Post History
47. Not seriously, no. You really should not be thinking about metaphors. Metaphors are very much an ordinary part of speech. You probably use them all the time without realizing or thinking abou...
Answer
#6: Post edited
by
Mark Baker
·
2020-01-14T02:27:22Z (almost 5 years ago)
typos
- 47.
- Not seriously, no.
- You really should not be thinking about metaphors. Metaphors are very much an ordinary part of speech. You probably use them all the time without realizing or thinking about it. As non-physical objects, metaphors can't actually be placed in heaps. Heaps of metaphors is a metaphor. But I bet you never thought about creating a metaphor when you wrote that sentence.
The very worst writing seems to result from the attempt to create original metaphors. Metaphors work when they are so apt and natural that the reader never pauses to think, "Hey, that was a metaphor". A forced metaphor has just the opposite effect. It tears the reader out of the story and forces them to confront the prose and puzzle at its obscurity. An good original metaphor is created when the force of a story or a scene creates a moment in which a particular image becomes irresistibly apt. You won't know you have created one until you read it back afterwards.- What you really should be doing is making sure that you have fully imagined the scenes you want to portray, and then describe those scenes in the most concrete and vivid language you can. You will probably end up with a bunch of metaphors without even noticing you are doing it. But if you don't, and the scenes are well imagined and vividly described, it won't matter a scrap whether there are a dozen metaphors or none.
- 47.
- Not seriously, no.
- You really should not be thinking about metaphors. Metaphors are very much an ordinary part of speech. You probably use them all the time without realizing or thinking about it. As non-physical objects, metaphors can't actually be placed in heaps. Heaps of metaphors is a metaphor. But I bet you never thought about creating a metaphor when you wrote that sentence.
- The very worst writing seems to result from the attempt to create original metaphors. Metaphors work when they are so apt and natural that the reader never pauses to think, "Hey, that was a metaphor". A forced metaphor has just the opposite effect. It tears the reader out of the story and forces them to confront the prose and puzzle at its obscurity. A good original metaphor is created when the force of a story or a scene creates a moment in which a particular image becomes irresistibly apt. You won't know you have created one until you read it back afterwards.
- What you really should be doing is making sure that you have fully imagined the scenes you want to portray, and then describe those scenes in the most concrete and vivid language you can. You will probably end up with a bunch of metaphors without even noticing you are doing it. But if you don't, and the scenes are well imagined and vividly described, it won't matter a scrap whether there are a dozen metaphors or none.
#5: Post edited
by
Mark Baker
·
2020-01-13T12:28:52Z (almost 5 years ago)
typos
47.Not seriously, no.You really should not be thinking about metaphors. Metaphors are very much an ordinary part of speech. You probably use them all the time without realizing or thinking about it. An non-physical objects, metaphors can't actually be placed in heaps. Heaps of metaphors is a metaphor. But I bet you never thought about creating a metaphor when you wrote that sentence.The very worst writing seems to result from the attempt to create original metaphors. Metaphors work when they are so apt and natural that the reader never pauses to think, "Hey, that was a metaphor". A forced metaphor has just the opposite effect. It tears the reader out of the story and forces them to confront the prose and puzzle at its obscurity. An good original metaphor is created when the force of a story or a scene creates a moment in which a particular image becomes irresistibly apt. You won't know you have created one until you read it back afterwards.What you really should be doing is making sure that you have fully imagined the scenes you want to portray, and then describe those scenes in the most concrete and vivid language you can. You will probably end up with a bunch of metaphors without even noticing you are doing it. But if you don't, and the scenes are well imagined and vividly described, it won't matter a scrap whether there are a dozen metaphors or none.
- 47.
- Not seriously, no.
- You really should not be thinking about metaphors. Metaphors are very much an ordinary part of speech. You probably use them all the time without realizing or thinking about it. As non-physical objects, metaphors can't actually be placed in heaps. Heaps of metaphors is a metaphor. But I bet you never thought about creating a metaphor when you wrote that sentence.
- The very worst writing seems to result from the attempt to create original metaphors. Metaphors work when they are so apt and natural that the reader never pauses to think, "Hey, that was a metaphor". A forced metaphor has just the opposite effect. It tears the reader out of the story and forces them to confront the prose and puzzle at its obscurity. An good original metaphor is created when the force of a story or a scene creates a moment in which a particular image becomes irresistibly apt. You won't know you have created one until you read it back afterwards.
- What you really should be doing is making sure that you have fully imagined the scenes you want to portray, and then describe those scenes in the most concrete and vivid language you can. You will probably end up with a bunch of metaphors without even noticing you are doing it. But if you don't, and the scenes are well imagined and vividly described, it won't matter a scrap whether there are a dozen metaphors or none.
#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2020-01-03T20:41:53Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27703 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T06:22:39Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27703 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
System
·
2019-12-08T06:22:39Z (almost 5 years ago)
47. Not seriously, no. You really should not be thinking about metaphors. Metaphors are very much an ordinary part of speech. You probably use them all the time without realizing or thinking about it. An non-physical objects, metaphors can't actually be placed in heaps. Heaps of metaphors is a metaphor. But I bet you never thought about creating a metaphor when you wrote that sentence. The very worst writing seems to result from the attempt to create original metaphors. Metaphors work when they are so apt and natural that the reader never pauses to think, "Hey, that was a metaphor". A forced metaphor has just the opposite effect. It tears the reader out of the story and forces them to confront the prose and puzzle at its obscurity. An good original metaphor is created when the force of a story or a scene creates a moment in which a particular image becomes irresistibly apt. You won't know you have created one until you read it back afterwards. What you really should be doing is making sure that you have fully imagined the scenes you want to portray, and then describe those scenes in the most concrete and vivid language you can. You will probably end up with a bunch of metaphors without even noticing you are doing it. But if you don't, and the scenes are well imagined and vividly described, it won't matter a scrap whether there are a dozen metaphors or none.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2017-04-24T04:27:49Z (over 7 years ago)
Original score: 3