Metaphor

Try Ann Wylie’s Metaphor Generator

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

How to handle metaphor research

Go beyond the interview

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

How to write an extended metaphor

The gift that keeps on giving

Quick! Which is more effective?

A simple metaphor?

Bobby Holloway says my imagination is a three-hundred-ring circus.

— Dean Koontz in Seize the Night

Or an extended metaphor?… Read the full article

How to create metaphors and similes

3 ways to craft clever figures of speech

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 — and other metaphor ‘don’ts’

Do sync with the subject, don’t write a groaner

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:

DO sync with the subject.

… Read the full article

How do you read like a writer?

Read for technique, not just for information and entertainment

Years ago, I ran across this passage Stephen Schiff wrote about Australian film director Fred Schepisi for The New Yorker:

As Schepisi talks, his hands play along: they’re the nipping boat, they’re the foaming river; when they clap, they’re the waterfall.

… Read the full article

What is the purpose of a metaphor?

Metaphor is like Elvis; it shakes us up

Why metaphor?

Metaphor is a literary device that helps readers understand, pay attention, remember and act on messages.… Read the full article

Why is a metaphor effective?

People learn through metaphor

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

Find data for writing descriptive statistics

How to hunt down numerical comparisons

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