The Writing Experiment by Hazel Smith

Example 2.26

frontier or front line?

gold or gunfire?

In Example 2.27 the doubt is likened to flying a kite. The door has disap-
peared, but again association is important, producing the image of doubt
flapping about in the breeze:

Example 2.27

a wind kicks up

she flies her doubts high

In Example 2.28 the door is made active again, but the doubt becomes a
colour which both intensifies and retreats. Notice also the compression in
the last two lines:

Example 2.28

the door

poses

a question

darkens and pales

In the following example the word ‘mark’ derives from the image of
a question mark. I have then transferred it to the phrase ‘the mark of a
thought’: a thought which is preventing her going through the door. This
shows how metaphor can become self-generative, so that one ‘transfer’
suggests another:

Example 2.29

the mark of a thought

on the handle

The next example transfers the features of the door to the doubt:

Example 2.30

doubt

swings

on its hinges

In Example 2.31 the door disappears from the equation: the idea of
opening and closing is transferred to the metaphorical selves. This version
spells out the psychological aspect, which is implicit in other examples:

Genre as a moveable feast 43