Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Symbolism—It's So Hot Right Now
In our Western culture
with our linear way of thinking, sometimes we miss out on some great,
squirrelly writing. But it wasn't always that way. Back when Western
culture was pulling heavily from the Oriental influences of Asian and
Arabic literature, we got 'the classics'. The more 'Oriental' style
of literature is full of hyperbole, couplets, apocalyptic devices,
poetry and symbolism. Western students were taught literary symbolism
and when they read 'the
greats', they had a more immediate
understanding than we often do today.
Many of us are like
that dude from Dragnet
(I can never remember his name). Nowadays, just saying the term
Dragnet acts as a symbol. Most everyone would instantly think of the
show's catch phrase 'Just the facts' and understand the need for just
the important stuff without the fluff. Savvy? Some stories are better
because of the Just The Facts style of writing, but I also think
there's been a burgeoning interest in stories with deep layers,
uneven timelines, and cleverly disguised cues—if they serve the
story.
LOST
anyone? For every publisher that claimed flashbacks were a
non-starter in writing, fans of LOST watched not only
flash-backs and flash-forwards, but flippin' flash-sideways. It was
awesome—and symbolic of the topsy turvey lives the
characters found themselves in and running from. Kinda like the plane
wreck that started it all (another symbol!). One thing the show was
known for was a tight mythology, no matter how wonky the plot went.
Fans knew they could trace the symbols and clues back and gain a
deeper understanding of the characters and their relationships to
each other.
I know not everyone is
a fan of director M. Night Shyamalan, but the man knows how to use
symbolism in his films. In Signs,
the first scene we see is a a swing set through a window with wavy
glass. As the camera pans to one side, the swing set seems to waver
like water—which becomes a meaningful plot point at the end—not
only with water, but a loss of innocence and absolution. And speaking
of Signs, many people didn't care for the movie because the
aliens were cheesy. The point of the aliens wasn't to look cool (or
cheesy), but to symbolize how alien grief is to the human
heart. We're simply not equipped to handle the loss of a loved one.
Going through a loss is terrifying, confusing, and can feel like
being attacked.
Brilliant symbolism
(and I admit, a bigger CGI budget could've helped).
Even if you write in a
spare, non-flowery way, you can still sprinkle symbolism and visual
cues into your story. In my book series Apocalypse Babes, zombies are not there because
they're so hot right now (anyone hear Mugatu saying that?). They
symbolize the initial dead-end life choices of the characters while
at the same time proving they can't forever outrun their problems.
Because zombies, er, consequences, always catch up no matter how
benign they seem in the beginning.
Everybody loves to be
in on an inside joke (were you thinking Michael Scott? Me, too), so
let your reader in via a shared understanding, bonding them to the
characters. Every time Michael says “That's what she said” we
laugh, but it also serves as a symbol of a person so desperate for
acceptance, he tries to make a funny joke that ends up driving people
away, especially women.
Each symbol should
pertain to something in your story. You can't just scatter the things
willy-nilly. And they may seem high-falutin' and literary, but a
well-wrought symbol in a novel is really a short-cut; a direct path
to the heart and mind of the reader you're trying to connect with. In
our society of instant communication, things shared have an even
deeper meaning. People crave depth and substance, and when we can be
in on the joke or have that sudden connection, a relationship is made
or sustained.
If you need your
symbolism creativity jump-started, here's a fun site—an online
Dictionary of Symbolism. Watch Shyamalan (hint:
the stories are never about the obvious), or The
Office
and Arrested
Development to see incredibly keen senses
of symbolism in action. They may be movies and TV shows, but they
started as scripts, which in case you didn't know, is writing.
That's what she said.
(Hmmm, that sounded
funnier in my head.)
So check out my 6 book series Apocalypse Babes, usually $4.99, now just 99 cents. As #1 Best Seller in Time Travel Romances, Mugatu might say, it's so hot right now.
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