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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45417
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Hi Gunny and it's nice to meet you.

Standard exercises--I'd suggest a couple.

1. Join a writing group that shares excerpts. Share your excerpts. You can ask for feedback specifically on your metaphors, if you like, asking what the group thought. 

2. Find a list (or other resource) of metaphors such as those linked to [here](http://knowgramming.com/metaphors/metaphor_chapters/examples.htm). Read a metaphor, decide what you think it means, and then read the explanation of each metaphor.

But, as Cyn mentions in comments, every word you write can be interpreted by the person reading it.

Your writing exists first in your thoughts, then on paper, then in the reader's thoughts. What you put on the paper will not perfectly represent your thoughts, and what a reader thinks upon reading your piece will likewise be different again.

Also, over time, if you put your mind to it and listen to (or read) a range of language, your verbal range will expand and you'll start to pick up on how your words might come across. So I guess the third exercise is to write a lot, and pay attention to language and writing wherever you go, asking yourself how people are using words.

Original score: 1