Wow, two chapters in one day~
Chapter 12
Hidden Meanings and You
I've mentioned that hidden meanings in stories make them more interesting.
Professional authors are very particular with their wording and they don't write something down without a purpose. Most of the time, they use the little details to foreshadow events or they use them as symbolism to further explain a situation.
Oda uses the crew to foreshadow events that happen to Luffy. For example, remember the way Bell-mère died? Do you find it weird that Ace died almost the exact same way?
Or as another example, has anyone ever played Kingdom Hearts or at least knows a good chunk of the story? Sorry, it's my new obsession, so I had to write something about it since it kind of fit this chapters theme. Anyway, have you ever noticed this: Kairi can mean the word sea in Japanese and Aqua means water? Or how Riku means land and Terra is another word for land? And finally, Sora means sky and Ventus means "air"…Got it memorized?
As you can see, professionals use hidden meanings in their stories all the time. It makes it seem that their story was more thought out and involved than we originally expected. And who doesn't love a well thought out story?
So how do you include hidden meanings in your own writing? Well my dear reader, it all depends on what type of hidden meaning you want to apply.
I've figured out that there are, for the most part, three types of hidden meanings. There were the two I mentioned before, and another one. The last type of hidden meaning is something I like to call "personal thought."
In one of my other chapters, I said that you're supposed to sneak your own thoughts and feelings into your story, the trick to it is not disrupting the flow. Remember it's important to keep the story moving forward.
The type of situation your character is in determines the hidden meaning:
Foreshadowing- Bell-mère's and Ace's death.
Symbolism- Kairi, Riku and Sora, are essentially similar to Aqua, Terra, and Ventus, in that order. (sorry if you don't get the reference, all you need to know is that Kairi, Riku and Sora went on similar paths to Aqua, Terra, and Ventus)
Personal Thought- "If Luffy didn't understand how his luck really worked before, he certainly did now. He found out the hard way that his luck only worked for him and him alone. It wasn't protecting his family like it did for him. No, it didn't care who took his place, as long as he got out alive. Seeing his brother get punched through the chest really made that clear." (Taken from my fic Lucky, I added my thoughts on Luffy's luck without changing Luffy's point of view to my own)
Nothing pleases a writer more than when people get what they're writing. It makes them feel like they did something right.
If you're like me, then you'll usually get hidden meanings after the fact, and that's OK too. It just makes the story more fun when you finally do figure it all out.
~Done
Oh, I just want to mention something to all of you readers out there who have trouble getting hidden meanings.
Please try not to take the meaning out on context. I've read nakamaship pieces and I usually see someone write how much of a good couple the two main focuses are... Its like they didn't read the word "nakamaship" in the summary. I know your entitled to think what you want, but it kind of bothers me when the theme is stated and then people still don't understand the actual meaning of the piece. I really don't know why that bothers me so much...
Well, if you have any suggestions as to what I should make my next chapter about, please let me know!
As always, thanks for reading~