Saturday Craft
Saturday, January 5th, 2008
Okay, there’s no guest blogger. I’m falling down on the job, I know. But with the holidays (including my daughter’s birthday), I just didn’t have time to line anyone up. So for today, I’m going to do a little mini lesson myself.
Last week, I was reading the most excellent book, BOY’S LIFE by Robert MacCammon. I wrote a review for the Dear Author website extoling the book’s many virtues, the strongest of which is its imagery.
Not to put on my former English teacher hat or anything (okay, maybe a visor) but I love imagery. The succint use of images created with words can evoke strong emotional responses in readers. Writing without imagery, which includes metaphors and similes, is like taking a photograph without paying attention to the lighting. With just the right light, a well-taken photo can explode with emotions. Without that light, it’s just a snapshot.
Metaphors and similes, for those of you who want a quick review, are comparisons. Similes oftentimes use the word “is” (or a form of it) and the word “like”. Imagine your hero has gray eyes. You might use a simile like this one:
His eyes were like storm clouds.
Okay, it’s a bit cliche, but there’s a comparison that evokes emotion. You wouldn’t–or at least, shouldn’t–use this simile when the character is having a great time, happy go lucky. The storm clouds are more than just about color. They are about the emotion behind the image. That’s what makes a simile so powerful.
A metaphor, to me, is a like simile, but better. A metaphor does not say that one thing is “like” the other, but that it actually is the thing it is being compared to.
His eyes were twin storm clouds.
or better:
The twin storm clouds that were his eyes swept her into a maelstrom of need.
Aha! My favorite kind of metaphor…the extended metaphor. It’s where you take the comparison and you run with it for a while. A few sentences.
The twin storm clouds that were his eyes swept her into a maelstrom of need. She flung her arms around his neck and the moment their lips met, lightning flashed behind her eyelids. Desire sucked her into a vortex that she knew she could not escape from–even if she wanted to.
Now, these are off the cuff, so I’m not putting them up as examples of anything fresh, but you get the idea.
Unfortunately, metaphors and similes do need to be fresh. So many have become cliche, because they’re good, but you can’t be lazy. There will be no “limpid pools” to describe a heroine’s eyes.
In fact, though I used my example with the hero’s eyes, I’ve found that staying away from metaphors in physical descriptions, particularly initial ones, is probably a good idea.
Another good idea is that the context of your simile or metaphor should spring from the character whose point of view you are in. I think the metaphor I used above might be even more evocative if the heroine is a hurricane chaser, don’t you? I mean, if she’s a lawyer, for instance, the metaphor doesn’t have the same power to not only give a strong description, but also to reveal character.
So, today’s short lesson amounts to this:
Use similes, metaphors and the occasional extended metaphor to add a layer of richness to your writing.
Use similies, metaphors and the occasional extended metaphor sparingly.
Be fresh and not cliche, or else, give the cliche a fresh twist.
Make sure your comparisons reflect on the point of view character so it can do double duty–evoking an image and revealing something about the character’s frame of reference.
Anyone have anything to add? To ask?
