This is probably a stupid question that can easily be answered by 'learn to write', but ... I just used the phrase 'winds of time' in the RR. That's a very nice metaphor. Overused but to the point. 'course I have also used them in advertising, it's a main point to create pictures in in people's heads. Those are different tho, they serve one purpose - to sell - and that alone. But how do you come up with really good, literary ones? Like those winds of time. That's rather timeless. Is it just intuition, an idea, a picture that got into your mind somehow or is there a way to 'create' such pictures? I hope that's understandable.
The guy to ask about this is Diacanu. His metaphors are so bizarre, yet so deadly accurate, that you just sort of stop and go "fuck me . . . "
Let's see...from the definition (via dictionary.com, emphasis mine), a metaphor is: Examples (both mine, don't be too harsh a critic): Hearing the car alarm once more, Fred rocketed out the front door. (The metaphor transfers the qualities of a rocket--a fast-moving, straight-flying projectile--to Fred. That metaphor works because it implies speed and an unwavering purposefulness on Fred's part.) That Joe had used too much lighter fluid on the coals was now undeniable. All the guests were transfixed with horror, powerless as the holocaust in sirloin played out in front of them. (That metaphor works because a holocaust implies complete devastation by fire.) I suppose a formula would be: 1. Decide on an object or action on which to apply the metaphor (Fred, the accidental destruction of steaks on a barbecue grill). 2. Find the defining characteristic of that object or action (Fred was moving quickly and unswervingly, the steaks were being burned). 3. Find an alternate object or action (a rocket, a holocaust) that vividly symbolizes the defining characteristic found in step 2. 4. Juxtapose the new object/action with the old one such that the old one is drawn more vividly ("Fred rocketed," "holocaust in sirloin"). That seems to be the pattern. I'm sure there are lots of techniques; the really good ones may just come down to inspiration. Just a few minutes ago, I remarked to a friend of mine (who had attended Mass tonight) that since his church offered services at all kinds of times I supposed that "...if you can't find time for salvation, it's your own damned fault." Well, I was proud of it.
...I guess. It's like that scene in TNG where Q says to Geordi "simply change the gravitational constant of the universe!", to which Geordi says "I don't know how to do that", to which Q says back as if Geordi were retarded "...you just DO!". I just...DO it. Not trying to brag, I'm actually frustrated I can't teach it.
I'm like Dicky here...I can make metaphors like Storm racks up casualties at the rifle range, but I'm as damned as Face if I know how to explain it.
No, we have different ones. But it's still spot on IMHO. It might make no sense but you know what it means.
No, I got it. Wind blows sand, sand wears away rock, erosion, over enough time the wind blows away everything. I got it right up front. Not getting the confusion.
"The old hermit's face was hard and crevassed like a high desert mesa, sandblasted by the winds of time." Yeah, that seems like it would work. The "winds of time" could be a metaphor for anything that erodes or scatters or distributes over time.
Actually, that's exactly how most of advertising works, I believe. In response to the original question: a mixture, I think. Sometimes it's just inspiration, sometimes you go looking for it, sometimes you go looking for it based on inspiration.
I think what Paladin says is accurate to a point, but if you'd try using it, you could still end up with trash. No offense meant - but I think it's more subtle than just looking at the defining characteristic. Perhaps it has to fit multiple characteristics properly and convey the feeling you want to attach to the word, by 'borrowing' it from another one? But even having a definition doesn't tell you how to think of the proper alternative object/event/whatever. I think the key is in free association - in not holding on too tightly to the image you're trying to describe. Having seen or experienced much probably helps, you've got more to compare it to. What do you feel when describing 'it' and what else makes you feel this way? Personally I don't like the use of metaphors that much, mainly because some authors don't know how to use them sparingly. Maybe you can achieve the same effect in a different way? Nobody 'rockets' out of a car anyway, unless they've had an ejection seat installed. You could use real-life indications of how fast someone moves by describing someone else's reaction, e.g. 'I checked my mirror for a second and when I looked back, I saw the door slam shut. Clark was gone. Where had he gone?' I think a metaphor can also reduce the effect you want to achieve, simply because you give the reader a way to place what is happening. If you stick with raw observations, maybe the surprise is bigger and you can really make the reader wonder what happened - or even shock him. In the example of the lighter fluid accident, describing what the guy really looked like when he caught fire will shock the reader. Simply referring to a 'holocaust' could reassure the reader that the event is not that unusual at all - hell, there's even a word for it..
It helps to have a very sensualist mind. If you're the type to get caught up and lose yourself in tastes, textures, smells, colors, the right words will just come to you.
Going back to the definition, a metaphor is the use of a word or phrase for something to which it is not literally applicable. This is almost always done to make the description of an object or action more vivid or meaningful. What is usually described? The thing that makes the particular object or action different from the simple, conceptual one. I agree that there's no technique guaranteed to produce a perfectly apt metaphor, but I do think what I outlined can at least help the writer converge on one.
Aristotle on metaphors... In Poetics, Aristotle defines a metaphor and explains the four kinds (red elements mine): In Rhetoric, Aristotle explains the usage and construction of metaphors. Unfortunately, most of his text on the subject is a large collection of examples. Anyone interested in reading through them should look this section up on Perseus (below). If you want to read the two chapters on metaphors that Aristotle wrote for Rhetoric, follow this Perseus link.
I thought it was more that time, like the wind, has a tendency to blow crap into your face and seriously fuck-up your hair.
Well, yeah, that too. But, then it'd make more sense to use "the flying cow of time", or "the stopsign through your liver of time", or somesuch. But those aren't as poetic. "Winds of time", sounds like something in a fortune cookie that makes you go "Ooo, that was written by an ancient chink for sure!", just before you make that little strip of paper into a spitball you shoot at some ugly noisy hateful yuppie family the next booth over.
Spoken like a true intuitive. Some have the gift for whipping up delicious metaphors from the ingredients they have laying about; others can prepare a palatable dish only when they follow a cookbook. (Pretty good metaphor, doncha think? )
I tend to believe metaphors come from a blending of one's own thoughts and experiences in life. I think the more experienced a person is, it becomes easier to express an image to others because they see the similarities and patterns that exist in what seems like unrelated things. Je-sus....did that make any sense to anyone?
