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Question: Do authors think about metaphors when writing!?
Most novels we've read in school have some sort of "metaphorical meaning"!. Do you think the author put them in intentionally, or do they just work their way in!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Typically they are intentional but sometimes they work their way in!. Funny, this is why I didn't really like Twilight!. No depth!.

But I read several books by this one author and thought that they had a TON of metaphors and symolism!. Then I looked on the author's website and she was like "People always ask what meaning I was getting at in my work!. But I just write!." So I was like PSH all that analyzing and what!? There wasn't even anything there!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It depends on the book!. A great many of the books you're likely to read in school will have a metaphorical meaning!. This is partly because it's such good practice for recognizing metaphor!.
The thing you really have to realize, though, is that if there really is a metaphor then it's because the author put it there!. They don't just work their way in!. However, many English critics will try to find metaphors that don't really exist simply to prove their own pet theories about the work!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

OF COURSE!
Metaphors and Personifications and "All that English crap" is what makes a book good; it's what helps the reader get into another person's head for the time being--a chance for the reader to BE someone else!. It's metaphors that allows us to interpret the story and analyze the story to symbolize something bigger; a statement or lesson about human nature in general (that's what a theme is)!. It allows us to take the scratches on a page and make them MEAN something to us!. In a way the story in the book become OUR story!.

So yes! They are intentional! :)Www@QuestionHome@Com

They're done intentionally!. In fact, every time you read a good book it's useful to consider that each and every word was specifically chosen over other words to convey a specific meaning!. These things don't just "work themselves" in!. They were extensively planned and labored over!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

A little bit of both!. It's amazing what can happen when you start to write a story!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

good writers write real characters, which makes their interactions a reflection of the basest human interactionsWww@QuestionHome@Com