Metaphors are powerful weapons in an author’s writing arsenal. (See what I did there? That was a metaphor.)
A thoughtfully written metaphor used in just the right place will help a writer create vivid, original prose – the kind that makes readers sigh in blissful appreciation.
I love these two quotes about metaphors:
Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space.
Orson Scott Card
A metaphor is a kind o’ lie to help people understand what’s true.
Terry Pratchett
Truth is at the heart of a good metaphor. Metaphors shouldn’t make a piece of writing unnecessarily obtuse. Instead, metaphors should make complex or unfamiliar concepts easier to understand by connecting them to something more familiar. In this way, the writing will be more concise because writers don’t have to spend time explaining something.
Metaphors imply comparisons between two different things that have something important in common, though the comparison is figurative rather than literal.
Examples of great metaphors in fiction:
Time has not stood still. It has washed over me, washed me away, as if I’m nothing more than a woman of sand, left by a careless child too near the water.
The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
She was the third beer. Not the first one, which the throat receives with almost tearful gratitude; nor the second, that confirms and extends the pleasure of the first. But the third, the one you drink because it’s there, because it can’t hurt, and because what difference does it make?
Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
She herself is a haunted house. She does not possess herself; her ancestors sometimes come and peer out of the windows of her eyes and that is very frightening.
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, Angela Carter
Reasons for writers to use metaphors in their writing
Metaphors create a shortcut to understanding
The qualities of the metaphor can be quickly and easily applied to the thing the metaphor is describing, without the need for those qualities to be explicitly stated. This makes a piece of writing delightfully succinct and concentrates meaning. The metaphor ‘love is a thorny rose’ is not difficult to understand: it suggests that love it beautiful but has the hidden potential for pain.
Metaphors can surprise the brain, which in turn leads to delight
The key to keeping readers interested is by continuously smashing apart expectation. Usually, we think of originality and defying convention in terms of plot or character, but word choice is ripe with potential in this regard. By pairing two unexpected images (as long as they make sense together), a writer can interrupt the reader’s expected train of thought and make them sit up and pay attention, and there’s a natural delight in discovering something new.
Metaphors deepen the reading experience
Something that makes reading (rather than other forms of storytelling like movies) unique is that it has the potential to engage the imagination so intensely that readers experience a story rather than consume it passively. Invoking sensory detail is one of the best ways a writer can do this. Pairing metaphor with sensory detail amplifies this effect. It makes the reader feel.
Similes vs Metaphors
It’s easy to confuse similes and metaphors. A simile tells us something is similar to something else. The words ‘like’ or ‘as’ are used. A metaphor, on the other hand, tells us something is something else. It implies a much stronger connection and can therefore be more powerful.
- ‘Love is like a thorny rose’ is a simile.
- ‘Love is a thorny rose’ is a metaphor.
- ‘Her skin was as white as snow’ is a simile.
- ‘Her skin was snow’ is a metaphor.
Can you sense the difference in tone? Similes are more grounded, whereas metaphors can be more lyrical. Metaphors can be amplified and extended more easily than similes, too. For instance: ‘Her skin was snow; she melted beneath my touch.’
I see many new writers rely almost exclusively on simile to enhance their descriptions. But if similes become a writer’s main tool for creating interesting prose, the novelty wears off.
The overuse of the word ‘like’ becomes repetitive, and unintended repetition is poison to good writing because it draws attention to itself, which means readers becomes aware of the words on the page rather than what the words on the page are saying.
It’s important to use any literary device sparingly.
Metaphor-writing methods
If you feel your author-client’s writing could benefit from more – or more refined – metaphor, here are some techniques you can teach them. Alternatively, use these techniques yourself to inform your editing.
Avoid clichés by rejecting first thoughts
When writing metaphors, authors can train themselves to reject the first idea that pops into their head. It’s probably the first thing you think of because it’s a familiar comparison. And if it’s familiar to you, it’s likely to be familiar to readers. Remember: the brain delights in the unexpected.
Examples of cliché metaphors: armed to the teeth, bad to the bone, turn a blind eye, bite the bullet, the crack of dawn, burning passion, hammering heart, heart of gold, blood running cold …
As an editor, you could highlight the overuse of clichéd metaphor to encourage the author to create more original and impactful prose.
Consider POV character and setting
Authors should make sure the comparison they’re using in their metaphor is something familiar to their viewpoint character. This is a great way to build character and voice, too. For example, if a character is a chef, foody words could be infused into the metaphors: his face was a mangled plate of ham; she felt the singe of regret; blueberry bruises stained his skin.
Also keep in mind the time period and setting of the novel. Metaphors like ‘the bowler-hat cave’ won’t work if the novel is set in Ancient Rome – I’m pretty sure they didn’t have bowler hats back then.
Don’t mix metaphors
A mixed metaphor is essentially when two unrelated images are used to describe the same thing, illogically combining different images or ideas. By doing so, the strength of both metaphors is diluted because the reader must work to sort out the comparative elements of both images. For example: ‘If we want to get ahead, we’ll have to iron out the remaining bottlenecks.’
By keeping an eye out for cliché metaphors, you’ll more easily avoid mixed metaphors. Cliché metaphors can be so familiar to us that we don’t even see them, which means it’s easy to accidentally mix them up with another metaphor.
Learn more about lyrical writing
For even more advice and practical lessons on how to elevate the poetry and lyricism of a piece of creative writing, take a look at this on-demand webinar: Crafting Beautiful Prose.
