Symbolism is important in fiction. It takes your story beyond simple plot or character development and creates depth and meaning. A good writer will use symbols that enhance the story's theme or pulls together all the fictional elements. But finding the right symbols for your story can be difficult if you don't know how. Before writing, determine what the story is about, then decide the type of symbols that will work best for it.
Instructions
1. Determine the purpose of the symbol. If you're writing a story about a death, for instance, choose symbols that will best represent the ideas of death and dying.
2. Set up the relationship between the symbol and the character and/or plot of your story. Introduce the symbol in such a way that subtly underscores the story's emotional core. For instance, the budding of a tree might symbolize a character's maturation from childhood to adulthood. Both can be introduced in such a way that their maturation parallels throughout the time frame of the story.
3. Use them sparingly. Symbols are effective only when necessary. You don't have to remind your readers in every paragraph of its symbolic value. A good key to know when to introduce and re-introduce a symbol is whether it effects the plot of your story or when it triggers an important aspect of your character's emotional or psychic development. For instance, the budding tree symbol can be introduced whenever there is a shift in time: "That spring, it was underneath the full bloom of the plum tree in her father's yard, that Beverly began flirting with the Clancy boy."
4. Introduce or reintroduce a powerful symbol during the climax or epiphany of your story.This is where the elements of your fiction come together. For instance, the tree in the yard might symbolize a marriage. A couple fears their marriage is falling apart. At the end of the story, a terrible storm blows through and the couple fears the tree might topple and crash into their home. But the tree survives stronger than ever. The tree's survival thus becomes symbolic of the survival of the couple's marriage.
5. Avoid cliches. If the symbol is too obvious, your reader will be distracted and become disengaged. For instance, the colors white and black symbolizing good and evil are obvious and overly familiar. Choose symbols that are new and inventive. Or go against the grain of your readers' expectations. Perhaps you can associate the color black with a character who turns out to be heroic.
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