Cool Source

[JamesSavik]

Here's a book for those authors working with symbols and imagry:

Man and His Symbols- edited by Carl Jung.

I saw it at Borders the other day but I've had a copy since the Reagen years.

[Tragic Rabbit]

Here's a book for those authors working with symbols and imagry:

Man and His Symbols- edited by Carl Jung.

I saw it at Borders the other day but I've had a copy since the Reagen years.

But do you think it's such a hot idea for authors to actively attempt to put symbols into their writing? I mean, doesn't it just come out that way, if it's to work?

I know that the writing book I'm currently reading (been reading a lot of them this past 10 months since I began writing), recommended by RusticMonk-Robert's Rules of Writing, clearly states that trying to put symbols in is a mistake, that either they're there or they're not. I really do like that book, btw, and highly recommend it for practical advice.

Kisses...

TR

[sumbloke]

Here's a book for those authors working with symbols and imagry:

Man and His Symbols- edited by Carl Jung.

I saw it at Borders the other day but I've had a copy since the Reagen years.

But do you think it's such a hot idea for authors to actively attempt to put symbols into their writing? I mean, doesn't it just come out that way, if it's to work?

I know that the writing book I'm currently reading (been reading a lot of them this past 10 months since I began writing), recommended by RusticMonk-Robert's Rules of Writing, clearly states that trying to put symbols in is a mistake, that either they're there or they're not. I really do like that book, btw, and highly recommend it for practical advice.

Kisses...

TR

To not deliberately put symbols into the writing? Well, Robertson Davis' The Deptford Trilogy would have hardly been written at all then. The whole symbolist school of Russian literature wouldn't exist. Mediaeval Trouberdor lyric would be...bawdy songs...

Symbols are deliberate acts of meaning - they have meaning given to them, they don't' just happen. Signs are things that have meanings that we don't give them.

[JamesSavik]

Some symbols are universals. Many writers use them without giving them any thought. Colors, flowers, even words themselves have symbolic meanings that go much deeper than the surface.

Origins of words and their use, allusions to myth, the use of color are all powerful tools that can be used to evoke feelings. I don't know if many writers think about the use of symbols in their work but I do. It's like taking a prod and poking the reader in exactly the right emotion.

I deliberately used symbolism in the Cool Green Sea to heighten the feelings of isolation, alienation and general creepyness that the primary charater was feeling.

And NO, it's not about playing head games with the reader. It is about pushing the right buttons to evoke the emotive response in the reader that you are looking for.

With a little study, it's possible to learn to use symbolism skillfully to add extra dimensions to your work.

[blue]

Symbolism and allusion and connotation of some kind are unavoidable. You can be very hard-boiled and concise in your writing, but you'll still have symbols, even if you're avoiding them. All words have connotations, based on their origins and associations. Cultures place meanings on certain terms too. Then, as an author, you are attaching meanings to characters and their actions and the space and time in which they move. Yes, symbols are important, sometimes essential, to get across the full meaning of the story.

Does that mean you should try to add symbols? It depends how you add them. If they grow out of the story, that's fine. If you just stick stuff in, you're not improving the story any and the symbols won't have an important meaning or relation to the story. So, let the symbols grow out of what's in the story.

[aj]

I would say that it is a very fine idea to be aware of a wide range of symbols, however. How else will your mind wander among them in the creative process and pull them out when they're needed?

cheers!

aj