Inventing Reality: A Guide to Writing Science Fiction

One of the fun aspects of science fiction is that the story can mean much more than the action-adventure tale it appears to be at first glance. Indeed, science fiction often is a literature of social criticism because its characters, planets and gizmos represent something in our world. For example, the crew of the Enterprise and the Federation in “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” represent the United States and Western world while the Klingons represent Russia in the days following the Soviet Union’s collapse. The movie is about how we in the present will deal with the end of the Cold War.

To achieve a broader thematic meaning in a story, authors use a variety of symbols, which are the attributing of representative meanings or significance to objects, events or relationships. There are many types of symbols, but in literature three are primary (all examples are from Ray Bradbury’s “The Lost City of Mars”):
n Metaphors - When a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in “… he let loose such a deluge of laughter that those below him almost raised their hands to ward off the avalanche …” (his laughter is compared to a flood)
n Similes - When two unlike things are compared in a phrase beginning with “like” or “as”, as in “… a boat as fresh as the morning itself, with new-minted silver crews and brass pipings …” (the new boat is compared the beginning of day)
n Personification - When inanimate objects or abstractions are given human qualities, as in “The great eye floated in space. And behind the great eye somewhere, hidden away within the metal and machinery, was a small eye that belonged to a man who could not stop looking at all the multitude of stars and the diminishing and growings of light a billion billion miles away.” (The “great eye” is a telescope lens)

Using symbols add a layer of textual depth to your story. Given this, they should not be used haphazardly. An inappropriate or confusing symbol can distract the reader or give him reason to believe you mean one thing when you really mean another.

You Do It
Practice making some symbols of your own. Create a metaphor, simile and personification for each of these comparisons: planet = lifeform; spaceship = can; alien monster = innocent child; star = hope; fossil = lost love