I was going to write a post about Christopher Hitchens (I just read his most recent article on Slate), but something else occurred to me so Hitch will have to wait.
This blog represents one type of writing I do on a regular basis, but I also write papers for school, and I’ve been working on a book for”¦oh, what year is it? I also write short stories, I’ve written a movie script and I’m working on a comic with an artist, and once, just once, I wrote a poem in blank verse using iambic pentameter. All writing contains similarities, but there are differences, and every genre of writing has within it rules and stylistic conventions which every writer should adhere”¦and occasionally subvert. But it suddenly occurred to me that there must be an underlying connection or a transcendent global tool that connects all forms of writing and presents the writer with the opportunity to not only transmit information, but to connect with the reader on an emotional level. The only tool I’m aware of which a writer has the ability to wield regardless of the genre is metaphor. A good writer uses metaphors like a painter uses a brush (yes, I’m aware that’s a simile); creating a form but doing so beautifully and artistically, and unless a writer possesses the ability to use metaphor effectively, the text will struggle to elicit an emotional reponse. It will lie there on the page or screen and never have an opportunity to move the reader in a meaningful way.
For some reason, I’ve never been fully aware of the power of metaphor. The term has never been more than just a name used to identify a particular part of speech or writing, but for some reason it suddenly came alive and now I feel as if I’m a keeper a precious secret.
Maybe now I’ll finish that damn book.