The Fine Art of Layering

Do you want your fiction to be better, have people comment on the depth to which the subject matter delves or have them leave the story satisfied on a level that makes sense to them even if they didn't understand it?

Welcome to the art of layering. Layering your fiction is the technique by which you add elements or change parts of your story so that they express the theme of your work without having to actually spell it out for the reader.

The best example of layering comes from Ernest Hemingway. His work "Hills Like White Elephants" is a minimalist short story that tells the story of a young couple in a train station in Africa. There is some debate as to what the story is about and how many come to their conclusion. There are a few facts that are true in the story when you discuss it: It does concern a couple, a man and a woman, a waiter and some very vague dialogue.

For those of you who have not read "Hills Like White Elephants" and want to do so please turn back now as I will discuss some elements from the story.

I am warning you, I am about to discuss the central idea of the story and how I came to those conclusions. If you really want to read it turn back now and come back later to read the rest of this article.

The central idea of the story is abortion. The young couple have a discussion on whether or not they want to keep the child they recently found out they have.

While abortion is never explicitly mentioned in the story there are a number of cues that point to it as part of the story.

Superficially both the people, described as the American and the Girl, talk about a "thing" that has made both of them unhappy. Just prior to that there is mention of an "operation." The conversation between the pair continues on about how they will be happy and how simple this operation is.

Now, the layering is loaded to the front of the story and the subtle hints provided there prepare us on a certain level for the conversation to come.

The clues provided in the beginning are as follows:

The first clue is the beer. "Anis del Toro." In Spanish it means, seed of the bull. This is a potent sexual reference, and one of only two in the story, the rest refer to those associated with medicine.

The first such reference is to the taste of licorice. Early on anaesthetics were flavored to make the patient more at ease. The first flavor to be widely used was licorice.

The next comes immediately after the reference to the operation. It is a nickname, "Jig."

Jig is found in a number of places. Most commonly it is found in the term jigsaw. Now, when you think about the machine think about the motion a jigsaw makes. It moves up and down. This action can be seen in both the operation and in the act of sex.

The reference to sex is further solidified if you take a look at history. Jig was once a euphemism for sex in the 1920's.

When you start to connect these references to medicine and sex the story becomes clearer In regard to the conversation the couple is having along with the visual cues.

Some of the more obscure references come out once you look for them. The description of the hills, which lends it's name to the story, becomes clear. The image can be taken as a pregnant woman lying on her back.

Even the curtain separating the station from the outside takes on a clinical meaning. Beaded curtains like this were routinely used early on in cheaper medical facilities that would typically perform unpopular abortions.

So, now that you have an example to work from here are some tips for the budding writer to remember.

The first and foremost thing that you should keep in mind when you are writing is that your reader is not going to realize what is going on inside your head. You may have crafted the most finely placed nugget of information in your text that you think is so obvious and telling, however, your reader may completely miss it.

Remember that if you think you are giving it away odds are you are not.

A good rule of thumb is to describe your central idea without writing it outright in the story.

Some tricks to remember are to keep your clues simple and not make them off base. If there is a physical action, simply describe it.

If you can make a play on words or use any kind of example associated with your central idea then make full use of them.

Layering a story makes the reader feel more fulfilled when they read it. If you leave the most superficial portions of the work vague and the reader doesn't fully understand it the clues you leave will let them enjoy the work without being clear about it.