Making similies and metaphors work as intended [closed]
Closed by System†on Jun 27, 2018 at 14:16
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Similies are like the Reddit 50/50 challenge: you either get something very good, or your eyes will melt off. I mean, you can ruin the mood with a bad one and make yourself a laughing stock. Metaphors are more, well:
Simile: "Oh come on, his heart is soft like a plush toy, I don't want to make him feel bad."
Metaphor: "Oh come on, he's such a plushie heart, I don't want to make him feel bad."
In both cases, the key is somewhere in the analogy, if that's shoddy you fail. What I can't figure out is what makes an analogy shoddy when it's (scientifically speaking) accurate.
How to know if my analogy is as weak as my will to live?
Note: I won't commit suicide, that goes against my programming.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/37259. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
1 answer
Similes are like the Reddit 50/50 challenge: you either get something very good, or your eyes will melt off.
This is an example of the second variety. ;)
Several things need to be true of a simile in order for it to have a chance:
- The two things in question need to actually be similar in the way you say they are. Not sometimes, but always. You can't compare something to grapes, but only the sweet green ones that ripen in July, but you took them off the branch a few days too early.
- The object you're comparing to needs to be sufficiently well known. In the example above, I have no idea what the Reddit 50/50 challenge is.
- The characteristic in question needs to be a known characteristic of the object in question, and a characteristic commonly associated with it.
- The comparison shouldn't be exaggerated. Reddit doesn't make your eyes melt off. My love for ice-cream is not deeper than the deepest ocean.
- It shouldn't be trite. "Skin white as snow" for example has been used to a point that it is only acceptable for Snow White now.
In the end, however, your best indicator, if you're unsure, is reaction of beta readers. Some would even be able to explain why a specific simile doesn't work, even though you've done everything "by the book".
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