A Shirt Is Warm Affection

September 23, 2013

Hello,

I found a box of old journals today. As I read through some of them, I remembered events in my life I had forgotten about. On one page, I found notes on the metaphor maker, a technique  I used with creative writing students in the past. I thought I’d share it with you.

Metaphors, comparisons between two things not using –like or –as, are powerful in any kind of writing. Examples of metaphors are “a mighty fortress is our God” and “her hair was braided rope snaking down her back.” In the first example, God is compared to a fortress. In the second example, hair is being compared to braided rope.

The technique is simple. Make three columns on a sheet of paper. My columns were drawn freehand in my journal, but you could create them on the computer. In the first column, list 15-20 concrete nouns, such as prison, box, or quilt. In the second column, list 15-20 adjectives. As you know, adjectives are descriptive words like tired, crowded or soft. In the third column, list 15=20 abstract nouns, such as loyalty, hope, or freedom. 

Once your lists are complete, pick a word from each column and work it into a powerful metaphor.

Mix them up and have fun!

Here’s an example:

Concrete Nouns	Adjectives	Abstract Nouns
Classroom	Cloudy	Potential
Shirt	Willowy	Beauty
Pencil	Warm	Thought
Puppet	Clean	Affection

Using the chart above, some metaphors I can make are:

 A classroom is cloudy potential.

 A pencil is cloudy thought.

 A shirt is warm affection.

Hope you enjoy the exercise. If you create some wonderful metaphors, please share them tomorrow night at our workshop.

~Nancy B.