Metaphors or not?

[michaelsbearre]

So, I've been writing for a while and wonder.... Is it confusing using metaphors in stories?

Here is a quick line from one of my stories.

"Every wall screams his voice every hour of the day, I can’t sleep, and I rarely ever eat. Bone chilling howls flood all of my dreams and persist in the cellar all the way out the chimney."

This is a metaphor about a woman haunted by the memories of her husband's spirit.

The question is this, are metaphors such as the one above actually needed in stories or do they just weigh the reader down? Or is it a grey area that really isn't touched. I know all the classics used a lot of metaphors. "as each dying ember wrote its ghost upon the floor" - Poe.

[Alexander III]

I think you kind of answered yourself. A beautiful metaphor always always renders the story more true and beautiful. A bad metaphor just weighs it down.

As with anything in art, some technique done beautifully adds to it,some technique done badly detracts from it.

[kiki1982]

Call me strange, but I thought that books had to be more than nice words. So, no, metaphors do not weigh readers down.

[michaelsbearre]

Call me strange, but I thought that books had to be more than nice words. So, no, metaphors do not weigh readers down.

See that's just it. I compare old stuff like Shakespeare plays, Poe, Alighieri and every other name you can think of and they use metaphors. A lot of contemporary authors I've noticed are more direct. Lack or creativity or pressure to get their book out there before the next guy?

[stuntpickle]

The whole "never use metaphors or similes" stricture is an artifact of fashionable minimalism. As everyone has said here, metaphors are fine. I think precision and original expression are far more important. For instance, I find the cliche "bone chilling" worrisome not because it's a metaphor, but because it's a cliche.

[Delta40]

I don't mind metaphors at all in stories. I think the problem arises when they're overused to the point that they don't blend or complement the narrative any longer.

[Calidore]

If you think of a turn of phrase you like, use it. Even if it's a cliche you like and it works, throw it in. It can always be edited or feedbacked out later.

[RicMisc]

I am personally a big fan of metaphors, if not overused. They make it possible to express yourself in a way that is different and I think a few well-thought metaphors can really lift up a story. As I said though, don't go throwing these things around too much because that will get annoying.

For example when having to translate/read classical authors their metres and stilistic figures are impressive and very well thought through, but sometimes there are just a bit too much to my taste.

[ennison]

Some writers avoid them. It is a matter of taste and purpose. Would Cider With Rosie be so good without the imagery? No. Does A Farewell to Arms seem lacking without them? No

[sandy14]

No problem with metaphor. I think it depends what you want to do with them. The example you gave seems rather dense - so, I'd expect that to feature at a specific point where the woman is expressing extreme feelings.

If the text had this number of metaphors through-out then it would be rather trying to get through the whole book.