20 Questions to Ask About Symbolism and Theme

The plot, setting, characters, and narrative POV are fairly concrete elements of your story. Writing bloggers focus on those elements of fiction about as much as publishing and agent-seeking. Less discussed are theme and symbolism. Given that most bloggers are working under a couple hundred word limit, it's not surprising that few address complex concepts like symbolism and theme. K. M. Weiland, who blogs at Wordplay, posted a video about symbolism the other day. She makes the point that "done well, symbols are almost invisible within the frame of the story." Theme can be considered similarly. A reader may not pay nearly as much attention to a theme as to the plot or conflict or characters. Having spent six years in graduate school studying and teaching English, I've seen how easily readers (professors, literary critics and students alike) bicker about symbolism and theme. These (less-visible) elements of fiction can be so subjective that a reader may find symbols that hadn't occurred to the author. As a writer, you have the opportunity to employ symbols and themes rather than have your readers unpack these nuances for you. Here are 20 questions you can ask to ferret these less visible elements of fiction out of your work:

These questions will help put the "shoelace" (or whatever symbol you're thinking about) in context.

Theme
Think about what you characters do and say and what your narrator (if he's not a character) says. 1. What moral or ethical issues does your story raise? 2. What kind of conflict do your characters face? (External and internal conflicts will nearly always engage a theme). 3. What beliefs do your characters embrace or reject? 4. What behavior models do your characters fit? 5. What "sins" or transgressions do your characters commit? 6. What kind of jobs do your characters have? 7. What kind of relationships with family and friends? 8. What do you characters fail and succeed to accomplish? 9. What kind of formative experiences (if any) does the reader know they had? 10. What kind of transformation (if any) do they undergo?

Check out the last few weeks' 20 Question posts.

20 Questions for Test Readers

My writing group meets tonight! This is a highlight of each month. I love talking about my friends' work and take to heart what they have to say about mine. After I'm done annotating their work; writing out my observations and listing the questions I'll ask them, I list the ones I want to ask them about mine. Writing group goers know this kind of thing. But I never ask "did you like it?" This crappiest of questions is the safest to ask and easiest to answer. Unless your friend is an majestic jerk, the answer will be "oh! Yeah! It's great." Here are 20 better questions to ask anyone who reads your work: 1. What did you remember most? 2. What confused you most? 3. What do you want to know more about? 4. What surprised you? 5. When did you get distracted? (This is a good one, people will often have become distracted at some point. It might be your fault. If they can't answer this try) 6. What made you think about something outside the story? 7. What seemed least relevant?

Symbolism
Think about an object, character, setting, etc. For simplicity's sake let's take a shoelace as a specific example (although you could as easily replace "shoelace" with "Charlie Chaplin" or "Paris" and the same questions would address character or setting). 1. What cultural or historical relevance does a shoelace have? 2. What makes this shoelace different from others? 3. What negative associations does it have? 4. What positive associations does it have? 5. What associations does the narrator's language (word choice, tone, etc) imply about it?(A "frayed" lace is different from one that isn't modified at all). 6. How do different characters use it? 7. How do different characters discuss it? 8. What purpose does it serve the plot? 9. Where did it come from? 10. Where will it end up?

8. What made the characters seem "real?" 9. When did the words I used seem "literary?" 10. What seemed phony? (It's a work of fiction, something had to seem made up). 11. What did [such and such a setting] look like? (No peeking!) 12. What does [such and such a character] look like? (I said no peeking!) 13. What does [such and such a character] sound like? 14. What degree of education do my characters have? 15. What isn't clear about my characters? 16. What year does this take place in? 17. What does my main character want more than anything else? 18. What will you feel if she gets that? 19. What does her mother think about her? 20. Why won't she become President or Prime Minster? (This question just occurred to me because I'm interested in the British elections. Most people shouldn't lead countries. If asked, even your closest friend will tell you why you shouldn't lead the country. The answer might be interesting. Try asking this and let me know what response you receive). What questions do you ask your readers?

20 Questions to Ask Floundering Characters

I received some positive feedback last Friday's post listing 20 questions to ask test readers (a.k.a real people). In a similar spirit, here are 20 questions to ask fake people: your characters if they're not coming to life. I choose these questions because after answering (almost) each one you should also ask "why?" So these are really about 40 questions. I hope these help!
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What would you spend your last $10 on? Something indulgent, something practical? 5. What (or who) do you blame? 6. What do you not tell anyone? 7. What do you not admit to yourself? 8. What is your biggest regret? 9. What is the worst thing you ever did? (It's not always the same as the biggest regret). 10. What should you care about, but don't? 11. What do people say about you? 12. What do will the character's last thought will be? (For obvious reasons it's hard to phrase this as a direction question). 13. What is your earliest memory? 14. What is your prejudice? 15. What relationship has upset you most? 16. What about high school or college upset you most? 17. What about your job upsets you the most? 18. What do you best? 19. What will happen after you die? 20. What things do you know the least about? You may notice that most of these questions skew towards negative or unhappy situations. I believe the answers will lead you to think about conflicts your character has or will face. How (real or fictional) people respond to conflict tells you a lot about who they are.
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20 Questions to Gas Up a Plot

Something's missing. I realized that most of my posts for the past two weeks have been about characterization. The reason for this is that I'm revising the opening chapters of my novel and am (re)assessing my characters' development.

