How to Write Metaphors (which don't suck!) | On Writing

POSTAL ADDRESS (if you're kind enough to send me a letter or something!)

Tim Hickson
PO Box 69062
Lincoln, 7608
Canterbury, New Zealand

Script by meeeeeeeee
Video edited by Lalit Kumar and Federica La Marca

Timelapse art by Ryuutus

Thumbnails by various artists who I won't be able to credit till YouTube knows which one people like most

The artist who design my cover photo:

0:00 Intro
1:30 Why Metaphors Work
6:00 When to use metaphors
9:45 Interconnectivity
13:25 The best monologue ever written
16:00 making metaphors literal
19:00 metaphors aren't deeper
22:20 cErUlEaN oRbs
24:50 extended metaphors!
28:30 metaphors in games

Stay nerdy!
Tim

[na.meless]

I think one of the strengths of fantasy and sci-fy is the power to use fantastical ways to translate common emotions and situations so as to give voice to some part of our existence

[Lewiks]

At this point it's almost tradition to have a book quote leave me thinking "oh wow, whomever wrote this was cooking", be immediately followed by Tim going "oh I wrote this btw"

[powerthroughfocus]

“ grief doesn’t go away, it just becomes a dusty book on your shelf” damn that’s good 🎉

[itisALWAYSR.A.]

7:45 "she was the third glass of milk- the one you that leaves you with gastrointestinal distress and two days of regret"

[SplotchTheCatThing]

As a songwriter sometimes it's fun to get a little cheeky, make a really complicated obscure metaphor, and trust the chord progression or melody underneath it to carry your listener through the head-scratching :)
I think it's okay to get just a little bit self-indulgent or humorous with this kind of thing, if you're providing something else at the same time.

[SentientNebula]

Language will never stop being the coolest thing ever to me

[josepher]

Fun fact:

That last bit of the monologue of "tears in the rain" was ad-libbed by the actor.

[jasuxi]

Just have to point out that perhaps they felt the need to say ”cerulean orbs” because in the fanfic- circles ”blue balls” was already in use.

[kochsalz]

Maggie Stiefvater is exceptional at this. She often introduces characters with strong, short passages that rely more on metaphor and feeling than physical descriptions.

When a ~20 year old is described as "he looked like he should have been holding a cigar", you get an image of what they look like and who they are that you wouldnt achieve with dozens of paragraphs.

[ivanclark]

I remember being frustrated in school by the teacher explaining the difference between metaphors and similes with the “a simile is when you say ‘I am like a bird’ and a metaphor is when you say ‘I am a bird’” example. If you don’t expand on that metaphor, it is functionally basically a simile. This really short changes metaphors, because a simile is a useful was to phrase something, while metaphors are basically the whole point of fiction.

[thursdayaddams]

I’m so glad you brought up Edith Finch. I played it a few years ago and went in blind. It’s one of those stories that sticks with you. The family’s metaphors make their lives so vivid and real. You feel a real sense of grief as you continue through. I replay it once or twice a year.

[vedritmathias]

I forget where I heard it, but regarding grief "is not a wound that heals, but a pain that you grow accustomed to"

[elephants]

Cerulean isn't just _any_ blue. It's a particular _type_ of blue. It's ideal, for instance, for painting blue summer skies.

[doommustard]

I was taught that similes are a type of metaphor in the way that squares are a type of rectangle.
Picking out the comment "i know this is a simile and not a metaphor, but ...." would imply that you were taught differently.
It's one of those lovely reminders about how complicated language can be that in theory, we could have an argument because we completely agree with each other but don't think words mean the same thing.

[scaled_chameleon]

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

-Emily Dickinson

[annesphantasia]

Metaphors are also one of the most effective tools in teaching - they resonate with all learning types. Because you are bringing in the context of the metaphor yourself rather than being explicitly told the context, it allows the brain of the listener/reader to make the connection themselves. When your brain has arrived at something independently (after being nudged in that direction) rather than being told outright, the thought “sticks” better

[WizardofWestmarch]

My favorite discussion of metaphors I've ever encountered was in the book "Writing Better Lyrics" by Pat Pattison. He calls the idea Metaphor keys, where you begin with an idea (lets say power) and then list all the different objects/actions/etc that can be used to represent that idea. By linking the two together you evoke that third backing concept they share, or as he puts it, you play in the key of the metaphor.

[flibbernodgets]

I love Ray Bradbury's style with heavy use of metaphor. I couldn't point to a single passage and tell you "it's using this metaphor to talk about *this*", I just have a deeply held impression like I just woke up from a vivid dream.

[Ace_writxs]

I think a personal fav usage of metaphors i like to use sometimes is for characters who are revealed as being the villains. Because especially for touch, the metaphors could be endless. The first half of the characters metaphors could be described as under warmth but the second half, when the reveal happens, could be decribed as heat.

For example:
Before betrayal: "It was the feeling of being close to a fire on a cold, chilly day. "
After betrayal: "The touch burned into my skin more than fire ever could"

Just love the usage of metaphors that way :3

[JoeYaPookie]

My favorite metaphor is a seemingly very simple, and obvious line from Asao Takamori, and Tetsuya Chibas masterpiece of a manga Ashita no Joe (aka tomorrows joe). the more you look into it the more you realize that it perfectly encapsulates the main characters personality, character arc, and the overall theme of the story. I’m not gonna say the full line because i want anyone that hasn’t read it to read the manga for themselves, and experience it without me spoiling too much. All i’m gonna say is that the words “pure white ash” will forever be burned into my memory.