Understatement is always best. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake. The passive voice is to be avoided. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
It's when you decide to do the laundry. So you start down the stairs with the laundry but then see the newspapers on the table. OK, you'll do the laundry. So on your way in to put he papers away, you notice the mail on the table. OK, you'll put the papers away.