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What was hidden is revealed
- Readers love being surprised by secrets in stories, as what was hidden is revealed. Although the revelation and its lead-up may seem mysterious to readers, authors, like good magicians, should know what they are doing. Your story’s secrets help determine its structure and its characters’ behavior.
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Aug 12, 2019 · Want readers to love your book so much they'll re-read it? If so, you can start by learning how to evoke reader emotions that both surprise and satisfy.
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- The Net of “Surprisingness”
- Unexpected Emotions
- Don’T Try to Name Emotions
C. S. Lewis said that people go back and reread certain stories over and over not to be surprised, because the reader knows what is going to happen, but for the “surprisingness.” It’s the quality of unexpectedness that delights us. Like children who want the same story read over and over. The fact that they know what is about to happen makes them e...
When I began to read the chapter in The Art of Racing in the Rain in which Enzo, the beloved narrator dog, is dying, I just knew what was going to happen to me, what I was about to get into. Most people relate to losing a pet. Most people share that universal affection for sweet animal companions. [NOTE: Some spoilers follow] While I have met many ...
I can’t put a name to the composite emotion I felt. I can toss around a whole lot of words. But, to me, trying to name complex emotions is like trying to catch the wind with chopsticks. The secret lies in Hemingway’s brilliant advice: “Find what gave you the emotion . . . then write it down, making it clear so the reader will see it too and have th...
Jul 16, 2018 · Readers love being surprised by secrets in stories, as what was hidden is revealed. Although the revelation and its lead-up may seem mysterious to readers, authors, like good magicians, should know what they are doing. Your story’s secrets help determine its structure and its characters’ behavior.
Jun 16, 2020 · Elements of Surprise describes how cognitive biases, mental shortcuts, and quirks of memory conspire with stories to produce wondrous illusions, and also provides a sophisticated how-to guide for writers.
- Welcome Readers With Humor. Humor is a tool that I use in most of my work, the effect of which is that the reader puts down their defenses. Humor is my invitation into the story, much like the freshly-baked apple pie that a Realtor tells you to set out for your open house.
- Use Exposition to Reveal Information. Exposition is information. Fiction is full of information. A character grew up in Cincinnati; she has green eyes; she has three brothers; she was adopted.
- Shift Point of View. I typically don't recommend shifting point of view in short stories for the purpose of plot because you're likely to do so at the expense of character development, and shifts are more likely to come across as manipulative.
- Move From Micro to Macro. Whenever someone ends up on TV for having done something spectacular or surprising, a reporter will often find a neighbor or distant family member or teacher who will cite some small detail—a hobby or a behavior—in the subject's life that hinted toward what was to come: "He was always a collector—you know, stamps and beer cans," says the old classmate about the man who now owns six islands.
Jun 24, 2015 · Readers love to be surprised, so we can lead them in one direction so that they think they know what the secret is, but then blindside them by taking their assumptions and turning them on their head, providing a different (and better) secret all together.
Feb 7, 2023 · You can’t really have surprise and suspense at the same time because suspense requires the reader knows more than the character. By letting the readers in on the secret, they fear for the oblivious character. Suspense is different from tension in that suspense happens on a book-long level.
