Writing Subtext: What Lies Beneath

by Linda Seger, Mariya Desyatova (Translator)

Overview

“What lurks in the shadows, just below waking consciousness?” Subtext can be the most important element in text and in a performance. It’s an unseen force that speaks directly to the reader’s unconscious, deepening meaning and understanding. Great subtext reveals more than simple dialogue and action and is at the heart of the best books and films. It is what glues us to the screen. This book goes far beyond dialogue, action, gestures, genre, and images. Written by one of the foremost script consultants in the world and the most prolific writer on screenwriting, this new edition adds new examples with chapters on analogy and love, and provides deeper explanations of how subtext works beneath the text. This edition has been expanded to be relevant to all fiction writers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9785961451924
Publisher:	Alpina Non Fiction
Publication date:	05/03/2023
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	204
File size:	869 KB
Language:	Russian

About the Author

Dr. Linda Seger is the founder of the script consulting business. She has consulted on over 2,000 scripts since 1981 from all six continents and is considered one of the foremost script consultants in the world. As the author of nine books on screenwriting, she’s the most prolific writer in this field. She’s given seminars in over 30 countries, on six continents. She received a number of awards for her work, including the Candlelight Award for being a light to the entertainment industry, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Redemptive Film Festival for her work as a script consultant, and the Living Legacy Award from the Moondance International Women’s Film Festival for her work in support of women.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Chapter 1 subtext: a definition and exploration 1

Chapter 2 expressing subtext through words: character information and backstory 35

Chapter 3 techniques for expressing subtext through words 55

Chapter 4 expressing subtext through gestures and action 83

Chapter 5 creating subtext through images and metaphors 105

Chapter 6 expressing subtext through the genre 129

Chapter 7 writer alvin sargent ruminates about subtext 147

Chapter 8 afterword 151

Filmography 153

About the Author 163