How To Convey Subtext in Dialogue - Part 1
Updated May 16, 2022 We all live in a Yellow Obmarine. Subtext in dialogue is the opposite of the obvious; it's dialogue in which what goes unsaid is as important as what is said. The opposite of this is not, but should be, called obtext . Screenwriters have a term for dialogue in which characters say exactly what they mean: "on the nose." I'll stick with obtext. Sad to say, obtextual dialogue, one obvious and true statement after another, usually sounds unrealistic, because people seldom say exactly what they mean, or all of what they mean. There are two places you can see obtext used to good effect: children's stories and comedy. In children's stories, characters say exactly what they mean, because this is what children themselves do. That's why they walk up to the obese woman and ask, "Why are you so fat?" or ask the man with long hair, "Are you a daddy or a mommy?" or comment on their baby brother's drawing, "It...