Figures of Speech - like metaphors - can be useful in your writing, but not when they pull you out of the story. A main goal in fiction writing is to suspend all disbelief. So ... if your beautiful metaphor comes in the middle of scene with forward momentum, the reader might stop and notice the wires controlling the puppets. Don't give the reader any reason to stop reading your story!
"Yet just when it's most important that we focus on events, we're pulled aside to notice the writer's poetic turn of mind. And like exclamation points or italics, phrases that call attention to themselves rather than to what's being said make it obvious that you're working hard for your effects" (SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS, p. 204).
What's your favorite figure of speech? And when do you think is the best time to utilize it in your writing?
