Metaphors or Similies

[Zaphkiel]

Alright, in your opinion, which do you think makes literature more colorful and exotic. Metaphors or Similies?

[Zuzy]

I like metaphors because there is no "like" or "as" and it seems more direct to me, but they both work well in their own way.

She was a depressing rain cloud over the party. [bad sentence, I know..]

Versus:

She was like a depressing rain cloud over the party.

I think the first one is more direct, and meaningful. If... The sentence was a better written sentence to begin with.

[Carraka]

Metaphor. Definitely metaphor. It is, as Zuzy said, more direct. It's also subtler, I think, and it plays with your subconscious mind, especially if you miss it. (I never notice these things.)

"a screaming carpet of human flesh"

from All But My Life is probably the metaphor that has stayed with me the longest, for obvious reasons, and not-so-obvious reasons.

Actually, it's kind of odd to think of a metaphor 'staying' with me, but for some reason, when someone says metaphor, I think of that phrase.

[Andy]

Metaphors tend to be much bolder, in my opinion. When you say something IS something else, it usually says a great deal it. But if you say something was like something else, it feels watered down.

At the same time, reading too much of one or the other can start to get annoying, so I prefer an even mix of both.

[GeorgeMichael]

Well it's been said a lot so I'll just second that I think Metaphors are better.

[Zuzy]

"a screaming carpet of human flesh"

That is the coolest metaphor EVER! Can I see the rest of the sentence? That would be neat in context... I want to have a screaming carpet of flesh in my story. XD

[Nyx]

I think a nice mix of the two is the best. But if there was a choice between one or the other I think metaphors are better.

[Carraka]

Suzy: I don't own the book, actually. We read it for school.

I might have even remembered the metaphor wrong. However, All But My Life is a memoir by the Holocaust survivor, Gerda Weissman, and the metaphor is in a letter her friend wrote to her.

I believe they were gathered in the center of town and trampled down by horses. So they were a screaming carpet.

[Zuzy]

oooh. Adding that to my list.

My novel is about Auschwitz so... Yeah. Research material is good!

[Shaun]

I personally like both. You can use both effectively in my opinion.

[Eve]

Usually, I use metaphors only. But when writing school essays, I use smilies but not much.