Literary devices are common in fiction. The classics have taught us poetic narratives using figurative effects. Modern fiction continues the tradition. Though the contemporary writer has an excellent grasp of wielding these devices, he must remain informed and continue learning how to effectively implement them. Otherwise, his complacency could result in a monotonous rendering of description, details, and human characteristics. Remember that readers’ tastes change. The avid reader would have encountered tons of sentence structures and paragraphs exhibiting a variety of literary device usage. Even the most sophisticated literary work benefits from a well-executed use of basic devices. The five most common devices are listed below.

1. Physical action. The gestures, movement, and mannerism of a character quickly identify their distinct personality: head-scratching, heavy breathing, gum chewing, nail-biting, sweating under pressure, finger-snapping, flashing a dirty finger, and so on.

2. Verbal expressions. This device helps the writer to economize on dialogue and define character background. A Valley girl would often use “like” in most of her sentences. An Italian mobster would often blurt out “capiche.” The writer must be cautious to avoid accusations of stereotyping. He has the freedom to use any expression he deems fit for the personalities of his creations.

3. Physical appearance. The description of a character’s distinct features must use a combination of nouns and verbs and must not be limited to adjectives. A woman that is merely “beautiful” begs for more details: how beautiful is beautiful? Metaphorical devices can also help to provide a magnified description of appearance. Woody Allen has this example in his story, The Kugelmass Episode: “Kugelmass was bald and as hairy as a bear, but he had soul.”

4. Abstract qualities. This serves to establish consistency in attitude or behavior. A gluttonous character loves to gorge on food; a lascivious character has trouble controlling his sexual urges; a chivalrous man puts other people first. Other abstract qualities must solidify personality (lazy, honest, corrupt, stupid, etc.).

5. Foreshadowing. This device works like an omen. The writer puts in an object, dialogue, or situation that marks an event that will happen later on in the story. Let us say we are reading a story about a mother who forbids her son to go aboard a passenger ship. She has a premonition that the journey will put her son in great danger. The son brushes off his mother’s warning, and in the latter part of the story, pirates raid the ship and take everyone hostage.

The writer must not depend on using the same descriptions, even if it helps to identify a character. The same description only works for incidental characters who might appear two or three times in the story. With major and supporting characters, the identifying description must serve as a reference for the reader the first time he meets a particular character. As the story progresses, the writer needs to pull out his arsenal of word choices. The description must be consistent, where synonyms and a combination of show and tell come into play.