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- In the world of fiction, secrets serve as a literary device that propels the narrative forward, adding layers of intrigue and complexity to your storytelling. Whether it's a hidden past, a clandestine affair, or a long-buried family secret, the art of incorporating secrets into your fiction can elevate your writing beyond the expected.
www.writersdigest.com › write-better-fiction › 10-secrets-for-using-secrets-in-your-fiction10 Secrets for Using Secrets in Your Fiction - Writer's Digest
Mar 2, 2024 · Use secrets as symbolic elements that resonate with broader themes in your story. A hidden object, a cryptic message, or a recurring motif can serve as more than just a narrative device—they can become powerful symbols that enhance the overall meaning of your work.
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Jul 16, 2018 · Your story’s secrets help determine its structure and its characters’ behavior. Let’s pull back the curtains to review the elements that make stories’ secrets work. Warning: real examples are included in this article; that means, spoilers to come.
- By Ruth Harris
- Secrets with A Silver Lining
- State Secrets
- Secret Baby
- Family Secrets
- Dark Secrets
- Open Secrets
- Secrets We Keep from Ourselves
- Secret Dreams
- Secret Super Power?
Shhh! Secrets. Everyone has them. Every book must have at least one because secrets are the jet-powered engine that propels fiction forward. Ever notice how many blurbs in the daily BookBub email include the word secret? Secrets provide motivation, plot, character, even a setting (a haunted house, anyone?) From Madame Bovary to Carrie, from Rebecca...
Silver lining secrets can work well in romance or cozy mysteries. What if someone finds out that the Famous TV Chef thinks the local greasy spoon makes better french fries? Yes, better than than the ones FTC makes in her fancy, custom-designed, multimillion-dollar kitchen. While that might be embarrassing, it won’t kill anyone unless someone adds p...
State Secrets are the meat and bones of thrillers from Eric Ambler and John Buchan to Charles McCarry, Ian Fleming and John Le Carré. The plots of spy novels revolve around characters adept at uncovering secrets, keeping secrets, stealing secrets and, in The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon, secretly transformed by brainwashing into a deadly ...
A classic trope, the secret baby often—but not always—occurs as a romance subgenre. To mention only a few, there are SEAL’s Secret Babies, Vampire Secret Babies, and Billionaire’s Secret Babies. You will find lists of secret baby romance novels at FictionDB, at GoodReads and at SmartBitchesTrashyBooks. In my novel, Love And Money, (Get it free with...
Family secrets take a starring role in sagas and women’s fiction—and in memoirs. 1. An upstanding citizen who is in reality a deadbeat dad who might—or might not—reconcile with his children. 2. A PTA shining star but secretly neglectful mom who might—or might not—see the error of her ways. 3. The sibling who stealthily cheats his brother/sister out...
These are the secrets that form the spine of mysteries. 1. Who-dun-it? 2. Why’d-they-do-it? 3. How’d they do it? 4. How can the MC track down the bad guy or gal? When someone shoots aging bad-girl rocker Morgan Le Fay and threatens to finish the job in Anne’s The Lady of the Lakewood Diner,people assume the perp’s a fan of Morgan’s legendary dead r...
Open secrets are the emperor-has-no-clothes, Harvey Weinstein, Jerry Sandusky, women’s gymnastics’ category of secrets. These are the secrets that can be used to ensnare numerous connected characters who might or might not be related. Open secrets create a Potemkin Village fauxreality in which characters who need to protect themselves from exposure...
These are the character-driven secrets. In We Need To Talk About Kevin, Lionel Shriver unveils a bleak reality as the MC reveals feelings about motherhood, marriage, and family kept secret until her young son murders classmates and she is forced to confront her own possible responsibility. Other examples: Your MC is an addiction expert who doesn’t ...
Secret dreams provide the skeleton of Cinderella stories. They often lie at the heart of romance in which the couple need to unlock each others’ secrets in order to achieve their HEA. 1. The girl (or guy) jilted/left at the altar who has vowed never to fall in love again—until s/he meets Ms. or Mr. Right. But they must resolve the injury of the pas...
Fabulous, fantastic, incredible, killer first drafts. Ha! Not happening, not to me, anyway, but thanks for the question. 😉
Feb 2, 2019 · Secrets can be powerful tools in fiction. When readers sense a secret is in play, their ears perk up, and they’re drawn into the story to ferret out that secret—and to watch the consequences. Almost all characters keep a secret.
Apr 25, 2012 · Secrets Are Stories. Secrets are one of the most terrifying and powerful forces of our psyche. As soon as someone says, “Oh sorry, I can't tell you that. It's a secret,” we lose it. All we can think about is what that secret could be and how we can manipulate them into telling us. Secrets destroy all rational thought.
Jan 8, 2018 · 1. Every Piece Must Contribute to the Plot. Story is a unit. In order to be a unit, it must be cohesive. This is true most obviously on the level of plot and structure. Every piece—every scene—must link together, like a circle of dominoes, to create a unified chain of cause and effect.
Mar 3, 2024 · A secret idea is a concealed notion or concept pivotal to a narrative, character development, or plot twist. It's the undisclosed engine driving the story forward, often revealing profound truths about characters and their worlds. How can a family secret shape a character's journey?
