What are metaphor families, and how do they bring your writing to life?
One of my favourite writing tips for distinctive narration and dialogue.
This is the latest in my writing tips series. If you want to evoke character without explaining backstory then metaphor families are a brilliant tool. I mentioned them in an earlier newsletter, but thought they deserved a deeper dive.
Subscribe for weekly original horror, writing tips, and exercises.
Before we get into metaphor families, let’s be clear about:
What are metaphors?
Metaphors are where we use one item to directly describe the characteristics or qualities of another:
“Her viewpoint is a breath of fresh air.”
“He’s an absolute star.”
“They’re a walking encyclopaedia.”
Metaphors work like similes, except a simile includes words or comparative words phrases (e.g. ‘like’ or ‘as’) to do the linking:
“They’re as tall as a tree.”
“She’s as deep as the ocean.”
“His touch is like a breeze.”
The brilliant Douglas Adams wrote probably my favourite simile:
“The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.”
It’s a perfect demonstration that well-used metaphors and similes can bring writing to life, building character, setting tone, and entertaining with vivid imagery.
So, with that clear…
What are metaphor families?
A ‘metaphor family’ is a group of metaphors (and often similes are mixed in) which use a single source for the references and comparisons, e.g. a miner might use metaphors related to digging and tunnels, where a surfer might use language related to waves, tides, or the sea.
Why are metaphor families useful?
When a character consistently uses references on a particular theme, it builds the impression of their social outlook and context without us needing to explain it at length.
This mimics how life often works:
An English professor of physics is unlikely to use consistently and only use metaphors related to oil drilling
An accountant from Bangladesh isn’t likely to use metaphors related to the Copenhagen indie video game scene
A tailor from 1890s Sau Paulo won’t casually reference computer hacking.
(Are these all bad ideas? Read on…)
Okay, but…
When are these useful?
Whenever a metaphor or simile is appropriate.
In every piece of writing you do, whether it’s a film script, short story, novel, video game, play, or any other piece of fiction, you need to present consistent characters to give the audience a sense of who they are.
As I wrote about earlier, inconsistency in character and/or setting can break the budget of believability for your story, making your audience lose emotional engagement and interest.
You can use metaphor families to:
Strengthen contrasts between characters
Give a PoV (point of view) narrator a more powerful and unique voice
Help you ‘hear’ the voice of the characters while you’re writing, making them easier to write.
Consistent metaphor families should be used in:
First-person narration
Close third-person narration
Third-person omniscient (to a lesser extent and mostly for tone rather than character)
Dialogue (distinctive metaphor families show differences, and similar metaphor families give a sense of ‘tribe’ (e.g. Mean Girls)).
Grammar can give a sense of affiliation, such as the ‘like, totally’ valley-girl language of California, and shared metaphor families are a way of building an extra sense of tribal community.
Metaphor families can also convey aspects of:
Class
Age
Culture
Sexuality
… almost anything!
But…
Caution!
Anything that’s a shortcut can also be a path to the worst kinds of stereotyping.
I’d caution against using metaphor families as an indicator of ethnicity, and particularly of skin colour. Other personal characteristics (like sexuality or gender) can also be handled poorly. Unless you’re from the background and you’re 100% confident, it would be very easy to slip into, for example, racist caricatures.
To give a different example, back in 2009 I had the honour of writing a script for the late, great BBC sports commentator, Sid Waddell. Sid had a marvellous turn of phrase, typically drawing on Northern working-class English imagery in unexpected ways:
Gorgeous language! … And not at all how I write. I’m neither working class nor from the north of England, so it was an intimidating challenge. I studied over twenty hours of his commentary to get into the tone, phrasing, and metaphor families he used.
As mentioned in the earlier post, this work resulted in one of the favourite lines I’ve ever written:
“That’s as much use as a surfboard down a coalmine.”
Sid loved it!
When done with respect, you can learn from communities and backgrounds other than your own, and through this create diverse characters (class, race, gender, age, ability, etc.) that aid in widening representation outside of your group.
Avoid stereotypes to build energy and distinctiveness
Above, I gave examples of where metaphor families might clash with a character, creating a sense of disconnect for audiences. Let’s revisit them to see if they’re all such bad ideas:
An English professor of physics is unlikely to use consistently and only use metaphors related to oil drilling
THIS COULD WORK - perhaps she’s got family in the oil business, and she’s the black-sheep for stepping away from the drilling industry? Those metaphors might be a way to show how her character’s heritage clashes with the typical background of the other professors.
An accountant from Bangladesh isn’t likely to use metaphors related to the Copenhagen indie video game scene
THIS COULD WORK, PERHAPS — accountant by day, gamer with a taste of Nordic whimsy by night? It could be a fun quirk.
CAUTION — It’s definitely possible, but might be a bit of a stretch. Also remember your audience has primarily come for one kind of story (forensic accountancy thriller? Love-across-ledger-books?), so giving a background quirk that’s so out of the setting might be off-putting for your audience.
A tailor from 1890s Sau Paulo won’t casually reference computer hacking.
ANACHRONISM WARNING! — Anachronisms are things from a different time period, and are typically things where they shouldn’t be: like a caveman wearing a digital watch. There was no computer hacking in the 1890s so, unless this is a time-travel story or consistently ‘meta’ in style, this makes no sense and it will harm audience engagement.
In the examples of the professor and the accountant, the contrasting metaphor family could bring depth, energy, and interest to the characters.
However, in the latter example with the 1890s tailor, the anachronism would make the hacking-reference metaphor family too inconsistent with the setting to make sense, harming the overall narrative.
Look for these in fiction and life!
Next time you’re reading a story, watching an interview, or enjoying a film, stay aware of when metaphors and similes are used in the language:
What is the reference telling you about this character, their life, and their similarity/contrast with their context?
Is that same ‘family’ of metaphors used consistently?
How does it help you understand who they are?
When you begin spotting these, you’ll see how powerfully they subconsciously work to build character without the need for long backstories.
When you’re writing, try to be conscious of how your different characters use metaphors to reveal their backgrounds. Being consistent in your writing will elevate the character’s individuality for your audience.
Thanks for reading again. It’s been a while since I did a writing tips post, so I hope you enjoyed it! Check out earlier ones here.
Did you have a good Halloween? I had fun eating sugary junk and watching horror films.
I also finished the first draft of a new novel this week — now the hard part (the editing) begins. Dun dun daaaaah! I’m incredibly happy to have reached this milestone in the writing process. It’s the fourth I’ve written (the first sits on back-up drive, the second is being read by literary agents, the third is semi-edited, and now I’ve this fourth one to edit). I’m very excited by the simple and fun pitch for this fourth novel, so perhaps this will be the one that gets picked up put into book stores. You never know! If you’re interested in reading my progress, stay subscribed!
Have a great week ahead, go be kind and spooky,
Mata <3