Layering the Symbols

Have you had people tell you that your writing is too artsy and will only reach a tiny niche group of readers? I have.

But I really wanted to reach a wide group of readers, so I plunged into a study that I haven’t seen too many writing books cover: layering of symbols, metaphors and meaning. This is what nudges readers to return to your book time and again. They grow with the book because they get something new each time they read it.

C.S. Lewis did this kind of layering brilliantly. By the time I was nine I’d read the entire Chronicles of Narnia. I kept reading these same books over and over again because each time I returned I gleaned something new. What at one point read like a simple image, such as the river god in Prince Caspian, turned into a fantastic, multi-layered symbol as I reread and aged with the book. Even though this river god was massive and powerful, it was totally subject to Aslan. Just like the massive and powerful issues that we face in our lives.

For years I had been so frustrated with my writing because very few understood the symbols and said it read like poetry more than like YA fiction. I didn’t want to change genres, since I love YA, and I didn’t want to change my style. That’s when I discovered layering of symbols.

Make some symbols obvious. The barnacle in my fantasy novel represents the violent and leech-like quality of the mermen who wear the barnacle as armor. I spell that out up front with an explanation.

Make some symbols less obvious. Like Peeta’s camouflage in The Hunger Games. It’s a very cool symbol that isn’t explained outright but it gives us clues to his personality.

Then you can go further and hide some symbols within the story details. In my latest novel, I have a car called the Crosstour, by Honda, featured. To many this could be just a benign detail in the story with no meaning at all. I’m okay with that. To others, they may find meaning in this car name, how our Christian walk is a journey through what Christ did on the cross. Our healing is often a tour, a journey, and not often an immediate event.

Layers of symbols. They’re what make a book a classic. Readers will return in order to gain a greater depth of understanding about the story, about the world, and about themselves.

UnEmbraceable by Precarious Yates, available for $2.99 on Kindle and paperback.

Available as an ebook or paperback.