![]() Every scene revolves around the character’s decisions and the consequences of their actions. Characterization through subtextĬharacters are motivated, have hopes, they follow or avoid following their dreams, but most importantly, they are always in the middle of a situation. 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. 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. Often, by using subtext, the author delivers social, economic, or political opinions about the world. 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. This form of subtext has a payoff because what it implies needs to come out in the open as the story progresses. 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. 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. ![]() When it comes to dialogue, subtext appears as the things that the characters are not telling each other. ![]() 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. Subtext in dialogue can appear between any two characters, even if there is no obvious conflict between them. Subtext in dialogue, as explained above, appears when two characters are talking about everything else but the conflict between them. Below, we have shown several ways how to improve upon subtext, and how to write subtext in your stories, until it becomes second nature. This happens because subtext relies on showing, not telling, which on the other hand, is something every writer strives for. 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. After all, subtext flows from the context of the story, but it is always beyond the story, beyond the words. Subtext also appears in the forms of themes, symbols, often adding to the atmosphere and context. Moreover, subtext often appears as a message from the author – and in the best of works, the message is not explicit, only implied. It reveals motivation, emotion, and perspective to the reader, but rarely to the other characters. Subtext reveals everything that the characters are not saying, but what they are feeling. Subtext can appear between conversations of two or more characters as each unspoken word. ![]() Subtext has many different forms of appearance in a single story. ![]()
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