A database of metaphors for writers explaining complex ideas
When you become an expert in a subject, it becomes hard to explain it.
The more you immerse yourself in a field, the more your ideas suffer from siloed thinking. The solution: Better writing via metaphors.
Metaphors are the way into the minds of your readers. By comparing an unknown thing—your idea—to something your reader knows, you can surface similarities and differences. What was once abstract becomes concrete and the obscure becomes clear.
I'm making a database of metaphors that writers can swipe from and adapt to help them explain complex ideas. I'll find metaphors from the classics—Shakespeare, Morrison, Proust—but also from modern marketers, bloggers, and venture capitalists.
I want to create two things: a database (numbering in the hundreds of curated entries) and a newsletter, either to market the database or to create paid content from it.
What do you think of this idea? Who do you think would buy it/subscribe to it?
Seems like it would be useful!
I don't know if I'd want to "subscribe" to it in a newsletter form, because I don't think I ever randomly want metaphors to show up. But I like the database idea, because then I can go look for metaphors whenever I need them.
The trickiest part would probably be forming a habit to look for this stuff. I'm more likely to just get stuck while writing, and bang my head against a wall, and forget that your resource even exists, because it's so new and unique that it's not a common thing to think to look for (unlike a dictionary, thesaurus). Not sure how you get around that.
Also, the business model is tricky. How do you make money? Perhaps you could charge for access. That would be ideal. Or ads if you get a ton of traffic, which is less ideal imo. Maybe freemium.
The newsletter came out of the “word a day” feel. I think it would appeal to a certain type or person but maybe not the right ones.
The habit is definitely the hard part. This came out of my own needs as a writer but it’s not an easy habit to build even more myself. I currently have 200 metaphors and don’t think to reference it often.
That’s also why I thought a newsletter would help. The habit is partially taken care of. You just have to read it when it comes in and maybe you have a moment of serendipity. Plus it makes you feel smart to read bits of Shakespeare, etc.
Charge for access is my thought. Or, if people really like the newsletter, charge for that and treat the database as a super premium product.