Meaningful Story

I was talking to a friend recently about a book we’d both read part of, and then put down. If you’d asked me about the problem, I’d have said that I felt like the characters lacked depth. The writing worked well at making me turn pages and move from chapter to chapter, but I reached a point where I realized that I didn’t really care what happened at the end. There was a big build to a climax, but I was kind of meh about it. I could take it or leave it.

My friend described the problem as being about meaning. There was a lot of stuff going on and the story was written well. But there wasn’t any depth behind the story events. There wasn’t a deeper meaning. The author hadn’t thought carefully about why the world was the way that it was. There wasn’t, in the end, a thoughtful, philosophical perspective on life. There were no bits that were quotable because they related to real life.

There is nothing wrong with a book like this, I hasten to add here. Sometimes I am in a mood for a book that is just a story. But I wasn’t then.

What I think writers need to be aware of is that there is a line between telling a fun story and being preachy. You don’t want to turn your book into a screed about your political point of view. You don’t want to put in so much research that the story gets lost in your historical fiction. You don’t want your characters to become talking mouths for you and your best friends. But you may also want to have a bit more depth in your book than it “just” being a fun, rousing adventure.

So how do you do that?

Well, a lot of it has to do with world building. Some of it has to do with plot. If you have already written your book, think about what the rules of the world are that you have set up. There are rules in every world, whether or not you are writing speculative fiction with stated magical or science fictional rules. The rules of your high school world might be that the meanest person wins, or that the underdog is going to come out on top. Or they might be that magic always costs you in your heart, or in your life. Or that the universe will continue on long after mankind is dead.

These rules are important to the deeper meaning of your story. You have to know what your rules are before you can figure out what you have to say about them. First, you may want to check and see if the rules of your world are rules you actually want to write about or that you believe in. If not, think about it. Could you change your story so that it says more what you believe in? How would you enact that change?

Now, onto the plot. Think about what your plot is saying about your protagonist. Are you writing a plot where the protagonist is fully in charge of every action? Is there free will? How often do things happen that are entirely unexpected? Does the plot end with something outside of anyone’s control? Are events often random? What are you saying about the world with your plot? Are you saying something consistent?

Being aware of what you are saying is the first step in saying something deeper. Once you are aware of what your character, world building and plot MEAN, then you can do a few light touches that make it so that the reader will be able to figure it out without too much work. Don’t overdo it!!! Two paragraphs is often enough. You are allowed to choose ONE symbol (a flower or maybe an image of a star) and you can talk about it twice. That’s it. Don’t hit your reader over the head.

Lots of writers are able to tell a deeper story without ever intentionally using symbols or other devices. Lots of writers use stories as vehicles for political messages and they think that’s the way it should be done. For the rest of us, there is a middle way.