Workshop: Discover
Words That Sing
“That old fossil,
those old bones, walk again, and sing and dance and speak with a new tongue.
The old stories bridge the centuries.” Jane Yolen
Taking your basic threads and extending them throughout your
story can build strong web imagery regardless of genre. Some will be an almost
invisible backdrop and then there are some genres that build their stories
around a basic practical web that their readers will expect.
In addition to universal symbols, allusion and echoes, “there are also prefabricated symbols whose
meaning the audience understands immediately at some level of conscious
thought,” says Truby, and they are seen quite clearly in “highly metaphoric genres” that have
honed objects in their forms, such as fantasy, horror, and Western.
Even acknowledging that symbols are always ambiguous to some
degree the symbols in these categories also represent something within the
hero. Here is his example list for
a ‘Myth Symbol Web’.
Journey
Labyrinth
Garden
Tree
Animals
Ladder
Underground
Talisman
Think of a fantasy novel you’ve read. How many of these word
symbols do you recall being present—if not in common form, what about as
concept?
A Mystery Web is another category where readers have
specific expectations that they look forward to puzzling out.
Crime
Motive
Setting
Sleuth
Victim
Villain
Suspect Characters
Clues/Red Herrings
Every genre—every story—has its own web style whether seen
or hidden. Movies often explore deep underlying themes, which the viewers did
not necessarily notice at first glance. Ordinary images can create impact and
build bridges.
Action Steps:
1. Take your central theme for
your story and make a list of all the potential links where you could insert an
image that undergirds your premise.
2. Make up your own category web
for this particular story.
Share: Were you surprised by any symbol theme or image you
chose for your web? Why?
Read deep, marcy
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