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 MASTER OF METAPHOR

Brainstorming Connections

This is the very first step when you are trying to come up with a great metaphor,
which is brainstorming all of the possible connections associations that derive
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from your subject. I like to call this process connecting the dots .
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These connections associations can come from anywhere, such as pop culture,
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real life, fiction, and they don t need necessarily to be particularly creative as you
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will see later on.

The only caveat to this is don t come up with things from your personal
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experience, as people won t be able to understand a metaphor that derives from

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personal experience.

So, using the previous example of someone cheap, here are some off the cuff
connections associations that come to mind:
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Scrooge
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Homeless man
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McDonald s
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Food stamps
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Two bit hooker

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Okay, that s enough. You just need enough to get started.

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Now, choose one or two of the above associations connections and go even one
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step further with finding additional associations connections, but also think of
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opposites of those connections:

Scrooge: ghosts, paupers, presents, Christmas

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-Homeless man: Goodwill store, Saks Fifth Avenue opposite of Goodwill , bad
( )

smells, cardboard boxes, tents, mansions opposite of tents , San Francisco,

( )

police, shopping carts, soup kitchens, buffets opposite of soup kitchens

( )

I probably already went too far with this step, as now I may have too much to work
with.

You don t have to go crazy with this step. The key is to just come up with a few
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things and then work with whatever you have no matter what they are, which I will
show you how to do shortly.

Now, another important part of brainstorming connections is what I call go one "

step further . This means taking what you already came up with and asking
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yourself What are the consequences of X , What follows? , Now what? or Yes,
" " " " " "

and... ."

Let me give you an example:

Let s say you want to tell someone to stop kissing your ass. What do you think of
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when you think of ass kissing ? I think of the word buttering you up . Now, you
" " " "

can say Stop buttering me up as a metaphor and that s okay, but it s not yet great.
" " ' '

Instead, I want you to go one step further . When you think of butter, what do you
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think of? Well, let s go with What are the consequences of butter?
' " "

I think of high cholesterol. So, now you can come up with your metaphor: John, "

my cholesterol is high enough, you gotta stop with the butter. "

Now, this metaphor is a lot better, right?

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Going one step further is so important that I want to give you yet another example
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before we go on to the next part. Going one step further is where truly creative
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and memorable metaphors comes from.

Let s talk about Ronda Rousey, the former female MMA champion, and her
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husband, and let s come up with a description for him:

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What do you think of when you think of husbands?

I immediately think of some guy on the couch watching TV.

If you go one step further, what do you think of?

Some guy holding a remote control, flipping through channels.

Now, if I go even one step further and use my imagination about Ronda and her
husband, I imagine her fighting him for the remote control, and putting him in a
jujitsu hold until he gives up the remote control.

So, if I use this absurd image, what metaphor can I come up with? How about:

Ronda Rousey's husband aka the guy with the least control over the remote
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control ever" or Ronda Rousey's husband aka the guy who never gets to watch
anything he wants on TV".

This exercise of brainstorming and then going one or two steps further is the basis
of coming up with your own memorable metaphors, especially when we get to
indirect metaphors as you will see later on.
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c o n n e c t o r s

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 MASTER OF METAPHOR

Connectors also have a crucial part to play in how your metaphor ultimately
sounds.

Connectors are the words that connect your subject with your metaphor, such as
the word like as in a simile.
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There s no magic in using connectors. The most I can say is that there is a lot of
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trial and error involved in finding which connectors work best for the metaphor
you re trying to create.
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So, here is a list of the most common connectors you should memorize and think
about using in your trial and error process.

Like
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As
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Sounds like
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It s gonna be like
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That reminds me of
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Which reminds me of
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This reminds me of
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The thing about

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Is like
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Is
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That s like
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Aka, also known as, known as

-

You he she would be

- / /

That s similar to that s just like

- ' / '

These are not the only way to connect a subject to a metaphor or vice versa, so
do not limit yourself to these connectors!

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Note: Sometimes a connector is not even needed. Here s an example from the TV
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show House of Cards:

"Such a waste of talent. He chose money over power - in this town, a mistake nearly
everyone makes. Money is the McMansion in Sarasota that starts falling apart after
10 years. Power is the old stone building that stands for centuries. I cannot respect
someone who does not see the difference."

Do you see how there is no connector at all in this statement?

You will see more examples of connectors in the Categories of Metaphors

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chapter.

To me, connectors are important when you are still building your knowledge and
skill in creating metaphors.

In particular, using connectors helps trigger ideas for the metaphor itself, and they
are like cookie molds which ensure that your cookie ends up looking good.

When you re still an amateur metaphor baker , cookie molds help a lot. Maybe one
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day, you will be a professional baker and won t need cookie molds at, but the
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reality is, they never hurt. Does that make sense?

When you get to a higher level with metaphors, you will find that your use of
connectors may start decreasing, as you will be more confident with the
metaphors you create, but starting out, they re your training wheels.
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