Most of the famous authors include a lot of metaphors and hidden philosophies in their works.

Frank Herbert's Dune has many environmental metaphors such as the desert planet that was once covered in water and the single resource of spice (oil) that the Universe depends on. Asimov deals a lot with Robots developing their Humanity, and C.S. Lewis has religious metaphors throughou his Narnia books.

Does the inclusion of a metaphor come naturally to these artists? Perhaps that is the difference between a good writer and a great one. Dune was built around an entertaining story... Not a speech about the environment, yet those "lessons" were so prevalent in his writings that the original book became a sort of environmental guide to college students.

Lewis had very strong opinions about religion, but for a kid (like me when I first read those books) the Narnia chronicles were simply fantastic stories about lions and princes and exploration.

Many books I have stopped reading because the "I want you to learn this..." message was too obvious and stole me away from the story. Some books seem to include no inner metaphor at all, and they suffer for it as well by becoming too simplistic.

So how do I know where my stories lie on the metaphorical spectrum? And how can I make sure what I write about isn't becoming too simple without sacrificing the entertainment of the story?

Should I even worry about the metaphor at all? Maybe it will come naturally since writing is how I plan to voice my opinions.

Maybe I need a sounding board to tell me what they see in my story. Frank Herbert used his wife. I need to find myself a wife.

Or a good metaphor for one.