The power of metaphor is not lost on the literary world. Metaphor is something that conveys deep meaning in stories, but metaphor informs our lives as well. This week I talk about the power of metaphor both in stories and in the human life. Starting out with the idea of vivid descriptions, I first talk about an author’s ability to paint a picture that engages all the senses, rather than just telling what someone is doing or seeing or feeling. This goes back to the advice of “show, don’t tell,” but I think that it goes even beyond that. Metaphors, visualizations​, the ability to explain things in a way that engages how a person interacts with the world (through the senses) is directly connected to how we become close to other people. So, the idea of metaphor goes beyond writing and storytelling and helps us understand our lives on a deeper level. I hope that today’s show and many shows to come allow you to view life differently and gain a better appreciation for the little things or even those things that are difficult. If you enjoy this episode, here are some others you might find interesting: On How Paragraphs Work in Writing, On Writing and Appealing to the Senses, On Horror
Here are the links to the different books and poems I reference in this episode:
Steven Pinker’s “The Sense of Style”
Gabriele Lusor Rico’s “Writing the Natural Way”
Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”
If you have any issues with the player above, you can find the link to this episode here