Sanduleak
Astrophilosopher
Posts: 72
(1/5/02 10:21 pm)
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Fiction writing lesson - Use of metaphor
Using metaphor to mirror the external and the internal.
It's important for a writer to understand the power of perception. What the writer chooses to show can be crucial to the reader forming an impression of the character (either the viewpoint character or narrator) or a secondary character and therefore of the story as a whole.
If we’re happy then we see happy things (and write about them) and those feelings are transmitted to the reader. Likewise if we’re sad or angry or bored.
One of the most powerful ways to create perception is through visual symbols, most specifically the use of metaphor to link the outer and inner landscapes.
There are three main kinds of metaphor, each of which works on successively deeper levels of our awareness.
1) The familiar style of simple object metaphor; where one item is compared to another directly by transference of one items name or its essence to another. E.g.; ‘my love is a red, red rose.’
2) The thematic metaphor; where objects that appear in description are used to echo or mirror the theme of the scene or story.
3) The hidden metaphor where the deepest meaning of the story is embedded in descriptive passages, where the meaning itself is never mentioned or directly alluded to.
Most stories contain some form of simple object metaphor and it is common (and good writing) practise for thematic metaphors to appear. However hidden metaphors are rare, and in a curious paradox, are usually unplanned by the writer and sometimes never noticed on a conscious level by the reader. Though hidden metaphors often tug at some unseen string deep within us, hence their greater power.
Since a character’s mood or essence (in real life) can often be reflected in their surroundings, e.g.: a logical, methodical character may have an orderly desk, a wildly creative character might live in something bordering on chaos (to another persons’ eye.) Even surroundings which to a non writer would not be directly attributable to the character, can be used to hint at either mood or nature. I.e. weather, time, light (or lack of) etc.
Metaphor should be used in a subtle way, almost a succession of hints that build a picture. It can be compared to the background surrounding the central character in a painting, where the background/setting echoes the essence of the central character. It is those echoes that we’re looking for in writing.
Practical Exercise;
P.O.V. – third person
Scene;
Two characters;
a) A visitor
b) A tenant/homeowner
The visitor drives to a house they haven’t been to before. Perhaps they are answering and advertisement, perhaps they are a real estate agent. The set up is not crucial. Describe the last part of the visitor’s journey, turning into the street, finding the house and walking up the path and meeting the homeowner. Choose only the most evocative details. Think of what the character sees, hears, smells, feels etc. Make the description as brief and spare as possible. Now here’s the key;
Write three separate versions. In the separate versions the visitor has just had the following experiences.
1) Someone they have been seeing for several months has just told them that they’re in love with them. The feeling is mutual
2) News of the sudden death of an old and loved friend
3) Someone they trusted has betrayed them, betrayed a confidence and made fun of them to others
Remember, the landscape, and the character the visitor meets are essentially neutral and the same in each version. However the visitor’s perception varies wildly as they see and focus on details drawn from the emotion they are experiencing. So choose details that echo the visitor’s state of mind and emotion. The reason we have two characters rather than just the viewpoint character is to have a sequence of dialogue and bring out the character’s feelings not just in narrative but in speech and in the ‘beats’ (small pieces of physical movement) between dialogue lines. In everyday life these tiny snatches of insight often give us away, therefore they are potent tools when creating characters and scenes in fiction.
So have as many elements of the physical landscape mirror the emotional.
(Copyright James George, 2001)
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