Would I Pick Metaphor as Queen of All Literary Devices?

I've decided to do a 2-hour metaphor workshop.

in this issue:

put metaphors in your pocket

what I’m working on

update on Craft & Current

lecture series paused

pop-up workshop on flash nonfiction

don’t forget the essay contest on DNA surprises

upcoming in-person events

I seek readings & workshops in the Upper Midwest.

Would I Pick Metaphor as Queen of All Literary Devices?

I offered a 2-hour Question-&-Answer session online as part of the Kickstarter rewards for my writing manual, Craft & Current: A Manual for Magical Writing. I wanted to give folks with questions a chance to get clarifications and answers.

The event happened in August.

A Burning Question

During that Q&A someone reported that the book’s section on metaphors had been eye-opening. They had realized the importance of metaphors.

Almost nobody ever asks me about metaphor.

In memoir workshops people ask what if your memoir will hurt someone’s reputation? Or what to do if you can’t remember the details of a past event? In nonfiction workshops people ask how to know when a piece is done. Or how to get published.

But who thinks to ask about metaphor?

Metaphor as Pregnancy

The word "metaphor" comes from the Greek meta, meaning “over” and pherin, “to carry” or “to bear,” including to bear children. To carry over. From one world into another.

To carry one idea over to another.

Even the idea of a metaphor being like pregnancy is a metaphor.

Metaphor as Bridge

In writing, a metaphor is used to "carry over," or describe one thing as if it were another. It's an implied comparison, a bridge. The best metaphors simplify an idea by making it accessible, meaning they compare one idea to something we easily understand in order to help us internalize it and accept it.

Metaphor as bridge is also a metaphor.

Question on Fire

The person in the Q&A session said that she can’t naturally come up with metaphors. They are a challenge for her.

How do you learn to think in metaphors? she asked.

Food for Thought

I chewed on that for a long minute. Finally, this was a question to light me up. Of all the literary techniques, metaphor is queen. Once we understand that, how do we become a metaphor-maker?

The question—How does a writer come up with metaphors and how do we as writers train ourselves to think in metaphors?

Opportunity Is a Chance Visitor

I want to teach a workshop on this subject. How about a Saturday morning in early November? Does Nov. 2, 2024 work for you?

I like those 2s, 2 being my favorite number.

Let’s don’t go too long, since we’re all busy in advance of the holidays. How about 2 hours and 22 minutes?

And let’s make it affordable, since this is a royally important subject. How about $22?

How about 2 handouts? One can have real-world ways to generate metaphors. I don’t think I can come up with 22 ways, but I’ll try.

One Exercise for Now

One exercise is to make a list of 5 abstract things you think about—

• jealousy

• friendship

• reputation

• hurt

• panic.

Now look around, wherever you are, and in a separate column list 5 tangible items that you see—

• pine cone

• guitar

• pink candle

• salt shaker

• calculator.

Now experiment with matching a word from one column with a word from the other.

Friendship is a salt shaker.

Friendship is a pink candle.

Friendship is a pine cone.

Friendship is a guitar.

Friendship is a calculator.

Friendship could be any of these things. Your job as writer is to pick the perfect metaphor for the situation or story you’re writing.

Want to Run in Hot Pursuit of Metaphor?

Sign up for my workshop, Let Metaphor, which takes place Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024 from 10-12:22 am Eastern Time and costs $22. Registration is over at Eventbrite.

Photo by Shannon Hartford, Quantum Flow Photography, by arrangement

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What I’m Working On

These days I’m only getting 4-6 hours to work at my desk. I’m mom to my grandgirl Little Fawn, who turned 6 weeks old on Sunday. Her papa, Raven, takes shifts with me, 3 hours on and 3 hours off. What I’ve learned is that even if I’m off mom duty, I still experience intense brain fog. I think that’s natural for parents of newborns, and only partly because of lack of sleep. The only time I can really concentrate is early morning then my brain goes mushy.

Writing Project

I try to write a bit every day on revisions to a novel. I’m trying to make it less literary, truth be told, and more pop-fiction. I know that sounds weird coming from me, but I would love for this book to be more a beach-read than a classic. Or wouldn’t things be groovy if a book were both? Ha! Then you’d have both fortune and fame, so it seems.

