Figurative Writing

Dear Mrs. Cassidy.  Back in the late 1970s, when I took a creative writing class from her, she used to drill into her students that we needed to be clear and precise in our writing, to say exactly what we meant to say, so we wouldn't confuse the reader.  Obscurity was the enemy.  We had to avoid it, whatever we did.

I took her instruction to heart, because I accepted she knew what she was talking about.  For the better part of forty years, I've tried to make my writing as clear and concise as possible, hoping that whoever read it would understand it, as I intended for it to be understood.  Nothing wrong with that…except, what about figurative writing?  What about not being so direct?  What about art?

It's all around us, figurative writing is.  It makes the language in novels sing.  It accounts for some of the most beautiful lyrics in songs we love and never forget.  And it hits us in the gut, makes us feel something.  It references experiences we're all familiar with, that we all relate to.

The thing about figurative writing is, maybe we don't always need to be so direct.  Maybe we can hint at what we intend to say.  Suggest it.  Maybe we shouldn't be obscure, but maybe we don't need to necessarily spell out everything, either.  Maybe we should make the reader think.  Make him work a bit.  Allow him to experience what we've written for himself.  

Here's what I'm talking about from one of my current favorite songs, "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit.

Instead of saying, we're going through a difficult time, feeling anxious, confused, fearful, the song says, "We're a thousand miles from comfort." A more colorful way of saying the same thing, right?  And who among us doesn't know that feeling?

And instead of saying, we've been through a lot (a rather dull way of putting it), the song says, "We have traveled land and sea."

Now, it's possible whoever wrote this song meant for the lyrics to be taken literally:  We are a thousand miles from home and feeling uncomfortable, and we have traveled a long distance, over continents and oceans.  But I'd like to think these lines are figurative, suggesting more than what the words say.

And that is the beauty of figurative writing.  Simple statements can be taken literally, but they can also mean so much more.  And they say it in more colorful, and thought-provoking, language.  So whether you take them literally or figuratively, you'll understand and enjoy them.

For me, figurative writing comes back to showing instead of telling.  When you sit down to write, think about what you're feeling, or what your characters are feelings.  Then, instead of stating those feelings outright, translate them into some sort of action, something that could happen in the real world.  By doing that, you'll put the reader where you are, and you'll make him feel the same thing.

To experience "Rather Be," click here.