As a teenager, Carolyn Rae told stories to kids she babysat. On a long road trip, she entertained her younger sister with stories she made up.
She is the author of Searching for Love, from Wild Rose Press. She has a Witness Protection Series trilogy, Hiding from Love, Protected by Love, and Tempted by Love. Her latest e-book, Holiday with a Royal, Cordillera Royals, Book Four, is a romantic suspense.
She has given talks on ‘Finding Time for Your Dream,’ ‘How to Eat Healthy and Enjoy it,’ and ‘Luring Readers into Living Your Story Through Deep Viewpoint.’ Her profile and travel articles have appeared in The Dallas Morning News. The Fort Worth Star Telegram, Romance Writer’s Report, and other newspapers and magazines.
Carolyn Rae has a master’s degree in home economics and is an author of There IS Life After Lettuce, a cookbook for heart patients and diabetics. She enjoys tasty dishes in restaurants and then goes home to make lighter versions. She taught home economics, family living, and English in Michigan, Illinois, and Texas. Later she worked as a researcher for a mincemeat company and met her neighbors by bringing samples of mincemeat pies. In Texas she taught and supervised ironwork, painting, and carpentry inmates at a federal prison, where she wrote and directed videos on nutrition and fair fighting for couples. She also worked as a paralegal in Dallas and Fort Worth.
Subtext refers to characters who talk about one thing but really mean something else, and they both know it. And we’ve all done it, right? The subtext is the real conversation hidden by surface talk and is the core of the communication.
Through subtext, writers can provide information laced with sarcasm, heartbreak, or humor. And it always deepens the story with unpredictable outcomes and emotion. Characters engaged in the conversation know the hidden meaning; it’s an unspoken conversation below a verbal conversation and more valuable than the spoken word.
Why not have the characters state the obvious instead of flirting with the real topic? Isn’t it a waste of time for the writer and the reader? But communication that fulfills only one purpose is like serving a meal with no salt. The result might satisfy the tummy, but the experience is tasteless. Dialogue written without layers reduces the reader’s engagement in the story.
Characters might use subtext to show discretion:
They fear the wrong people understanding the real conversation could cost them.
They haven’t the courage to directly express what is on their hearts or minds.
The underlying message is only for a select few.
The character has an ulterior motive.
The value of subtext for the writer:
Provides information to the reader without telling
Adds stress, tension, and conflict to the scene
Reveals another layer of plot and/or pushes the plot forward
Shows insight into the character
Offers mystery and intrigue
Foreshadows a future event
Allows the reader to play a role in determining the dialogue’s meaning
Shows the reader that the writer respects their intelligence
Encourages the reader to pay attention
Here’s a subtext example.
Lucy tugged on her favorite red dress for her anniversary dinner. Twenty pounds ago, she looked like a siren, but her current bulges churned her stomach. Giving birth to three kids didn’t help. Grabbing her evening clutch, she joined Jake in the living room.
“Does this make me look fat?” she said.
“Of course not. You are as beautiful as the day we took our vows.”
The subtext behind Lucy’s question: Do you still love me even though I’ve gained weight?
The subtext behind Jake’s response? I don’t care about your weight, and I love you more every day.
Subtext is especially effective when characters have opposing desires and yet are forced to communicate with each other. Better yet, when they’re put into a situation where they must work together to achieve a common goal that’s crucial to each, for different reasons.
Here’s an example of subtext when a real and open conversation could cost the characters more than they’re willing to pay.
The CEO called Melissa to the podium. She stopped at Tom’s chair in the boardroom and bent to his ear. “My proposal seals the deal with the company, and I know my raise and promotion is in the works,” she said. “Too bad, Tommy. I’ll be your boss.”
He bit back his urge to respond with sarcasm. She made him want to eat nails. “Good for you.”
Melissa continued to the head of the table, but the CEO stopped her. “Melissa, I have a quick announcement to make.”
She nodded and waited. Perfectly poised.
The CEO took the podium. “Melissa has developed an innovative program to streamline our inner office communications. She is ready to give the presentation, but I want to announce the other person who will be helping her drive this forward.” He paused. “Tom, come on up here. I’m thrilled you’ll be working right alongside Melissa. Your attention to detail is just what we need. This project will be your 9 to 5 job.”
Tom approached the CEO and shook his hand. “Thank you, sir. You won’t be disappointed.”
Melissa gave Tom an icy smile. “Congratulations. The idea of working alongside you for the next three months is a bonus. I look forward to learning from you.”
Tom’s head pounded at the thought of what lay ahead. “Thank you for all you’ve done for the project. I look forward to combining our goals to make the new program successful.”
The CEO raised his hand. “A round of applause for this new team. I expect we will see great achievements from Tom and Melissa.” He gestured at the two. “If you finish the project before the three-month period, I’ll have a handsome bonus for each of you.”
The above scenario paints a road of emotional turmoil for Tom and Melissa. They must work together for the good of the project and the company. Plus, a bonus for completing the job early sounds amazing. Yet how will they deal with their differences in an environment that expects and demands they remain civil to each other?
Francine Prose once said, “When we humans speak, we are not merely communicating information but attempting to make an impression and achieve a goal. And sometimes we are hoping to prevent the listener from noticing what we are NOT saying, which is often not merely distracting but, we fear, as audible as what we ARE saying. As a result, dialogue usually contains as much or even more subtext than it does text. More is going on under the surface than on it. One mark of badly written dialogue is that it is only doing one thing, at most, at once.”
More than a dialogue technique, subtext is amazing fun for the writer. See if you can level up your behind the scenes game.
Come and listen. His site: https://www.harryhallspeaks.com/
Bio:
About Harry
In school, most of us learned math, science, reading, and other lessons. Some skills became invaluable on personal and professional levels, sometimes both.
However, few of us leaned about public speaking.
Unlike almost any other discipline, we experienced public speaking on the fly, in the form of an oral test or presenting a book report. We studied, we read, we prepared-for the written assignment, but few of us invested in the speaking part, either because we didn’t know how, or the teacher didn’t give us class time to do it. So when our name was called, our hearts raced, our mouths dried, and we began, hoping to, ‘get through it,’ before taking our seat, not sure that we accomplished our speaking goals, which were mostly not even part of our thought process, anyway.
There’s a better way.
I taught public speaking for more than 20 at two colleges. I learned that connecting with the audience begins long before you reach the stage, that you can send so many negative signals to an audience before you begin making recovery almost impossible. You sabotage your speech before you’ve even said a word. As you proceed, you are chained to notes, your body language signals ‘I’m nervous,’ and you never connect.
Following just a few tips will send your public speaking to another direction. Learning public speaking fundamentals such as: how to begin and end a speech, ways to strengthen speaker/audience connection, how to use notes, and other strategies go a long way in helping you overcome Americans’ number one fear.
A basic session in public speaking will get you on your way to dropping the shackles of self-doubt and rid yourself of the intimidation of public speaking, and initial fear behind you, making you want to reach for next level, and beyond.
