The turn of a New Year offers time to reflect back and look forward. I’m not much for resolutions, but I do set writing goals for the coming year. Looking back, my writing goal for 2025 was to complete a first draft of my novel-in-progress. I didn’t quite get there, but I did make significant strides toward that objective. In 2025, I penned 21 chapters. I just finished Chapter 29, which brings me to about 70,000 words. Only two more chapters to go! Thus, my goal for this month is to complete that first draft and begin revisions.
To help with those revisions, I recently attended a couple of informative craft webinars presented by the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). In one session, Jessica Vitalis gave an excellent presentation on using symbolism to transform your writing. We’re all familiar with the use of metaphor and simile to create vivid imagery. But she explained and illustrated several more: mood, motif, allegory…
Another was “objective correlatives.” I’d never heard this term, but I have actually used this technique without knowing what it was called. Objective correlatives are objects that represent an emotion in the story. In Bedlam Bewitched, Cory carries her favorite romance novel in her apron pocket. For her, it represents a source of reassurance and hope. We see that in an early scene, when she finds a box of romances in the basement and formulates her first plans to save Bedlam Books. The romance novel also informs a pivotal plot twist, but I won’t spoil that here.
One of Jessica’s final bits of advice was not to worry about symbolism in your first draft. Get the story down first. Once you have that draft, you can look for the symbols that are organically present. She suggests creating a “mind map” to brainstorm possible meanings around those objects. Then you can incorporate this symbolism to add depth to your story in subsequent edits.
Now, I’m off to pen my final chapters. But armed with these new tools, I’ll soon be ready for revisions.
How have you incorporated symbolism in your work? Can you think of examples from a favorite novel or story?