What one thing do you want more than anything What would you do if you got it? What did you learn from your parents' mistakes?

else?
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My writing group made some interesting comments and I've taken advantage of this blog to think them though. Enough. I'm nearing the first plot point and will begin focusing on plot starting today. This is the third week I'm going to write a list of 20 questions. Are you having trouble with your plot? Here are 20 question to get moving if you don't know what your next plot point is: 1. What characters, objects, themes, have been introduced but remain unexplored? 2. What would is the least likely (but plausible) next event? 3. What is the most likely? 4. What is the worst thing that can happen next? 5. What possession or person can they not live without? 6. What character has nothing more to do? 7. What character hasn't appeared recently? 8. What's the best part of this so far? 9. What is the most important part I've written so far? 10. What would be lost if the story ended right now? 11. What have I been thinking about but not writing? 12. What should my reading be wondering? 13. What should they know by now? 14. What did I leave out of the last scene? 15. What are my characters going to do between now and their next appearance? 16. What will be different the next time these characters meet? 17. What one thing does each of my characters want most? 18. What will they do once they get it?

What one thing are they absolutely unwilling to do but should? 20. What could compel them to do it? Try writing answers to plot questions like these right into the manuscript. It may lead you in an interesting direction, but because you're smack in the middle of your document you don't risk loosing any momentum.You can always delete when you don't like!
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20 Questions to Enrich Your Setting

Your scene's full of dialogue and action but something's missing. Try to picture where it takes place in your mind. If you imagine anything like the set of a Beckett play it won't look much richer to your reader. Beckett's intention was to create sparse, desolate environments. Most of us intend to create richer settings for our scenes. Here are 20 questions to help embellish a setting: Does the reader know where and when a scene takes place? 2. What man-made elements (if any) make up your setting? 3. What natural elements (if any) make up your setting? 4. What is the most prominent color? 5. What design or aesthetic principles are visible? 6. What non-speaking characters (like passersby) in the scene; what do they look like? 7. What do those other characters look like to the P.O.V. character? (Shorter, taller, fatter, thinner, etc). 8. What objects (such as books, records or photographs) can one of the characters peruse? (What do they add to the scene?) 9. What electronics (such as a TV or radio) can be switched on? (What station will be on?)
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What smells are in the air? (Pleasant, foul, natural, man-made, etc). 11. What sounds can be heard? (Harsh, soft, brick-like silence, water, wind, etc). 12. What can be touched and felt? 13. What is the nearest object that can be picked up? 14. What is the most dangerous object nearby? (If a character went nuts what could be used as a lethal weapon?) 15. What kind of weather does the sky suggest? 16. What effect does the current temperature have on the characters and the setting? 17. What imperfections are visible? (No matter how well-kept the setting something must be imperfect). 18. What evidence of people not present in the scene are around? 19. How easy would it be for someone to spy on the scene? 20. How permanent is the setting? (Can you imagine how
10. it will be destroyed?)

Many of these questions share an interest in how vulnerable the setting is or how vulnerable it makes the characters. Great scenes take place where they do for a reason; the setting plays a role in the story. If a setting seems bland, it might be because that scene should take place somewhere else.

20 Questions You Can Ask to Tell If You're a Real Live Writer

Bloggers and commenters regularly question what criteria determines whether or not someone's a writer. This is as natural a question as "am I a good person?" and one I ask myself all the time. Take this nifty quiz then check out the Answer Key to find out if you can write fiction! 1. Can you make time to write most days?

Can you tell stories (or even lie) really well? 3. Can you voraciously learn from other writers' talents? 4. Can you carry a notepad around and write down ideas all the time? 5. Can you stay home and write when your friends are out; not watch TV; not browse the web? 6. Can you to put down a story you think isn't going well and move on to something else? 7. Can you pick up a story you put down a long time ago and not think it's total crap? 8. Can you tolerate jerky rejection slips that say things like "Yup. It's another rejection."? (A journal responded to one of my stories this way. I won't resubmit or subscribe soon). 9. Can you not freak when someone you know tells you they didn't like what you wrote? 10. Can you put up with people who make reptilian faces when you tell them you're a writer? 11. Can you empathize with with people you disagree with (or even find reprehensible)? 12. Can you promote yourself and your talents without feeling arrogant? 13. Can you get over being jealous of other writers' success? 14. Can you write about topics that make you uncomfortable? 15. Can you write about topics that will make your family or friends uncomfortable? 16. Can you write outside genres you're familiar with? 17. Can you read your own work out loud? 18. Can you meet the challenge of putting words together to make something beautiful? 19. Can you keep writing even though you don't love the scene you're working on?
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Can you accept the reality that you may never be able to support yourself as a writer?
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Answer Key
1: Yes, 2: Yes, 3: Yes, 4: Yes, 5: Yes, 6: Yes, 7: Yes, 8: Yes, 9: Yes, 10: Yes, 11: Yes, 12: Yes, 13: Yes, 14: Yes, 15: Yes, 16: Yes, 17: Yes, 18: Yes, 19: Yes, 20: Yes

