Jon Samsel

Writers develop their character’s subtext based on the context the characters are placed in. Subtext is when the user “plots” the future circumstances of the character’s inner or outer “story” as they imagine what might happen next.

Dialogue and action are the scalpels with which a writer bares a character’s inner story.

Try This
Suppose you were told that a man viciously slapped a boy at a street corner. Without knowing anything else, how would you feel about the man? What does he look like? What about the boy? What’s happening in this scene?

New Information
You have just learned that as the man viciously slaped the boy, the boy droped a handgun he was pointing at the man’s head.

Review
Consider your initial impressions. Do your initial thoughts match what really happened in the scene? What about your descriptions of the characters? Were they accurate?

You’ll notice that your thoughts and impressions change depending on the what context the information is presented to you.

Final Thoughts
When you create characters for a novel you are writing or an interactive project you are creating, be aware that that context plays a critical role in user/character development.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at 2:54 am and is filed under Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.