Secrets, surprises, and twists are powerful narrative tools. They can conjure questions and mystery in readers' minds that raise suspense, stakes, and reader investment, and knowing how to use them effectively can create some of the most memorable moments in your story.
Stories with a shocking reveal often get widely read and talked about. They keep readers hooked throughout, not knowing what comes next, eagerly turning pages to find out.
But pulling off a successful reveal is a tricky tightrope act between giving readers enough information to feel invested and keeping back enough to keep them hooked. It's the striptease of literature: show too much and you lose all the excitement and buildup. Too little and nobody cares.
Balancing these considerations often relies on three key elements: knowing what and how much to keep as a reveal, when to reveal it, and how to unspool the hidden information for maximum suspense and impact.
WHAT AND HOW MUCH TO REVEAL
Reveals aren't a device every story needs and one reason they may fall flat is when they don't feel necessary or intrinsic to the main story.
Effective reveals are the ones that essentially clarify, illuminate, or define a character arc or story: Amir's actions in the past with his childhood best friend, Hassan, are a central facet of his arc and the story in both present and past storylines in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner; what happened to Stella Vignes after abandoning her twin sister in the 1950s to live as a white woman in Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half reverberates among all the other characters for generations.
Denne historien er fra September - October 2023-utgaven av Writer’s Digest.
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Denne historien er fra September - October 2023-utgaven av Writer’s Digest.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Writing for a Warming World - Imagining the overwhelming, the ubiquitous, the world-shattering.
Climate change is one of those topics that can throw novelists—and everyone else—into a fearful and cowering silence. When the earth is losing its familiar shapes and consolations, changing drastically and in unpredictable ways beneath our feet, how can we summon our creative resources to engage in the imaginative world-building required to write a novel that takes on these threats in compelling ways? And how to avoid writing fiction that addresses irreversible climate change without letting our prose get too preachy, overly prescriptive, saturated with despair?
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WD chats with the National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature.
The Horrors of Grief
Whether hot off the presses or on the shelves for years, a good book is worth talking about.
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New York Times-bestselling author Jasmine Warga tackles a new genre with her signature blend of empathy for her readers, agency for her characters, and the belief that art is the great connector.
Education
Even if it's not your thing, you're probably familiar with the term dark academia.
A Do-Over Romance
Karin Patton, the first-place winner of the 24th Annual Writer's Digest Short Short Story Awards, shares a funny story about secondchance love and a brief Q&A.
Everyday Wonder
How to mine awe from the mundane
From Ordinary to Extraordinary
Unveil the hidden beauty in the facts and transform your nonfiction with the power of wonder.
Childhood: Our Touchstone for Wonder
How to get in touch with Little You and create big new work for today.
Agent Roundup
22 agents share details, about what kind of writing will pique their interest and offer tips for querying writers...
