Metaphors About Writing
We use metaphors in writing all the time, but what about metaphors about writing? We need metaphors that explain the writing process and experience, and as a result, reveal something about it.
Some of the most famous writing metaphors involve blood as the prime imagery. Here’s my favorite writing metaphor quotation:
“Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” -Gene Fowler
And another quote, rather like it:
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” -Ernest Hemmingway
Beyond blood, there are a lot of writing metaphors that could be used. Below is a list of metaphors about writing. If I’ve written a full blog post about the metaphor, it is listed as a link and you can click to read the full, extended metaphor. (Please note: some of these metaphors can also be defined as similes because they use the word “like,” but a simile is really a subset or type of metaphor.)
Writing is like kissing, and can be just as engaging…at least if you know your audience.
“Good writing is like a windowpane.” –George Orwell
Metaphors about writing from author E. L. Doctorow:
“Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.” –E. L. Doctorow
“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” –E. L. Doctorow
Writing is like building a bird’s nest: you’re assembling the best materials in the best way possible.
“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” –John Steinbeck
Writing is a battle:
“Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it’s always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins.” -Neil Gaiman
Writing is like plate spinning. There’s a lot to focus on and try to keep up all at once.
“I am irritated by my own writing. I am like a violinist whose ear is true, but whose fingers refuse to reproduce precisely the sound he hears within.” – Gustave Flaubert
“The true alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words.” -William H. Gass, A Temple of Texts
Additional Metaphors About Writing
- “Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.” –Pablo Picasso
- “The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation.” –Auguste Rodin
- “Writing means sharing. It’s part of the human condition to want to share things—thoughts, ideas, opinions.” –Paulo Coelho
- “Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.” –E. B. White
- Writing is like walking on a bed of coals, and then finding oneself on a tropical beach.
- Writing is like taking care of sick kids. It takes a lot of work, can keep you up all night, and can involve some gross messes…
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