Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012
Metaphors and analogies
Techniques that command attention
Tweak
As our language evolved over tens of thousands of years, human beings developed a way of communicating that is unlike anything exhibited by any other species.
We use metaphors and analogies. And it has thrust human consciousness forward more dramatically than any other single facet of our nature.
A metaphor is the use of one idea or concept to represent another.
“Love is a battlefield.” Or “women are roses.” Or “that book is a dud.” Each of them uses one thing to represent another. Love isn’t literally a battlefield, but by making the comparison, we grasp the writer’s idea. Women aren’t literally roses, but the comparison evokes an image, which shapes your idea of what a woman is.
“The book is a dud” is even more subtle in its comparison. A dud is a bomb that fails to explode. It’s something that is completely ineffective in its sole task. To make the comparison with a book is to draw that parallel — it’s completely ineffective!
These analogies and metaphors are fundamental to human communication. If I wanted to explain the concept of “orbit” to you, I could hold up a golf ball, and say it’s the moon. Then I could make a fist with my hand, call it the Earth, and then circle the golf ball around my fist. In your mind, you’d understand the concept of “orbit” because your mind can grasp the analogy and imagine the Moon orbiting the Earth.
This is fundamental to the way we communicate.
And you can use it directly.
Strong writing uses the tools of the language. Creating metaphors (like the lightning bolt, the Idea Factory, the Oscar-winner, the Movie Critic, the rollercoaster, and so on) strike at the very heart of human communication.
If they’re vivid enough — and clear enough for your reader to see the connection — they’ll strengthen your work instantly.
When you focused your idea back in Chapter 4, you created a metaphor. You turned your intangible idea into a physical demonstration. You did it instinctively. Without prodding. Because that’s how human beings communicate.
At the Tweak stage, look to the words you’ve used, and the choices you’ve made. Are you creating metaphors that paint pictures for your reader?