Tuesday, August 27, 2013

What Makes a Novel Compelling is Often Written Between the Lines

This month I review an extremely educational, short and easy-to-read booklet written by Elizabeth Lyon, the bestselling author of Manuscript Makeover. I believe it is must reading for everyone who loves to read stories or write them.

Writing Subtext: Elizabeth Lyon on: How to craft subtext that develops characters, boosts suspense, and reinforces theme. Booklet #1 in a series by Ms. Elizabeth C. Lyon (June 19, 2013) Available from Amazon in paperback for less than $5; Kindle edition, for less than $3.

Whether you would like to write best-selling books, or just understand at a deeper level why you love the books you love, you should read Writing Subtext.

Have you ever reached the point in a movie, novel, short story or dramatic play when suddenly you get the distinct impression that a lot more is going on than you at first thought? Perhaps a chill goes down your spine, your eyes widen, and your pulse quickens. You are hooked. Now you no longer have a choice to continue. You must keep reading or watching.

What we sense when we become deeply involved with a dramatic work of art is often the result of subtext. Our response to effective subtext can be powerful, both visceral and highly emotional. It is certainly one of the elements that makes stories worthwhile (sometimes addictive) to read or watch.

Some writers can write and publish a shelf of books and never hit it big. Others can publish just one and become famous. Subtext is often the seductive, delicate literary hormone that attracts readers and drives them wild.

Without it, the work is dead.

With it, the writing is alive, exciting and memorable.

Here are five reasons why I love this book and highly recommend it:

  • 1. The writing is simple to read and extremely clear.
  • 2. The narrative is wise. It is easy to understand yet never oversimplifies.
  • 3. The examples are excellent and plentiful.
  • 4. It is short.
  • 5. It costs less than a Starbucks latte.

Two excerpts from Writing Subtext:

Demonstrating ease of reading:

Teachers, agents, and editors often tell writers that every story should be about the thing and the other thing. Two sources of tension and suspense: from plot and subtext. What is overt and what is covert. If there are multiple things happening between the lines, then you have that many more sources of tension, subterranean forces, thematic possibilities, and character motivations.

Demonstrating clarity even when covering complex subject matter:

Story is different from plot. Some teachers define story as synonymous with plot. In casual use it is. But it has a specific function in craft. Every work of fiction has (or should have) an external storyline, the plot, and an internal psychological storyline, which I am calling story. Plot springs from story, and story reveals why the protagonist takes particular actions in the plot. The answer to why supports theme. For example: An unmarried woman becomes obsessed with adopting a Bulgarian orphan she fell in love with even though the country finds her marital status unacceptable. That outlines the plot. However, the same woman, whose mother abandoned her as a youngster, will stop at nothing to adopt the child who fulfills her own need for being taken care of. That explains her actions by supplying the internal, psychological story. Notice how the sentence describing the plot creates visual pictures; you can begin to conjure scenes. The sentence describing story is thematic; it conveys the underlying psychological need that drives the mother.