Write Better Metaphors and Better Poetry

I bet you once had this kind of homework: Write five examples of metaphors. So you paced about, asked your friends and come up with: Death was a huge, dark cloud that overshadowed him.

While your teacher may have marked this, it fails miserably for many seasoned writers and editors. It wasn’t a metaphor. It was a cliché. But you followed the rules, right? You linked two unrelated objects (death and cloud), going as far as linking the intangible with the tangible. You didn’t use “as” or “like.” So, what went wrong?

It’s quite easy to fall into a cliché. The world is full of artistic expression and some of these expressions are now in the universal level: marriage is to rings/bands, peace is to a dove, desolation is to a desert, etc.

The challenge for a writer is to come up with fresh, original metaphors -new ways of seeing, smelling, hearing and feeling the otherwise abstract experiences and emotions of human life. Too often, we start out with the emotion, such as, “I want to write about being confused.” Then, we find tangible expressions for this and end up with the stock metaphors and clichés in our head.

The better approach to creating a metaphor is to start with the tangible first, rather than the emotion:

1. Take an object, a photo or a sandwich -anything within your reach.
2. Focus and write down the details of this object, it’s size, shape, color, scent, texture, etc.
3. Keep writing all the details until you hit on something personal: How did you get that object? Who was the last to use it? What’s the story behind it?
4. As you keep focusing on this object, it will eventually stand as a symbol for a memory or a strong emotion. When this happens, continue following your thoughts. Congratulations, you have a new metaphor.
5. Take a break. Then go back and edit your work.

If you don’t have an object to focus on or you need to get something off your chest, there are other methods to help you get it down on paper.

See, it sure beats pacing about or posting a question on Yahoo Answers. It may not be as universal as life being a box of chocolates, but you have achieved in creating a new way of experiencing some universal aspect of life. This makes for a refreshing adventure for your readers. The best part is that this will help develop an artist’s sensitivity and perception, making you a better writer.

“The writer sensitive to language finds his own metaphors, not simply because he has been taught to avoid clichés but because he enjoys finding an exact and vivid metaphor, one never before thought of, so far as he knows.” John Gardner