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Update on Craft & Current: A Manual for Magical Writing

Kickstarter

The Kickstarter I ran for Craft & Current is completely fulfilled except for the audiobook. That is severely delayed. I just can’t find time to secret myself in the closet with a microphone. I’m kicking myself for not getting it done before the Kickstarter went live back in the summer.

Thank you for supporting that launch. It was really successful at $25K, and I’m very proud and thankful for this community.

Live on Amazon

The book will go live on Amazon on the 21st of this month. However, I would appreciate if you ordered the book directly from me. There should be no price difference, unless Amazon can charge less for shipping. I sign and date your copy and stick in a bookmark. Get your copy of Craft & Current from my website, here.

Ebook

You can order the e-version of Craft & Current from my website. An app called BookFunnel receives the SKU and instantly fills the order. BookFunnel allows downloading to any e-reading device, which is handy, and they offer excellent customer service.

If you are interested in a free Rhizosphere webinar on how to do this, let me know and I’ll schedule one.

Reviews

Craft & Current has 7 ratings—each person gave the book 5 stars—and 6 reviews on Goodreads. I sincerely thank

• Katy Manley

• Debra Bowling

• Sue

• Rebecca M.

• Vickie McEntire

• Mary Dansak

For the first 22 people who review the book on Goodreads, I will send you a copy of the Spiral-Bound Companion Workbook for Craft & Current. That includes you 6 above. Send me your address and I’ll ship it right out.

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Biz of Writing Monthly Lectures

I had to cancel the last two, but I’ll get these back up and running. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

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3-Hour Workshop on Flash Nonfiction Scheduled for Nov. 17

I have scheduled a workshop for flash essay and flash memoir for Sunday, Nov. 17 from 12-3. Flash (or small or micro or tiny) is a potent and highly publishable form that you’ll fall in love with, if you haven’t already. I highly recommend getting good at this form.

Registration is at my website, here.

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Call for Submissions for Anthology—Stories of DNA Tests That Changed Everything & Submit an Essay in the DNA Stories Contest to Win $1,000

The availability of inexpensive DNA testing has meant jaw-dropping surprises and serious reckonings within families.

Many writers with whom I’ve worked have written these stories, and I’ve heard dozens of them at our local Archives.

Now I’m editing an anthology of creative nonfiction stories about how a DNA test permanently changed your idea of the past. If this has happened to you, please send me an essay about it. The essay should be 5-20 pages long, double-spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman.

If your essay is accepted, you will receive 3 author copies, a small honorarium, plus half the profit of all copies you sell (by affiliate links).

In addition, I’m running an essay contest as part of the project. First place cash prize is $1,000 and will be given to a well-written and engaging essay deemed worthy of and appropriate for publishing in an anthology. If no essay meets these guidelines, no prizes will be given. There are 2nd & 3rd-place cash prizes as well. If not enough essays are submitted to fill an anthology, no prize will be given.

Deadline is Nov. 1. Please submit to Janisse at wildfire1491@yahoo.com.

I have a favor to ask you—Please forward this call for submissions to anyone, writer or not, who has a DNA story to tell. Thank you.

Feel free to ask any question in the Comments section in case someone else has the same question.

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Calendar

Sept. 20-22—Slow Exposures: Celebrating Photography of the Rural South—Pike County, Georgia. I’ll be there this year doing a writing workshop and keynote.

Sept. 20-22—Ideas Festival Emory—Oxford, Georgia. I’ll be on stage with celebrity chef and author Virginia Willis on Sunday, the first day of autumn.

Sept. 27-28—Storyfest 2024—Columbia, South Carolina. I’ll teach a Magical Craft Masterclass on Friday 27th. I highly recommend this writing conference.

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Seeking Speaking Engagements Within 4 Hours of Beloit, Wisconsin Jan. 20, 2025 to March 10, 2025

I’m proud to be the Mackey Chair at Beloit College in early winter, from Jan. 20-March 10, 2025. During that time I would be honored to do readings or workshops in the region. For example, Cyn Kitchen has set one up at Knox College in Galesburg for Feb. 21.

If you are in a 4-hour radius of Beloit, Wisconsin and you’d like to recommend a venue or invite me to read in your series or even at a house party, hit me up. There’s a big chance I’ll do it!

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Thank You

Thank you for being here and for pouring a lot of sweetness into my life. I truly am grateful to you. I hope your reading and writing and revising is going well, and that you have something wonderful to anticipate.