The metaphor class I'm teaching had a conversation, via a Polycom "Batphone," with illustrator/sculptor Shan Wells this past week. Many provocative questions saw light.
One particularly sharp one centered on revision and tied into another one about when he knew an idea was going somewhere metaphorically -- how does he know when a developing piece has that multivalent, rich content?
His answer, also found in so many other comments he made, was that you develop a sense for it after many many hours of work. Work, work, work. So there's really no substitute for getting sentences, lines, words all over you and then doing it again.
So, if you're working your ass off, for a long time you might not see a metaphor working, but you can sense it. You can't see the ocean from inland, but occasionally you catch a whiff and keep walking. And then others will make the meaning, anyway, smelling stuff you never thought you put in there.
