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The #1 Lesson You Can Steal From Filmmakers to Transform Your Writing
Why subtext matters
Ever been around people who speak a different language than you? By the way they speak you know something is being said — you just have no idea what it is. That’s how I like to view the technique we’re talking about today: subtext.
Subtext is what’s NOT being said, whether communicated through word, action, or some other external device in the middle of everything that’s actually happening. Confused? Welcome to my life these last few years.
A movie that helped me understand how subtext works and how to use it on a simple level was the . Now, regardless of what the critics say about this movie, you can’t deny that it’s a subtext and contrast genius.
If you haven’t seen the film, it’s a movie about a couple arguing. That’s it. At least on the surface. But that’s the brilliance of this movie — it’s about so much more. To spend an hour and 45 minutes with two people arguing sounds like a nightmare, and it is. Until you start digging into all the subtextual details working double-time around this simple premise.
So, how do you get your story to speak even when it’s not speaking? How do you use contrast to paint a picture of what you really mean? Let’s take a look at…
