Mastering Metaphors

The last post gave us valuable insight into writing descriptively - and like the post mentioned - using metaphors is a key aspect into descriptive writing. At its most basic, a metaphor is a comparison of things without the use of "like" or "as." It may also be described as a figure of speech that "directly refers to one thing by mentioning another."

While using famous metaphors like "it's raining cats and dogs" or the "elephant in the room," it is important to create your own metaphors to avoid clichés. Now, writing your own metaphors can be hard if you are used to similes. It is important to remember that metaphors at their core are symbolic when writing. With that being said, your best bet is practice! Grab two things and smash them together, it can be done in a variety of ways! Using things that are like an object helps, such as "her tears were golden beads of honey" or "His heart torn and pulled, were cast aside into a lake of fire." In these examples, there is no "lake of fire" or "golden beads."

It is important to have fun with metaphors and use them freely. There are so many things that aren't alike that you can find a way to smash together to create beauty!