Reading back through an old notebook, I rediscovered some fine insights by fiction writer Tim Weed, originally shared during a talk he gave at the yearly meeting of the NE Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. He spoke of creating stories that will build lingering meaning for readers.
Weed started by playing two pieces of music, one by Bach, one by John Cage. He asked us which was easiest to listen to. A majority of us preferred the Bach, a piece described by Weed as “more patterned” – a pattern, but with variations within the pattern – “like a fire – you can watch it for hours.”
He then described how literary patterns often function via external and internal symbols or image systems. External symbols mean something to humanity at large, while internal symbols have meaning only within the story.
Weed encouraged us to “lace something through your story that will have a subliminal effect on the subconscious of your reader.” This, he said, is “normally something you add in revision” to “add a resonance.”
“Part of the revision process is re-inhabiting scenes to bring out that resonance that is already subconsciously there,” he said.
It reminded me of a comment by fantasy writer John Crowley. To revise a story, Crowley said, one must “go back” to the frame of mind, the psychological zone where the story came from. “And you can go back,” Crowley assured us.
Weed went on to explain that symbols or image systems provide a “hidden sense of meaning that can appeal to the reader’s buried primal sense of order.”
To achieve this sense of order, one can, as a writer, “tap into your memories of the landscapes of your childhood. Look for surprising or interesting imagery or patterns of imagery.”
He ended, quite beautifully, on a metaphor for the act of creating story.
“We need to throw a spear out into the darkness, then follow that spear with the intellect – bringing our analytical mind to bear, sometimes for years, to create this machine in the mind of the reader.”
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