Business Writing Exercise

Remember last week’s article about the bridge? No! Metaphors! It was about metaphors. But I built it on one metaphor, and carried that one through the whole article.

Clever, huh?

No, I don’t really believe you missed that. That technique is called an extended metaphor, though, and I wanted to make a big deal out of it, because now I want you to do one. If that makes you feel really clever, all the better.

This week, I want you to develop an excellent example of an extended metaphor. You’ll have to deal with all the problems I mentioned in last week’s article, but it gets harder because you’ll have to deal with them again and again, every time you go back to that well. You can do it, though. The whole trick is to spend some serious time thinking about your metaphor before you start, pick one that really works, and only talk about the aspects of it that do work.

Then weave it into a blog post. Make it about any topic you want — maybe your day at the zoo with the kids reminded you of a stroll through Dante’s Inferno, or maybe flying a helicopter in headwinds is like preparing a delicious plate of fugu. Whatever it is you want to talk about this week, back it up with a really strong metaphor.

Try for a blog post of at least 300 words, with at least two sections (so you’re applying the metaphor in at least a couple different contexts). Make it feel natural, make it look easy, then come back here and share a link with us in the comments.