​Last week in this newsletter I wrote, "Having participated in many workshops and writers groups, I will tell you that the trick with subtext often isn't that it doesn't exist but that it exists too much." And one of you was quibbled.

With their permission, here's their quibble: "Shouldn't art be obscure to some degree? Isn't art meant to raise questions?"

Ah, these are questions for the ages, and I have definite opinions about them. Raising questions is a good thing! But confusing your reader is not a good thing. A confused reader is likely not considering the questions that you, the author and the artist, hoped they would consider.

My approach to artful writing is to look at what makes a great story: Is the primary narrative clear? Does the reader understand what is happening and why?

Sometimes in our attempts to be artful and clever we create confusion. (I am guilty of this, too.) Instead of definitively stating what we mean, we hide it behind beautiful language--or even leave it entirely off the page--so the reader has to guess at it. A reader that has to keep guessing is a reader that will give up on the story pretty darned quickly. You, the writer, can't sit beside them and explain everything. "Is it on the page?" has to be our guiding light.

Here are some ways to balance clarity and subtext that invites your reader along on the fascinating journey you've created:

• Edit for clarity. After writing scene that is heavy on subtext, read it over and ask yourself, "Would the reader understand what is happening on the surface level even if they missed the subtext?"
• Use dialogue to full advantage. What's said--or unsaid--speaks volumes, especially when you employ body language or inner conflict to reveal the truth behind what is said. Dialogue can help illuminate or emphasize the subtext elsewhere in the work.
• Use clear prose to convey complex ideas. Readers should not be confused about what is literally happening, but they can be invited to think more deeply about why it's happening or what it symbolizes.

What do you think? What novels or memoirs full of artful subtext kept you hooked as a reader? Reply and let me know what they are. I'd like to take a closer look at a work for a future issue of this newsletter. Maybe we can dissect the book together, looking at the balance between clarity in prose and subtext--no scalpels or formaldehyde required!

Recommended Reading

​Penguin Random House books now say explicitly 'no' to AI training. But, as the article says, a copyright page at the front of a book "has little to do with actual copyright law."

The Booker Prize Foundation has been doing such a great job in the lead up to the winner announcement. I've been enjoying the interviews, the recommended reading, and, now, the six shortlist films.

​The questions literary agent Kate McKean asks writers who pitch her at conferences. Valuable stuff!

Wishing you a good writing week ahead ✨