those desperate nights where we lie awake trying to figure out how we can afford to carry on being human beings. Sometimes that makes us do things that seem ridiculous in hindsight, but which felt like the only way out at the time.
—Fredrik Backman, Anxious People
Here, Fredrik Backman repeats ‘sometimes’ at the beginning of three sentences, building a sense of momentum that carries the reader to the sentence that follows:
One single really bad idea. That’s all it takes.
—Fredrik Backman, Anxious People
Anaphora can be used to connect together several thoughts and to add a sense of drama to your writing, especially if you are building to a point that you want your reader to remember, like in the example above.
It can also give your writing rhythm and a lyrical quality, like in this passage from This is Happiness by Niall Williams:
Nobody in Faha could remember when it started. Rain there on the western seaboard was a condition of living. It came straight-down and sideways, frontwards, backwards and any other wards God could think of. It came in sweeps, in waves, sometimes in veils. It came dressed as drizzle, as mizzle, as mist, as showers, frequent and widespread, as a wet fog, as a damp day, a drop, a dreeping, and an out-and-out downpour. It came the fine day, the bright day, and any day promised dry. It came at any time of the day and night, and in all seasons, regardless of calendar and forecast, until in Faha your clothes were rain and your skin was rain and your house was rain with a fireplace. It came off the grey vastness of the Atlantic that threw itself against the land like a lover once spurned and resolved not to be so again. It came accompanied by seagulls and smells of salt and seaweed. It came with cold air and curtained light. It came like a judgement, or, in benign version, like a blessing God had forgotten he had left on. It came for a handkerchief of blue sky, came on westerlies, sometimes—why not?—on easterlies, came in clouds that broke their backs on the mountains in Kerry and fell into Clare, making mud the ground and blind the air. It came disguised as hail, as sleet, but never as snow. It came softly sometimes, tenderly sometimes, its spears turned to kisses, in rain that pretended it was not rain, that had come down to be closer to the fields whose green it loved and fostered, until it drowned them.
All of which, to attest to the one truth: in Faha, it rained.
—Niall Williams, This is Happiness
Anadiplosis
Anadiplosis is similar to anaphora. It is a technique where you end one sentence with a particular word or phrase and use that same word or phrase to begin the next sentence, effectively linking two or more words in a meaningful way.
For example:
If you want to improve your writing, try using rhetorical devices. Rhetorical devices can improve your writing by bringing variety. Variety helps lift your writing, preventing it from feeling flat.
Both anaphora and anadiplosis are variations on the broader rhetorical device of repetition and can be used to embed a certain point or heighten a particular emotion. Each use of the word or phrase can be applied in a different sense.
Cacophony
Cacophony is a sonic device that means combining multiple consonant sounds for effect. It can bring a sense of energy and dynamism or can create a feeling of chaos and frustration.
One of the most famous examples of cacophony in literature comes in the form of Lewis Carroll’s poem ‘Jabberwocky,’ where hard sounds are used to create an unsettling feeling full of tension.
Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!
—Lewis Carroll, ‘Jabberwocky’
In a novel, you might use words with a lot of hard consonant sounds—or cacophony—during a scene where you want to create tension.
You might also consider cacophony when naming your characters. Multiple consonant sounds can create a menacing feeling for your characters, such as Miss Trunchbull (Matilda) or Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein).
Chiasmus
Chiasmus is when you invert the order of a phrase to subvert its meaning and create impact, as in this passage from The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller:
No more regrets for what I haven’t done. Now only regrets for what I have done. I love him, I hate myself; I love myself, I hate him.
—Miranda Cowley Heller, The Paper Palace
Here, similarly sounding phrases built up of repeated words have vastly different meanings.
Dialogismus
If one character imagines what another is thinking or speaks in the imagined voice of another character, then this is an example of dialogismus.
Whenever she has these little flickers of disappointment, all Saffron can hear is her mum’s voice: See, I told you so. Even if those are words she never said.
Emylia Hall, The Death at the Vineyard
Here the character Saffron imagines her mother’s voice. Dialogismus is used to show Saffron’s indecision.
