Take these 4 steps to creating an analogy
Sometimes you’ll find a metaphor in an interview. Other times, it’s up to you to create one yourself.… Read the full article
Writing workshops, communication consulting and writing services
Sometimes you’ll find a metaphor in an interview. Other times, it’s up to you to create one yourself.… Read the full article
My writing team had one of those tough assignments recently that only a geek like me can fully appreciate.
Our job: to transform technical medical text into a fascinating research report that patients, donors and neurointerventionalists alike can understand and enjoy.… Read the full article
Quick! Which is more effective?
A simple metaphor?
Or an extended metaphor?… Read the full article
When a Hollywood pitchman wants to sell a new horror film about a rampaging dog, he doesn’t have time to explain the storyline.… Read the full article
Don’t mix metaphors. Fewer are more persuasive. Choose one concept for comparison and stick with it.
Here are some other metaphor do’s and don’ts:
Years ago, I ran across this passage Stephen Schiff wrote about Australian film director Fred Schepisi for The New Yorker:
Why metaphor?
Metaphor is a literary device that helps readers understand, pay attention, remember and act on messages.… Read the full article
When my grandfather first saw a car, he didn’t think “automobile.” He thought, “That’s a carriage that moves without a horse — it’s a horseless carriage.”… Read the full article
When I wrote an annual report about charitable giving in Kansas City, I wanted to compare the $770 million Kansas Citians gave to charitable organizations in one year to make that number more meaningful to the audience.… Read the full article
Compare the impact of this statement …’
“Each day, we lose 30 children to gun violence.”
… to the impact of this one:
“Each day, we lose a classroom of children to gun violence.”
____
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