Subtext: Diving Into My Story's Hidden Depths

I’m sitting down to type this on a peaceful, snowy day. The kind that inspires curling up with novel edits and getting lost in a world of my own invention. Editing my book used to feel daunting, but once I found a process and surrendered to diving deeper into my story, I couldn’t tear myself away.

Stories are like onions. You peel back one layer only to find another, and another. Once I started peeling I couldn’t stop. I discovered anxieties I never knew my character’s had and a world replete with meaning. If story is the onion, then subtext is the knife that slices to the centre. Childhood fears glimmered in lonely lochs and unfinished sentences. Witch’s marks appeared above doors and behind lips. The Otherworld cast its shadows.

I stopped writing to limits and schedules. I lingered, circled back, lost myself. Endless nuance awaits the writer willing to endure tears to reach the centre of the onion.

The irony is that most of my probing and peeling won’t make it into the finished novel. Although I’ve satisfied myself to the innards of every character, the reader only needs an impression. Impressions create mystery; readers can’t see everything the writer knows, but they feel the depth below the surface.

Subtext is my favourite writing technique. Subtext is subtlety, mystery and the unexplained. It’s all the more slippery because it’s nearly invisible, hiding in the things a character doesn’t say or do. Subtext involves the reader on a deeper level as they fill in the blanks and query a character’s motives. Subtext asks questions rather than dishing out answers.

My favourite stories are heavy on subtext. They’re the books I will reread multiple times, finding new layers to characters I love, or finally understanding the villain’s intentions. What did she mean by that? The author trusts me enough not to spell things out. My imagination kicks in and I’m tipped over the edge, from intellectual enjoyment to hungry obsessive.

In my own writing, subtext is an elusive shapeshifter I’m continually chasing. But as with any return from the underworld, you break the surface changed for the better by what you encountered in the shadowy depths below.

What about you? Do you enjoy reading or writing stories rich in subtext? I’m fascinated by this technique so would love to hear your thoughts.