A metaphor notebook to refresh your imagery

What should you put in a metaphor notebook?

The definition in the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française describes metaphor as a shift from literal to figurative meaning, akin to an abbreviated comparison. In your notebook, you can start with “like” to make the connection visible, then try a version without it. The goal isn’t to pass a terminology test, but to understand what you’re doing for the reader.

“The electrical cord snakes beneath the table” borrows a movement from an animal. “The cable is a sleeping snake” directly turns the cable into an animal image. These two original examples don’t have exactly the same effect. The first describes a path; the second draws attention to an imagined presence. Choose based on the passage, not on how poetic it seems.

Keep sentences by women authors in a quote journal with clear references, or in a separate section. An image you’ve read can nurture your attention, but it doesn’t become your creation just because you change two words. Note its source before exploring a similar technique with a different subject.

Observe qualities instead of broad categories

Look at a chipped cup. You can note its uneven rim, the mark it leaves on the table, or the way its handle forms a loop. Each quality opens up a different line of inquiry. “It’s like life” is very broad; “its rim holds a little staircase” describes a shape the reader can imagine and discuss.

Start with five concrete verbs or adjectives: bend, catch, overflow, rough, translucent. Then look for other situations where that quality appears. A line of people bends around a pole; a sentence overflows into the margin; a silence can seem to cling to a place. These are writing possibilities, not truths about what everyone feels.

The guide to describing a place with the five senses helps you refresh your concrete vocabulary. An observation walk can provide materials and movements you wouldn’t find by staying in front of a list of abstract words. A single detailed observation is enough to open up several possibilities.

Using your metaphor notebook in three attempts

Choose a simple experience: messages pile up while you make dinner. First attempt, descriptive: “Notifications arrive one after another.” Second attempt, comparative: “They drop like coins into a metal box.” Third attempt, more condensed: “The phone fills the kitchen with loose change.” All three versions are original and intentionally debatable.

The last sentence creates a sound image, but it can also suggest real money if the context is missing. Add a neighboring sentence or return to the comparison. A metaphor doesn’t succeed because it takes effort to decipher. It should add something: a sharper perception, a shift, a tone, or an association that serves the text.

Next, test the image from another point of view. For someone waiting for an important reply, each notification may not be an identical coin; it could be a knock at the door. This change is a reminder that the image belongs to a voice and a situation. Your creative project journal can note which character or scene you’re saving a particular find for.

Keeping a metaphor notebook without making a fixed dictionary

Sort the entries by qualities rather than just by subjects: rhythm, weight, light, friction, space. That way, an image about slowness could work in a commute, a wait, or a kitchen task. You’re not looking for a definitive match where sadness is always rain and joy is always sunshine. The notebook should expand your choices, not lock your writing into a code.

For each entry you keep, add a limitation. “This image works for the noise, but not for the speed.” “It seems comic when the scene needs to stay restrained.” These notes make the collection more useful than a list of pretty phrases. The creative idea sorting can help you find your attempts again without having to organize everything meticulously.

Read alsoScripting: Write your dream life to clarify what you want

Spotting mixed images and unintended effects

A sentence can begin with a boat and end with a road: “Her project was setting sail, but she had to change gears on the curves.” This mix can be intentional and comic. If it isn’t, it muddles the movement. Reread the verbs and nouns to check which world you’re establishing, then choose whether to maintain it or return to simple wording.

Also avoid images that reduce a person to something demeaning without considering that effect. Describing a character as a machine can express a narrator’s harsh perspective; it isn’t a neutral description. If you’re writing about a real person, think about what your text attributes to them before sharing it. A writing workshop doesn’t erase the consequences of publishing.

In your reading journal, notice how an image takes on meaning through the sentences around it. Don’t judge a phrase in isolation. A commonplace comparison can feel right in a specific context, while a highly original image can draw all the attention away from the scene. Novelty is one choice among many, not a constant requirement.

Revising and choosing the images that last

After a break, keep three entries and write a paragraph with each one. Then ask for targeted targeted feedback : which image is understood, which one changes the tone, which one feels forced? You can note these observations in your learning journal to track a technique rather than measure your inspiration.

End the session by also keeping a sentence without a metaphor. It’s a reminder that precise writing doesn’t always need images. At your next solo creative session, you can choose between description, comparison, and metaphor based on the effect you want. Your journal becomes a store of options, not an instruction to decorate every line.

Explore your images

Check an image in two different scenes

Take a metaphor you like and place it in a quiet scene, then in a hurried one. If “the phone fills the kitchen with loose change” distracts from a delicate moment, a more understated sound description may work better. The phrase hasn’t lost all its value: it simply doesn’t fit here. Your journal can record this distinction so you don’t defend a clever find at the expense of what the text needs.

Also try changing the grammatical subject. “Notifications fall” puts the noise front and center; “she lets the notifications fall into silence” gives the character an action and changes the image. Some variations will sound awkward, but they show what the words actually do. Keep one version with its context and a reason for keeping it. You’ll be able to find it again as a possibility tied to a specific situation, instead of reusing it everywhere just because you liked it the first time.

For a complementary perspective, watch this video from Writers Workshop.

How can you test an image a reader does not know?

Ask which property they understand without your explanation. An image may be precise to you because you know a tool, game, or place. It may remain opaque to someone who does not share that reference. Difficulty proves neither a lack of sensitivity nor poor reading: the text may need a cue.

These alternatives do not mean the same thing in every context: they help examine your intention. First choose what you want to show, such as a return or an alternation. Then ask a willing reader to rephrase what they understood. Do not immediately provide a list of expected answers. A different interpretation may interest you; a misunderstanding of an essential action may need clarification.

Record the required reference and the intended audience in your notebook. You can retain a demanding image in a particular voice or replace it with a direct sentence. To test words describing an object without building a fresh metaphor on every line, also try the writing without adjectives workshop. Your notebook becomes a collection of choices that make sense in context.

Sources

• Dictionary of the Académie française, 7th edition: metaphor.
• François Bon, BnF: a method for the writing workshop.