Allegory

I always come up with the general idea for my next book while listening to music and daydreaming, or reflecting. I never know all the details; I just know the beginning, maybe the most important event, and the ending. Everything else comes together seamlessly and subconsciously while I type. I have never had writer’s block to date, and I think that’s because my mind subconsciously writes what I feel is right for the plot, but also for the message I want to hide behind my words.

The reader, of course, has the right to experience each book they read in their own preferred way, and the author shouldn’t be expecting them to experience it only in a certain way, or indirectly force their experience. This, for me, is the most important principle of the writing process, and even though I had a specific experience in mind that I want the reader to have while reading this novel, I tried not to be too intrusive and let the reader glide through the pages without following a narrator who is biased toward anyone or anything.

That said, however, as a reader myself, I have never loved fictional works that exist solely to tell a fictional story and don’t have anything hidden behind their words. To me, they always seemed...hollow. It doesn’t matter if the author’s message is something that I disagree with; the idea that there is something for me to uncover always excited me. Of course, not preferring something doesn’t mean that you don’t recognize its quality, and I have read, enjoyed, and admired a number of novels whose authors said or wrote that their work is just a simple fairy tale (something I could feel while reading as well), but novels which use allegory have a dearest place in my heart.

Allegorical writing is my favorite writing technique, and I used it in this novel to address something I noticed and believe to be a problem. It seems that politics has slowly but surely infiltrated dating. Political ideologies now seem to provide their supporters with a checklist of what an ideal romantic partner should be? And it looks like people are following them without actually thinking about what they want in a partner.

So, I wrote a love story between two young people who don’t abide by the criteria promoted by any of the major political parties I know of. In fact, I think most people would use the term “red flag” to describe either Lane or Alice, and that is kinda the point of the story. Because Person A thinks Person C is a “red flag”, it doesn’t mean that Person C can’t make Person B happy in a romantic relationship (of course, people aren’t like numbers, and there are always exceptions to the “rule” in statements such as my last sentence. Some people can be dangerous or unstable for anyone to be around them or in a relationship with them and should be avoided). People get so caught up in what others think a “perfect” partner should be, and they end up with someone else's ideal but not their own, causing breakups, divorces, and trauma. Each person is unique, one of a kind, so their partner also needs to be unique, not a factory-made model of the same person over and over again.

Everyone (who would like to indulge in a romantic relationship, of course) should strive to find that someone who makes them happy, not the one who is politically approved. Personal political stance on how the country should be run shouldn’t interfere with partner choice. Your political party’s members don’t fancy the same people as you!

To end this rumbling, I want to emphasize one last time that you, the reader, determine your experience while reading through this novel. Don’t let me ruin your experience in the slightest because I felt like adding a stupid meaning to the story! Enjoy the world and everything in it the way you want to, with the only rule being: learn how to be compassionate, but never forget how to bite!

Lambros N. Tower - The Allegoric Author