How to Use Metaphor Strategically in Your ATAR Creative Writing

Most students use metaphor randomly, hoping it will somehow improve their work. But strategic metaphor application can transform your characters, setting, and plot development—exactly what ATAR markers reward.

After 30 years of teaching, I've discovered that students who master metaphor consistently score higher on creative writing tasks. Here's why: metaphor doesn't just decorate your writing—it creates meaning, builds atmosphere, and demonstrates the sophisticated literary understanding that separates good students from great ones.

Here's the key: metaphor isn't about memorizing specific comparisons—it's about learning to think systematically about any comparison that serves your story.

What is a metaphor?

Find out more about metaphor and the other essential literary devices with detailed explanation, examples and practice tips to turn simple device spotting into A grade analysis.

Metaphor's purpose is to take readers from what they already know to what you want them to imagine through strategic comparisons. They work on multiple levels:

Small-scale metaphors add vivid detail: eg comparing someone's eyes to cornflower blue

Large-scale metaphors represent abstract concepts: eg first shoots after snow symbolising hope and renewal.

The Strategic Metaphor Framework

Let me show you this approach using garden metaphors as an example. Once you understand this systematic thinking, you can apply it to any metaphor that fits your story—sports, technology, music, cooking, whatever connects with your experience and your prompt.

Step 1: Choose Your Metaphor Domain

Gardens work well because they're universally understood, but the same systematic approach applies to any domain you choose. As gardeners, we prepare, plant, tend, harvest, and deal with unexpected challenges.

Your metaphor domain might be:

• Sports (training, competition, teamwork, victory/defeat)

• Technology (connections, updates, glitches, networks)

• Music (harmony, rhythm, discord, composition)

• Journey (destination, obstacles, companions, maps)

Step 2: Map the Connections

Once you've chosen your domain, systematically map how its elements connect to story elements:

Using gardens as our example: Garden metaphors offer endless possibilities for sophisticated writing:

Character Development:

• Overgrown prickly hedges = unwillingness to connect with others

• Neatly clipped topiary = perfectionist tendencies

• Wild, abundant gardens = free-spirited personalities

Setting and Atmosphere:

• Seasonal changes = life transitions and growth

• Pest problems = external challenges characters face

• Harvest time = reaping consequences of earlier actions

Plot Development:

• Planting seeds = introducing ideas that develop later

• Pruning = making difficult but necessary choices

• Weathering storms = surviving conflict

These common expressions demonstrate how deeply garden metaphors are embedded in our language:

• Like two peas in a pod – showing identical features

• Reap what you sow – consequences match actions

• Late bloomer – talents emerging over time

• Nip it in the bud – stopping problems early

• Snake in the grass – hidden deception

• A rose amongst thorns – standing out positively

• Planting a seed – introducing an idea

• Weeding out – removing undesirable elements

Advanced Technique: Literary Allusions

Take your metaphors further by referencing famous gardens. This technique shows sophisticated literary knowledge AND the use of a sophisticated literary device:

• The Secret Garden – hidden potential and growth

• Garden of Eden – innocence, temptation, loss

• Peter Rabbit's adventures – mischief and consequences

• Alice in Wonderland – surreal, unpredictable experiences

Practical Examples for Your Creative Writing

Small-scale enhancement: "They lined up for the dance like flowers in a garden bed, each turning their beautiful faces toward the sunny smiles of potential partners."

Large-scale atmospheric metaphor: "Inside the hospital room, silence settled like winter frost. Outside, the earth surrendered to sleep, and they held hands, waiting for spring."

Character revelation through setting: "Her garden told the story she couldn't speak—wild roses climbing over broken fences, beauty growing through neglect."

Why This Matters for ATAR Success

Every metaphor you master strengthens your creative writing toolkit:

✅ Demonstrates sophisticated literary understanding that ATAR markers reward

✅ Creates layered meaning beyond surface-level description

✅ Works perfectly with picture prompts – most include natural elements

✅ Shows strategic device application rather than random decoration

✅ Builds atmospheric writing that engages readers emotionally

Ready to Master All Literary Devices Systematically?

Metaphor is just one of many essential literary devices that all academic writers must master. Want to know them all? Get my 50 literary devices eBook and transform your ATAR writing. Each device includes a detailed explanation of what it is and why you need to use it, examples, writing practice, and, practice spotting the devices in a text.

Want to analyse literary devices with the same precision you use to create them? My FREE Literary Analysis Framework gives you the systematic methodology for identifying and analyzing any literary device in any text—essential skills for both creative writing and text analysis tasks.

Download your Literary Analysis Framework now and start building the sophisticated writing skills ATAR success demands →