Subtext storywriting8/31/2023 His nose is bleeding, he’s tearing up, and he’s visually in pain.īut the subtext of his body language can go deeper than that. The subtext here shows that despite what he said, he’s not well. But when you go to ask how your teammate is, you notice that some tears are wetting his face, and he’s shaking a bit. Maybe the ref calls a foul on the opponent who did it, maybe not. A whistle is blown because he falls to the ground. Let’s pretend that you’re out on the basketball court, and someone just elbowed your teammate in the nose. Rather than congratulating a success, the person drew further attention to the accident to demean the poor, soup-covered soul.īody language is another form of subtext that we use in real life, but it’s often difficult to convert into a written medium for fear of superfluity. While the words themselves convey motivation and congratulatory affirmation, this imaginary bully meant the exact opposite. The person next to you calls out, “Congrats, man! Way to go!” Oh no! Someone dropped their tray, and soup spilled all over their pants. Let’s imagine that you’re sitting in a cafeteria and you hear a loud clang. Sarcasm showcases a form of subtext by having the spoken words mean the opposite of the intended sentiment, recognizable only know through context. In order to understand subtext in the common day-to-day, we can look at sarcasm. All storytelling and all language involves at least some subtext. Even we use subtext in our daily lives when communicating. Subtext, however, doesn’t need to remain in the realm of literature and stories.įilms use subtext. The worksheet below is a system I developed very early on to help me.The Merriam-Webster dictionary succinctly defines subtext as “the implicit or metaphorical meaning” of a literary text. This all said, learning to turn direct statements into normal conversations laced with context takes some practice. Working this way around makes writing realistic dialogue and action a lot easier.Įxample: In Twilight (2008), the first thing we hear Bella Swan’s father say to her during an awkward car ride is “Your hair’s longer.” to which she replies “I cut it since last time I saw you.” His comment suggests he’s trying hard to connect with her while her reply tells us that he’s not been paying enough attention to her and she’s prepared to call him out indirectly. By knowing what they are trying to do, we can then add a layer of normality that seems more like everyday life over the top of that dynamic. Once we know every beat of the scene, every little play and reaction, then we know what the characters are trying to do. Our characters need to be navigating scenes with a chess-like strategy. It’s possible to write a dialogue heavy script that never really tells the audience anything out-right and instead expects them to decipherįor me, the key to writing subtext is to have a healthy scene dynamic in place. This can make listening to people’s conversations fascinating as we use tone and context to establish what’s really being said. As human beings, we rarely say exactly what we want to say and the true message we are conveying is often between the lines. You know when people say, “show, don’t tell”? Well, subtext is a bigger part of that than it’s given credit.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |