Metaphors and Similes

Writing advice tends to vary on the use of metaphors and similes in novel writing, so I'll tell you my ideas on what works.

In my opinion, metaphors and similes should be used to help clarify a description rather than to impress your readers. If you're doing it just to impress your readers, it'll be noticeable and I'm betting most of your readers won't be impressed or will find the language distracting since they have to stop to figure out what you mean.

However, metaphors and similes can be useful if you're writing something that:

1) transcends what plain language can convey (like in a romance...as a poor example, "At his hurtful words, she felt like the rose she so cherished had wilted.")

2) can more quickly convey an image than plain language can (perhaps like in a mystery; "The body lay like a puppet tossed aside into the corner.")

3) does not exist in reality (like in speculative fiction; "The pixie looked like a flame of light until it got closer.").

If you're going to use figurative language, make sure it adds something to the reader's understanding. "The fan wobbled like a drunken sailor" just stops me cold as I try to figure out how a fan can wobble in a way resembling a drunken sailor and why this exact type of wobbling is important to my understanding of the story. "The fan wobbled" conveys the same image more quickly.

Good luck.