Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Tending My Word Garden


Metaphor: an implied comparison between two different things; a figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily means one thing is applied to another in order to suggest a likeness between the two.

Aren’t metaphors delicious? I think of them as word pictures.

"Men's words are bullets, that their enemies take up and make use of against them."
(George Savile, Maxims)

"The rain came down in long knitting needles."
(Enid Bagnold, National Velvet)

"Language is a road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going."(Rita Mae Brown)

"Having a friend made all the difference. Jessie was a cup of hot chocolate on a wintry day. She was a patch of blue in a cloudy sky." (Linda Garner, Way to Go Grace) ...thought I’d sneak that in.

I was asked in an interview what metaphor I would use for writing. I decided that writing is planting a seed and watching it grow. I’m not always sure what kind of seed I am planting. That’s part of the adventure. How big will the plant be? Will it have leaves? Flowers? Fruit?

What kind of metaphor would you use to describe writing? Share your thoughts.

If I don’t answer, leave a note, I may be tending my word garden.

Linda Garner

3 comments:

ShanLeigh said...

I love your metaphor for writing. It's beautiful. I also have visions of all the things that hold me back from writing.

Doubts.
Fears.
Rejection.

The weeds that strangle words and impede them from flourishing within the garden of writing.

No Longer Blogging said...

I adore a well-turned metaphor! Wish I could think of a good one on the spot, but no such luck. Oh well, next time I come across a good one, I'll think of this post... :)

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss linda. for sure metaphors are cool. for my writing its a peanutbutter cup waiting to get unwrapped and slowly melted in your mouth. wow! how sweet is that! ha ha.
...smiles from lenny