Eutrepismus
This refers to stating points in a numbered list. This technique can firstly give an air of authority, secondly create order and clarity, and thirdly help keep a reader’s attention.(See what I did there?)
For example, in Oh William! Elizabeth Strout uses eutrepismus when telling a lengthy story.
And then two things happened to William.
The first thing I heard about was on a Saturday in late May.
—Elizabeth Strout, Oh William!
The list is continued many pages later when Strout writes: ‘The second thing that happened to William is this...’
The use of eutrepismus helps the reader connect two seemingly disconnected stories, creating a sense of order and re-engaging the reader. It’s as if we’ve been reminded—‘ah yes, there were two things that happened to William’—and now feel intrigued to keep reading to discover what that second thing was.
You might choose to use eutrepismus to get across a character’s personality, especially if you are writing from the first-person perspective. For example, in Matson Taylor’s All About Evie we gain a good impression of the main character, Evie Epworth, from this use of eutrepismus:
I have everything I could ever want in life:
1. A career
2. A leatherette portfolio briefcase
3. An Ossie Clark poncho
—Matson Taylor, All About Evie
Lists like this are used throughout the novel to communicate a sense of Evie’s character as an optimistic lover of lists who regularly and quite literally counts her blessings. Eutrepismus becomes part of her tone of voice and helps us to understand her as a character.
Foreshadowing
This rhetorical device is used to discreetly hint at what is to come later in the novel. It can add tension, and can also make a plot point later on in the novel feel more satisfying.
The three witches’ prophecy in Macbeth is an example of foreshadowing, where the words hint at themes that will be explored throughout the play. F. Scott Fitzgerald used foreshadowing in The Great Gatsby in the form of the flashing light at the end of Daisy’s dock that symbolizes ambition and unreachable goals. Seeing it flashing throughout the book foreshadows the ultimate futility of Gatsby’s endeavors.
You might choose to use foreshadowing in your novel to create a sense of anticipation and to get across important themes.
Humor
There are many different types of humor, and humor is something you will be used to seeing used in novels for a wide variety of reasons.
Humor can help endear a character to your reader—especially a prickly or not-immediately-likable character. It can soften a tense situation, it can bring characters together, and it can build a connection with your reader that will make them want to keep reading.
Even if you are not writing what you might think of as a ‘funny’ book, it’s worth considering how humor might serve your story.
Hyperbole
This means an exaggerated statement, and can be used to convey emotion or to create humor.
It was Rune who pushed through the coup d’état that saw Ove deposed as chairman of the Association.
—Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove
Here ‘coup d’état’ is an example of hyperbole, adding drama to what we learn in the book was a straightforward changing of hands in the neighborhood committee. It gives us an insight into Ove’s disposition and the things he values. He is a man who hates change and who is very set in his ways, taking any seemingly small slight to heart and harboring grudges.
Hyperbole is used regularly throughout A Man Called Ove to highlight Ove’s personality.
Ove wouldn’t exactly call Rune his ‘enemy’... or rather, he would.
...
And just look at the state of the place now. Higher electricity bills and bicycles that aren’t put away in the bike shed and people reversing with trailers in the residential area in spite of signs clearly stating that it’s prohibited. Ove has long warned about these awful things, but no one has listened.
—Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove
In these passages ‘enemy’ and ‘awful things’ are examples of hyperbole that give a clear insight into Ove’s character. If your character is prone to drama, feels things in extremes, or is a real pessimist or a real optimist (‘the worst day ever’ versus ‘the best day ever’), then you might use hyperbole to show this.
Hypophora
This means posing a question and then immediately supplying its answer. You might use this in dialogue, especially between characters facing a disagreement, like in this scene from The Herd by Emily Edwards:
‘Now, whose fault was it that he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt? Was it the kid’s parents? Was it all the other parents who don’t make their kids buckle up? Of course it f***ing wasn’t. It was the fault of the dad driving him back home. He alone was responsible, and no one else.’
