Pick a random object and write for 10 minutes: mixing bowl
Silver and shiny. Strong. Glistening against the glossy red KitchenAid mixer. Is that pancake batter I smell? Buttermilk pancakes? A whir, click, clank. I watch my Granny remove the bowl and scrap its side with a plastic spatula. The cast iron griddle already hot and ready. She grabs a big spoon to measure out the batter for a perfect pancake. Somewhere between a silver dollar and a saucer. Bubbles start to appear, wait, wait, then she flips them just at the right time. Flop. Plop. The other side is cooking now. She knows I like mine very light with a little uncooked gooey batter in the middle. Somehow she manages to lift them up and off the griddle in the nick of time. Stack. Stack. Stack. Three beautiful delicious barely-done buttermilk pancakes awaiting maple syrup and salty butter.
This exercise is from the book Writing Better Lyrics (Second Edition): The Essential Guide to Powerful Songwriting by Pat Pattison. I highly recommend it if you’re wanting to improve your songwriting.
I’m making my way through Chapter 3: Making Metaphors. While I know what a metaphor is by definition, I’m developing a deeper understanding of what a metaphor really is and why it’s so important to songwriting, and truly any type of creative writing. Here are a few key takeaways:
“In its most basic form, a metaphor is a collision between ideas that don’t belong together. It jams them together and leaves us to struggle with the consequences.” (p23)
I’ve always understood that metaphors bring together two different ideas, but I’ve never given much thought to what makes a metaphor so powerful. It’s clearly the struggle it creates in the reader. I got a little curious about why this “struggle” works. It turns out that metaphors literally light up our brains by activating a complex network of visual neurons. In effect, it creates a visual story. (How Metaphors Impact the Brain)
If you’re looking to get back into a creative groove, I host a community called the Creative Comeback Club. It’s a place to rekindle your spark one week at a time with ongoing support sessions.
Have you ever read The Artist’s Way? If you’re approaching or past 50 years old, join my next workshop The Artist’s Way for 50 and Beyond. It’s a 12-week guided workshop to reignite your creativity later in life because it’s never too late to create!