Reading Signposts: Again & Again
Greetings and salutations Scribblers!
The Again & Again reading signposts is discussed in the book Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers, and Robert E. Probst. This book is designed for classroom reading and ELA teachers, but the reading signposts they talk about are excellent for authors to be aware of as well. Not only are they elements of good storytelling, but if you’re hoping your novel ends up as part of a classroom curriculum, taking note of these six signposts could help convince educators to give it a try.
Last time we talked about words of the wiser. Today we’re going to talk about again and again. This reading signpost is exactly what it sounds like. This is when an author brings something up repetitively in the text. It might be a word that appears on just one page again and again or maybe it’s a motif that’s been developed throughout the story. A signature colour a character always wears or a piece of jewelry they always play with. Whatever it is, it’s been put in for a reason. The author wants you to keep thinking about it.
Two disclaimers. This is not about phrases or actions you’re repeating in your manuscript. Once I had the phrase “for a moment” thirteen times on one page of text. This was not intentional, this was just me drafting and not having a solid grasp of my craft yet.
The second disclaimer, sometimes a blue shirt is just a blue shirt and it has no meaning. But since we’re looking at these signposts from a writer’s perspective, we’re looking at it as something we can intentionally do to highlight a character, a theme, or some other aspect of your story.
Look at your story and see what your characters are doing repeatedly or is there an object they keep thinking about. As a signpost, again and again helps the reader to better understand the theme of the novel, the conflict, or it can foreshadow something that’s going to happen. It makes the reader ask, why does this keep coming up.
So, Scribblers, you can use this sign post to emphasize elements of your novel. You might have a character who wears a necklace they constantly rub between their fingers when they're nervous. Maybe this necklace is a link to someone they lost and it brings them comfort or they use it to remind them of a mistake they made and promised never to make that same mistake again.
Looking for this in your own story might be easier to do when you’re in the revision stage because you can read with an eye for the things that come up again and again. You also might want to ask a beta reader for what they notice so you can make sure what you want to come across is. And there’s always a chance you have something being repeated in your manuscript that you didn’t even intend to have repeated.
Either way, add this into your writing craft tool box as something to be aware of while you write because it might have a big impact on your reader even if you’re not aware of it.
As always, your mileage may vary! Take what helps and leave what doesn't! Tell us about your favorite examples of again and again either from a novel or your own writing.