—Emily Edwards, The Herd
Here the character speaking doesn’t give the other a chance to reply—instead, he poses the question as a way of highlighting the issue at hand and giving his verdict in one blow. It is a device that can heighten the emotion during conflict in your novel.
Imagery
Are you using all the senses in your novel? Then chances are you are already using imagery. Imagery means using figurative language to create some sort of sensory experience for the reader. It can help to lift your writing from the page and make it feel more immersive.
Think about providing descriptions of how things smell, taste and sound, and also describing the physical sensations within your character’s body in a vivid way.
Lilacs, rain, a hint of bitter chocolate: Stella sniffed the air as she entered the small shop, enjoying the soft golden light that enfolded her. A bell pealed, an old-fashioned sound that gave her the oddest feeling, as if she had stepped off the Paris sidewalk and straight out of time.
—Ruth Reichl, The Paris Novel
This opening passage of The Paris Novel uses imagery involving smells, sounds and taste to bring the scene to life and place the reader directly there with the main character. Imagery can be a good way to open a novel or chapter, in order to thrust your reader directly into the story.
Irony
Irony can add depth to your writing; it means when there is a contrast between expectations and reality. There are many different types of irony but it essentially refers to the difference between how something appears and its literal meaning.
Metaphors and similes
You will likely be familiar with metaphors and similes, but it’s worth reminding yourself that you have them at your disposal to evoke emotion in your reader.
A metaphor is when one thing is directly compared to another thing for effect. In a simile you compare two things using ‘like’ or ‘as.’
There’s nothing like the smell of the sea, nothing close: briny, clean, like vinegar kept in the fridge.
—Emma Stonex, The Lamplighters
In this passage from Chocolat, Joanne Harris uses both a metaphor and a simile:
Two hours later Lansquenet-sous-Tannes is invisible once more, like an enchanted village which appears only once every year.
—Joanne Harris, Chocolat
The village isn’t actually invisible, therefore ‘is invisible’ acts as a metaphor here, implying that it goes back to being an ordinary village without much to make it stand out. ‘Like an enchanted village’ is the simile, comparing the village to a magical one.
Motif
If there is an element or image that has particular significance to your story and is repeated throughout your novel, this can be referred to as a motif. It might be something subtle, like a smell or sound that comes back again and again, or it could be a piece of action or a situation that happens multiple times. The main thing is that it should be linked to the deeper themes within the novel, and that it repeats for emphasis.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the mockingbird is used as a motif that symbolizes innocence and brings to mind the themes of the book.
I used the color yellow as a motif in my novel The Vintage Shop, as a symbol for joy and hopefulness. It comes up in many different forms and places throughout the book, and is linked to the book’s central theme about living life more fully. Living life in yellow rather than in black and white.
Personification
This means giving human traits or descriptors to inanimate objects, and can be a way of making your writing more immersive, especially if you want to create a feeling of unease, like in this line from The Paper Palace:
The door hinges shriek in resistance.
—Miranda Cowley-Heller, The Paper Palace
Door hinges are not capable of actually shrieking and yet the image it evokes feels visceral and brings the line to life.
Things to remember about rhetorical devices
As you might have gathered from this article, there are a lot of rhetorical devices out there.
Don’t worry—you don’t have to remember the names for them or use all of them in your novel. Over the course of my career and five novels, no editor has ever quizzed me on the names of rhetorical devices and their meanings.
But having an awareness of the rhetorical devices at your disposal could give you new ideas about how to bring your story to life. Think of these as ways to add richness to your writing and to introduce new layers through your language.
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Next steps for aspiring writers
Next time you are reading a novel you love, take some time to step back and try to spot some of these rhetorical devices in action. Why do you think the author chose that rhetorical device? How does it make you feel? How might a different rhetorical device alter the meaning or emotion of the passage?
And why not think about trying out some of these rhetorical devices in your own writing? Now you have a range of tools that you can use—have fun with them!
Were any of these rhetorical devices new to you? And do you have a favorite?
How to learn more about rhetorical devices
If you are just beginning to write a novel, have a look at The Novelry’s top-rated creative writing blog for more advice on writing techniques, story ideas and using rhetorical devices.
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