Subtext has many different forms of appearance in a single story. Subtext can appear between conversations of two or more characters as each unspoken word. Subtext reveals everything that the characters are not saying, but what they are feeling. It reveals motivation, emotion, and perspective to the reader, but rarely to the other characters. Moreover, subtext often appears as a message from the author – and in the best of works, the message is not explicit, only implied. Subtext also appears in the forms of themes, symbols, often adding to the atmosphere and context. After all, subtext flows from the context of the story, but it is always beyond the story, beyond the words.
Many writers create subtext for their stories subconsciously, and if you analyze some of your work, you will probably realize you have done the same thing. This happens because subtext relies on showing, not telling, which on the other hand, is something every writer strives for. Below, we have shown several ways how to improve upon subtext, and how to write subtext in your stories, until it becomes second nature.
1. Subtext in dialogue
Subtext in dialogue, as explained above, appears when two characters are talking about everything else but the conflict between them. Subtext in dialogue can appear between any two characters, even if there is no obvious conflict between them. The key word here is obvious – subtext can reveal many issues between characters and many internal issues of the protagonist or internal issues of other characters. When it comes to dialogue, subtext appears as the things that the characters are not telling each other. The easiest example of such subtext often appears in romance novels when a couple has deep relationship problems, but they avoid talking or arguing about them. They can argue about minor things – like who will throw out the trash, or other nonessential things – but never utter the words that would bring the issue between them out in the open. This form of subtext has a payoff because what it implies needs to come out in the open as the story progresses.
2. Subtext, symbols and themes
Subtext in dialogue is easy to achieve, compared to subtext through atmosphere and symbols, because through symbols and atmosphere, the author develops a single or multiple themes that the story revolves around. Often, by using subtext, the author delivers social, economic, or political opinions about the world. This is the kind of subtext that can have a negative effect on the readers because it might imply stereotyping or racism, and in some extreme cases, the author might come across as arrogant and preachy. A very common occurrence of negative subtext, for example, often appears in YA literature, where a female protagonist does not have female friends, and every female character in the novel is described as the stereotypical mean girl antagonist who does not like the heroine for being “different” and “special.” While you should not avoid subtext through symbols and themes, you should be careful what you imply with it.
3. Characterization through subtext
Characters are motivated, have hopes, they follow or avoid following their dreams, but most importantly, they are always in the middle of a situation. Every scene revolves around the character’s decisions and the consequences of their actions. Analyze your scenes and decide what the actions of the characters reveal about the characters themselves. Moreover, the protagonist’s inner thoughts and observations of the world, their likes and dislikes contribute to characterization, and this characterization is expressed by subtext. The way the characters treat each other will reveal a lot about the kind of people they are without being explicit about it. Subtext can go wrong in this situation with opposite implications – for example, a character’s good deed will not have a positive effect if the subtext implies malicious intentions. However, subtext can create ambiguity and mystery around a character if the character’s actions imply deeper motives than what the readers (and other characters in the story) can observe on the surface.
4. Exercise with invisible text
If you want to create perfect subtext, you need to practice. A very good exercise to help you develop your writing of subtext is invisible text. The exercise is very easy, and doing it will help you increase your knowledge of your own characters. Choose a scene, or write a scene that you can analyze for the purpose of the exercise. In brackets, or different colored “invisible” text, write down an explanation of why the characters act the way they do, and say the things they say. Moreover, do the same with the setting – what does the place where the characters are imply? Once you have described the implications in detail, analyze the visible text. Make sure the text implies exactly what you intended, and if not, change the wording as needed.
5. Do not reveal it
Subtext can flow into a subplot and integrate with the plot; however, this flow is natural and follows the course of the story, characterization, and plot. On the other hand, do not ruin scenes seeped with subtext, ambiguity, and implications by stating them outright at the end of the scene. Doing that completely defeats the purpose of subtext, and turns showing what is happening to telling and explaining. Subtext needs to remain subtle and hidden. If you reveal everything at the end of the scene, you are not giving enough credit to your readers by thinking that they cannot understand it. Refrain from explaining, trust that what you show in a scene will be perfectly understandable, and yet remain mysterious enough to compel the readers to read on and discover whether they were right or wrong about the characters, the theme, and the story.
Georgina Roy wants to live in a world filled with magic. As an art student, she’s moonlighting as a writer and is content to fill notebooks and sketchbooks with magical creatures and amazing new worlds. When she is not at school, or scribbling away in a notebook, you can usually find her curled up, reading a good urban fantasy novel, or writing on her laptop, trying to create her own.