Take these 4 steps to creating an analogy
Sometimes you’ll find a metaphor in an interview. Other times, it’s up to you to create one yourself.… Read the full article
Metaphor
How to handle metaphor research
Go beyond the interview
My writing team had one of those tough assignments recently that only a geek like me can fully appreciate.
Our job: to transform technical medical text into a fascinating research report that patients, donors and neurointerventionalists alike can understand and enjoy.… Read the full article
How to write an extended metaphor
The gift that keeps on giving
Quick! Which is more effective?
A simple metaphor?
Bobby Holloway says my imagination is a three-hundred-ring circus.
— Dean Koontz in Seize the Night
Or an extended metaphor?… Read the full article
How to create metaphors and similes
3 ways to craft clever figures of speech
When a Hollywood pitchman wants to sell a new horror film about a rampaging dog, he doesn’t have time to explain the storyline.… Read the full article
Don’t mix metaphors — and other metaphor ‘don’ts’
Do sync with the subject, don’t write a groaner
Don’t mix metaphors. Fewer are more persuasive. Choose one concept for comparison and stick with it.… Read the full article
What is the purpose of a metaphor?
Metaphor is like Elvis; it shakes us up
Why metaphor?
Metaphor is a literary device that helps readers understand, pay attention, remember and act on messages.… Read the full article
How metaphors work to persuade
If crime were a wild beast, we’d be more likely to cage it
If crime were a virus infecting our city, would we treat it differently than if it were a wild beast preying on our city?… Read the full article
Why is a metaphor effective?
People learn through metaphor
When my grandfather first saw a car, he didn’t think “automobile.” He thought, “That’s a carriage that moves without a horse — it’s a horseless carriage.”… Read the full article
What’s the effect of statistics in persuasive writing?
Reframe the data to improve decision-making
People in one study rated a disease that kills 1,286 people out of every 10,000 as more dangerous than one that kills 24.14% of the population (Yamagishi, 1997).… Read the full article
Mobile makeover for depression post
Communicator transforms piece for the small screen
Make mine to go.
More than half of your audience members now receive your emails, visit your web pages and engage with your social media channels via their mobile devices, not their laptops.… Read the full article