How This Subtle Yet Powerful Technique Can Take Your Writing to the Next Level

3 ways you can elevate your writing using this technique

Another monotonous day at work? Would you like me to come over, break the tedium?

Here I am, kneeling at your feet with expectant eyes. The cacophony of office sounds recedes far into the background and it feels like no one’s here but us.

Your every wish is my command.

Do you recall me telling you I dream of stroking these magical fingers?

I take your hand in mine, gently turn it over, and bring it to my lips. What would you do if I placed a tender kiss on your palm?

Give it a playful lick with my moist tongue and blow my breath over the spot…

Hmm?

What if I were to trail kisses all along the knuckles of your hand and press them to the side of my warm face?

Would you like that?

The value of using subtext in writing

Recently, Gary L Ellis wrote a short form mentioning a subtle but powerful technique referred to as Implicit meaning or Subtext: “Tempting your reader to read between the lines is another way to describe this technique. One Medium writer that’s very good at it is Yana Bostongirl.”

Gary also adds a very interesting insight at the end of his post which pretty much sums up what my intention is each time I venture into sensual writing: “You immediately read between the lines, didn’t you? But everybody comes to different conclusions. That’s what makes it intriguing for each reader. It depends on the context of their experiences.”

For example, my above sensual writing can be perceived in different ways:

🎈It could be viewed as outright soft porn.

🎈A teasing love letter to a lover.

🎈A subtle hint of a BDSM-type relationship, perhaps?

🎈 ‘Magical fingers’ may suggest the man in the story is a maestro or could be something else entirely.

🎈Lovemaking that involves more of the senses and hints at the synergistic exchange of emotions rather than the actual act itself.

It is funny that out of all the hundreds of comments I have received for my sensual writing, only one intuitive reader has managed to figure out the balance I am striving for when I write these types of posts. Am I surprised? No. Because he has been reading me from the beginning and completely gets me as a writer:

Applying the strategy of leaving things to the reader’s imagination rather than being explicit has proved to be effective as my sensual posts (all short forms) have done surprisingly well: 👇

I Deeply Miss Role Playing With My (Ex) Boyfriend

Who Knew Bathroom Cleaning Could Be This Steamy?

I Am Thinking of You Tonight

3 ways you can elevate your writing using subtext

According to writing instructor, Diane Drake, some of the ways you can effectively use subtext without going overboard with your writing include:

✅Speak less to emotionally engage your audience more:

I am constantly amazed and thrilled by the conclusions my audience comes to after reading my posts. To be honest, some of the things they come up with never even crossed my mind, nevertheless, I am happy and humbled that my words encourage readers to analyze what I write in light of their experiences.

I feel it is not easy at all, as a writer, to be able to elicit an emotional response from readers, and that too to move them enough to be able to take a moment out of their busy lives to engage/leave a response with a post. Some may claim, that is just a vanity metric but then what are the alternatives? You are here to write into the void? Inability to engage the audience is their fault, not yours? So, is it only about the money, engagement be damned? Or could it be the actual paying readers only read/lurk but never feel the need/urge/motivation to take a moment out of their busy day to leave a comment?

I’m not trying to get into an argument here. What I’m trying to convey here instead is good writing should have the ability to elicit an emotional response in the reader. You can look it up on Google — that is what every expert worth their salt says.

Also, a thriving comments section is very good for business (if that is your goal).

✅ Emotions are best conveyed within the gaps

I read Medium articles on a daily basis both as a reader and editor. What I have noticed is that many writers can’t seem to help themselves with the overwriting part.

TMI for the most part leaves no room for the reader to use their powers of perception.

At other times, some jump from one paragraph to the next in a manner that makes absolutely no sense thus disrupting the flow and leaving the reader confused af.

Whatever happened to being subtle and allowing the reader to infer things without spelling out things in capital letters?

✅Cut the chaff

Again, why not get directly to the point instead of taking a long, convoluted route to convey a sentiment that can be said in fewer words and what is more, be ten times more impactful?

Diane makes an interesting observation here using lines from the famous Hollywood movie, CASABLANCA, as an example:

Rick — “You know, Ilsa, it’s a shame that we can’t be together, but I need to be noble, and you need to stick with the Czechoslovakian do-gooder, so don’t forget what a good time we had in Paris, and when you’re bummed out, think about that.”

Or, express the same sentiment/information in far fewer words👇

Rick — “We’ll always have Paris.”

👆Boom!

I rest my case.

I am curious, as a writer what do you think of subtext? Have you incorporated it into your writing? Or do you use other techniques to draw in your readers? If so, do share!

More from Yana BG