I view the process of creating a work as being akin to rearing a difficult child. You use all of your spirit to try to mold him into something sensible, pleasant, intelligent, and handsome, but he thwarts you at every turn, and in the back of your mind you know you will eventually fail. Nonetheless, you endure his trials as much as you are able. Once you are absolutely exhausted and emotionally depleted, even though he is not perfect, you abandon him to the world and hope for the best.
contrary to what we all learned in grade school, there is not an absolute dichotomy between simile and metaphor. A simile is merely a figure of speech, while a metaphor is more of a conceptual thingy.