Behind the Scenes: An Obsession with Doors
There’s no question that my obsession with doors has influenced my writing.
He Who Can Open All Doors is a short story I wrote about a monster that has the power to open any door he chooses.
Doors also appear throughout The Book of Eve Series. In addition to the gates, the characters use to travel to different worlds, the description of many of these doors also come from ones I’ve spotted in real life.
As I work through the fourth (and last) book in the series, I can’t help but wonder where this obsession came from.
From The Chronicles of Narnia to literary themes and symbolism, here’s a behind the scenes look at doors and how they influence readers and writers alike.
A Bookworm’s Obsession with Doors
One of my earliest book memories is reading The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by, C.S Lewis.
It blew my mind. The idea that something as boring as an old wardrobe could be so magical made me look at the world in a very different way.
Since then, this bookworm has read a significant number of books about magic doors.
Some of these books include Coraline by, Neil Gaiman, The Golden Compass by, Phillip Pullman, and most recently, The Starless Sea by, Erin Morgenstern.
Through reading, I’ve come to understand how something as simple as opening a door impacts how people feel about what they read. It also impacts the way we view the world.
Behind the Scenes: What Doors Mean
When done well doors help to support all sorts of themes and evoke specific emotions. Doors can even trigger a moment of nostalgia from the reader.
When it comes to fiction, doors are used in several different ways including to:
- pass through worlds.
- build tension and mystery.
- find hope and opportunity.
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Passing Through Worlds
Many instances of doors in fiction symbolize the passage from one world to another.
It’s because of this that some might argue that writing about a magical door is an overused concept.
I disagree.
I believe it all depends on how much the reader falls in love with the characters, and the magical world they’re sent into.
The key to making it work is that the book needs to make the reader feel like opening a door and entering a new world was well worth the trip.
When done right, the concept continues to thrill and delight, even today.
Build Tension & Mystery
If you’ve got an obsession with doors, you can’t forget about the mystery of a locked one.
Locked doors help to build great tension in books.
One of the best examples of a locked door in literature is the story of Bluebeard. There are many different versions of this story, but the core of it remains the same.
Bluebeard’s new, young wife arrives at her new home and is instructed not to open the one locked door in the house.
Curiosity, of course, is what eventually leads her to unlock the door. To her horror, she discovers the bodies of her husband’s previous wives.
Building mystery around a locked door generates curiosity in the reader too.
The key here, however, is that whatever it is that’s behind that locked door, better be worth the reveal.
Find Hope & Opportunity
I can’t talk about an obsession with doors without mentioning the fact that they can also symbolize hope and opportunity.
The best example of this is what we take from the famous, Alexander Graham Bell quote, “When one door closes another door opens, but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”
Regret is a powerful force.
This is why, I think, readers relate so much to the moment a character decides to unlock a door or walks into another world.
We want people to take chances and do the things we might not necessarily do ourselves.
Behind the Scenes
Digging into how doors influence my writing and what I read has helped me gain more perspective.
In fact, it’s helped me to gain some writing traction!
Passing through worlds, building mystery and tension, or finding hope and opportunity truly help to break down why so many people enjoy this little obsession so much.
…And if you wanted to share some of your epic door pics with me, just know that I’ll never turn you away.
Get involved! Follow me on Facebook and Instagram to stay in touch.
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Get your reading on! Check out The Book of Eve Series. Eve’s Return (Book One of the Book of Eve Series) is available on Amazon and Kobo. Get your copy now.