Now score yourself! If you correctly answered... 15-20: You're a writer! 10-15: You're a writer! 5-10: You're a writer! 1-5: You're a writer! 0: You're probably not a writer. Check it out: although publication is a different challenge, it's not that complicated to be a writer. Don't be ashamed to tell people you're a writer. Write and write and write. Be diligent. Enjoy the process. Trust me, you're a writer.

20 Questions to Ask When Revising a Blog Post

I enjoy blogging, because when I started I didn't realize how specific a genre blog writing was and enjoy writing in a different way than I normally do. Until I started this blog I read blogs passively. I've written creative non-fiction, literary criticism and book reviews and had assumed that composing blog posts about writing would have more in common with those kinds of non-fiction than it does. Here are 20 questions that I try to keep in mind when writing here. Many of these apply quite well to other kinds of nonfiction, but taken together they've helped me write posts here that I'm pleased with. How can I trim this down? (I notice my first drafts tend to shed 20-30% before I publish them).
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What am I adding to what others have said about this topic? 3. Does my headline invite curiosity? 4. How does this post look on the screen at first glance? 5. Are my paragraphs too long? 6. Do my paragraphs break at the right point? (Another change I often make when revising a post is shifting a sentence or two from the end of one paragraph to the start of the next or cutting it out entirely, because it disrupts the idea I'm developing). 7. Would headings help keep the main title in focus, help develop your idea and/or break up the post's appearance? 8. Do I have a list that would work more effectively as bullet points? 9. Have I strayed from the idea introduced in the opening sentence? 10. Is my opening sentence relevant? (I often end up trimming or cutting my original beginnings). 11. Is part of what I've written so complex it belongs as its own post? 12. Does my picture (if there is one) clearly relate to the main idea? (I came across a post on a productivity blog that had a picture of a fire hydrant but said nothing related to hydrants or fires or how dogs use fire hydrants. "What the hell is this?!" I said). 13. What questions can I end the post with? 14. Am I discussing this topic in a tone that invites discussion? 15. What objections or disagreements might my ideas provoke? 16. Is that joke I used lame? 17. Have I written anything that may offend people and, if so, is it worth it? (Rarely).
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Have I linked to other relevant sites or posts? 19. Have I explicitly credited another blogger whose post inspired my idea? 20. How will I promote this post on my social networks?
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6. Could exercise help me blow off steam? (Science Knowers claim that physical activity stimulates the mind differently and can help us process problems. Anecdotally I've found this to be true). 7. What may have happened today that was interesting? 8. What may have happened today to distract me? 9. Am I afraid of finishing this? (The notion of "fearing" success feels counter-intuitive. For me it's not the sense of

This list raises a few questions. What do you think?

What makes a good blog post? What have you learned by reading other blogs? What questions to you ask when revising blog posts?

dread or terror like when the Wolfman is stalking me. It's more like dull reluctance to finish or submit my work; a sense of having come "far enough" when further steps can be taken).
10. What am I not writing because it might upset my spouse, mom or friends? 11. Could restructuring this part of my work help me focus? 12. What part of the last sentence or paragraph might be expanded on? 13. What would be the most surprising thing to write next? (Within reason). 14. Is this scene essential? 15. What are my other characters doing Right Now? 16. What book, movie or show does this scene remind me of?

20 Questions to Ask When You're Struggling

Other than our daily prompts Yingle Yanlge has been quiet all week. I've been working to reorganize my time and needed to direct my attention to other projects in order to get back to work. I didn't immediately realize that poor time time management was causing me to struggle with finishing work. My first diagnosis was, "oh crap! I'm blocked." I don't think about myself as becoming "blocked." In fact, I think "writer's block" a rare occurrence and one writers use when they're being lazy. The belief that we become "blocked" is somewhat supernatural. It easily becomes a crutch for not writing at all. It's much easier for a writer to diagnose himself as blocked and turn on the TV instead of taking the time to figure out what's really in the way. Struggling through periods of lower productivity is as much a part of the writing process as creative surges. Rather than deciding you're blocked, admit that you're struggling and search for a solution. Here are questions that you might ask yourself: 1. What incentive can I offer myself to finish? 2. How close am I to my word count goal? 3. Do I really need to watch that show Right Now? 4. Do I need to tend to those (frankly unappealing) chores Right Now? 5. Am I really missing out on that social event?

Could I explain to a friend what I'm write verbally? (Call him or talk to the wall). 18. Could writing a later scene or the end of the story help?
17. 19. Would a stiff drink cup of coffee help? 20. Would a change of scenery (taking my work to the library or cafe or bar) help?