Subtext

“We should talk.” Three words. Grammatically simple. Literally: a suggestion to have a conversation. But everyone who hears them knows: Something bad is about to happen. A breakup. A confrontation. A revelation that will hurt. How do we know? Because of subtext—the meaning beneath the words, the real message hiding under the literal one. And it’s arguably the most important skill in dialogue writing. What Is Subtext? Text: What is literally said Subtext: What is actually meant ...

The most powerful line in Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is never spoken. Two people sit at a train station, discussing “it.” They never say what “it” is. But readers know: they’re talking about abortion. The entire story happens in what’s not said. That’s the power of silence in storytelling—the strategic omission that makes readers fill in gaps, lean forward, and participate in meaning-making. What Is Narrative Silence? Silence in storytelling isn’t the absence of words. It’s the deliberate withholding of information, explanation, or resolution. ...