Writing Hint #15 More about metaphors
No Comments »15th November, 2006; Category: Writing Hints
I’ve written before about using metaphors in one’s writing. They can be useful little devices to enhance one’s writing, if used carefully. Thinking of fresh, new metaphors to bring colour to your writing is hard work. You have to be particularly creative. Writing a novel or story, for example, is like building a house; it helps to have a plan. It also helps to have all the necessary equipment.
Sometimes I feel like a caterpillar. At first I seem to be making very little progress. All those legs are so easily tripped up and I stumble around not knowing where I am going. Then I think I’m in a cocoon, making absolutely no movement at all. But finally, just when I despair of ever making anything of real value, a beautiful butterfly emerges to grace the world with its enchanting presence.
I’ve just read a post written by Roger von Oech on his blog Creative Think. Roger takes a completely different view of metaphors. He uses metaphors in his workshops to help participants think about their company and how is it travelling. This is really creative thinking and a wonderful way to stimulate their thinking. See the link below to read the whole article, including some funny – and tragic – metaphors created by some participants in his workshops.
Life is a bowl of fine icecream – smooth, creamy and sweet, leaving you with a yearning to come back for more.
Copyright 2006 Trevor W. Hampel.
Related articles:
- Your life as a metaphor – listing different metaphors about life.
- Fun metaphors of “My Company” written by Roger von Oech
Blogs are not like books
Blogs are not like books.
That might be stating the obvious but it is worth thinking about if you are a serious blogger. Even if you just blog for the fun of it, most bloggers want traffic to their blogs. Most want their readers to return and to become loyal readers. Most would like many visitors to comment on their blogs.
When you read a book you often start with page one and read right through to the end. This applies mainly to fiction, of course, but I usually do the same with non-fiction too. The obvious exception to this is reference books which are not designed to be read cover to cover.
Liz Strauss on Successful Blog asks the question “Do you think of your blog as if it’s a book?” She points out that not all readers come to your blog on the front page first. It fact the majority probably come via search engines and links from other blogs to other pages on your blog, sometimes deep within your archives.
For example, on my birding blog, the most popular post was written six months ago in April of this year about nesting behaviour of Blackbirds. The nesting season is now in full swing here in Australia and it has recently created a new flurry of interest with many comments.
Some suggestions:
- How up to date is the information in your old posts?
- How often do you update your old articles?
- How often do you return to the archives and rewrite or edit your writing?
- How often do you link to old posts, thus driving visitors deep into your archives?
Link:
- Blogs aren’t books – Not everyone starts reading on page 1 – this article written by Liz is worth reading.
Doing the writer’s sigh
Recently I have done the writer’s jig a few times. This is when I get a story or poem accepted for publication in a magazine. It is in the form of a little celebration dance around the room, accompanied by a yippee or three.
Sad to say, I did the writer’s sigh a few days ago. Another rejection letter in the mail. [SIGH] I’d done all the right things (write things???) too.
A few writing hints:
- Read the publisher’s guidelines and follow them carefully.
- Read the magazine you are submitting to in order to understand their style and the type of stories or articles that are used in that publication.
- Edit your story – make it as good as you can – rewriting as needed.
- Read your story aloud, watching out for phrases and sentences that sound wrong or clumsy.
- Submit your story, article or poems.
- Go on writing new material.
- When you get a rejection, print out a fresh copy and send it off again.
Remember –
- read every day
- write every day
- take time for yourself every day
Haiku #24 Magpie
1 Comment »11th November, 2006; Category: Haiku
Magpie carolling
Exultingly as the
New dawn breaks.
Copyright 2006 Trevor W. Hampel
All rights reserved.
Australian Magpie