Symbolism. An English teacher’s favorite subject. We all remember when our teachers started talking about symbolism, describing colors in terms of moods, setting in terms of historical relevance, even names in terms of character traits. They assign meaning to everything that, in our world, is completely arbitrary. As students just trying to get a diploma or credits, it can become tedious, searching for meaning in a story about wizards or Regency balls or star-crossed lovers.

But here’s the thing: your teachers are right.

The thing I’ve learned most in my poetry class is the concept of intention. In a poem especially, every word you use has to mean as much as it can, must convey as much meaning as possible. You have to pay attention to the language you’re using. The same goes for writing fiction. Even in your simple YA novel, your expansive sci-fi series, your contemplative adult book, your words mean something. They tell you something about the characters and the work as a whole.

The reason we think symbolism is pointless and invented is because it doesn’t always seem to apply to our real life. We don’t pick if it will rain when we’re sad or whether the town we live in is also the site of some historical event relevant to our current life. But we do pick our own symbols. We name our children after important people in our lives, those who symbolize strength or kindness. We buy clothes that make us feel a certain way, whether that’s in the color or the cut. And in a fictional world, you have that same capacity to attribute meaning–but you have the control to attribute it everywhere. Authors create their own worlds and can develop it any way they choose.

The question to ask yourself when writing is: why? Why am I saying “blue” instead of “red”? Why “dashed” instead of “went”? What is the relevance of my character’s family necklace? Why even “the” instead of “a”? Every word you use must be important. Intention is key to your writing. With intention, you transform a story into a message. You attribute meaning to details that would’ve otherwise been unnecessary. And that’s how you add power to your story.

Now intention is something to think about in later drafts. Don’t stare at your blank page wondering which word would be most valuable to start with. But in later drafts, pick through the language. Apply the themes you’ve developed, the character traits you’ve created to each line of your work. Don’t stop until every future English student is cursing your name as they underline every word in your story because all of it is important.

Sorry it’s taken me forever to post. I’ve been learning a lot. In other news, I’ve updated all my social media links so I’ll adjust them in my About page.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading.