Telling someone about what a symbol means is like telling someone how music should make them feel. — Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code
This sculpture is made of the very barbed wire once used to corral the Great Plains, fencing out the bison and contributing to their near extinction. I’ll not over explain the symbolism here, just as writers need to be careful not to beat their readers over the head with explanations.
What symbols and objects are you using in your current WIP? Are they common ones that we may all agree on — the red, red rose as a sign of passion and love — or more obscure ones, maybe some of your own invention? What is common knowledge for that symbol and what needs to be delicately teased out or explained? How is that object important to your character? What does it symbolize to them?
Some suggestions of objects that could be symbols:
- Quilt patterns
- House plants
- Knots
- Ships’ flags
- Holiday decorations
- Military insignias
- A ring or other piece of jewelry
Explore your manuscript to see if you already have an object that could take on more importance in your story. Can you have this object appear multiple times in the story, the meaning possibly changing as the story progresses?