Secrets.

Instead of revealing the secret have her dwelling on it so the reader at least knows there is a secret that she has to keep or else. It will intrigue the reader enough to want to know what it is. Then at the end, you can reveal it to everyone at once.

Amber

Personally it irritates the heck out of me if the main character keeps secrets from the audience. It's enough of a mystery how they're going to solve whatever problems plague them. So I would let the main character dwell on her own secret, but if you want more mystery give some of the other characters secrets from the audience.

If you reveal the secret up front (to the readers) and have her reveal to others later -- it is dramatic irony. The readers know what's going on but your characters don't, and it would be fun to see how she manages to keep it a secret and what the other characters' reactions will be.

If you don't reveal the secret, then it becomes a mystery. But your character must act as if she carries the burden of the secret with her all the time, or else this secret doesn't have weight, importance. So your character either needs to agonize over this secret or tries her best to keep it inside and under wrap. That could create a lot of external or internal conflicts and keep the tension high.

But please don't deliberately dangle that carrot and then keep it from the readers as in "I know a secret but I won't tell you because I want you to flip to the last page to find out" because you know what? It's irritating and your readers might just turn to page 260, read what the darn secret is, and then throw the book away.

And if you choose to keep the secret until the end, do leave crumbs (but again, not in the readers' face: "I'm not going to tell you, nyah nyah"), but with foreshadows and hints so the discerning readers will realize it. Then when the secret is finally revealed, it won't be an utter surprise out of the left field.

In other words, treat your readers with intelligence and compassion. Don't fool them just for fooling's sake, and honor that contract between writer and reader. Give them suspense, dramatic irony, mystery, surprises, but don't try to piss them off.

sunandshadow said:

Personally it irritates the heck out of me if the main character keeps secrets from the audience. It's enough of a mystery how they're going to solve whatever problems plague them. So I would let the main character dwell on her own secret, but if you want more mystery give some of the other characters secrets from the audience.

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+1

I hate that "oooh, I've got a seeee-cret!" trick. It doesn't make me want to keep reading - it makes me want to never read that author again. But that's just my own personal taste as a reader, of course - undoubtedly there are lots of readers out there who like to be kept guessing. From my point of view, plot can be driven and characters can be made interesting with good writing instead of the carrot/stick scheme. And if your story revolves around a big, stunning secret there are more inventive and enjoyable ways for your reader to experience that fact than to string them along by constantly reminding them to keep reading so that they can find out what the big secret is. Make a compelling plot with great character interactions, and the revelation of a huge secret at the end will just be icing on the cake.

I'm going to cite Orson Scott Card here again (I do that often, I know) and reference Ender's Game as a perfect example of what I'm talking about. The book moves along because the characters are intriguing on their own. You find out a HUGE secret at the end of the book and it wows you instead of annoying you, because it was never dangled in front of you overtly beforehand.

Why is a secret necessary? Whenever I read advice like that I always try to think of some of my favorite novels and ask myself if it was true of those books. So, a few favorite books:

The Warrior's Apprentice - MC has no secret held from reader at all. Secondary character does have a secret.
Ender's Game - MC does not have a secret, but something is being witheld from him.
Brothers Karamazov - There is a secret, but probably not held by the MC.
The Time Traveler's Wife - no secret that I can think of.

According to the books I like to read, there are secrets, but none of them belong to the MC. They must be discovered by the MC, or by other people in the book.

JoNightshade said:

Why is a secret necessary? Whenever I read advice like that I always try to think of some of my favorite novels and ask myself if it was true of those books. So, a few favorite books:

The Warrior's Apprentice - MC has no secret held from reader at all. Secondary character does have a secret.
Ender's Game - MC does not have a secret, but something is being witheld from him.
Brothers Karamazov - There is a secret, but probably not held by the MC.
The Time Traveler's Wife - no secret that I can think of.

According to the books I like to read, there are secrets, but none of them belong to the MC. They must be discovered by the MC, or by other people in the book.

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In my book, The Pacific Between, my MC doesn't keep secrets from the READERS -- he tells the readers everything about him. But other people hold secrets from him, and the mystery is to uncover these secrets. He also keeps secrets from other characters, and part of the fun is to see how he digs a hole for himself...

Secrets really aren't a necessary part of storytelling. That tip book you read was giving you gimmicks, and lame ones at that.

Don't give your protagonist a secret for any reason than that it's completely vital to the story, and that without it the whole story would just fall to pieces. If it's not at least that important, then don't bother with it at all.

Gimmicks are great for commercials and billboards. They're basically useless for novels.

Sometimes I wonder who write these "tip books." Any novelists we actually heard of? And if so, are they talking about what THEY do vs. what everyone should do the same things? Sometimes "tip books" are as good as a book on how to win the Superbowl for Dummies.

Hm...
I guess when she's lying to the people of her town you could be like:

The townsperson stared [insert name] down and cocked his head to the side. "Where have you been?"

[Insert name] smiles wearily, preferring not to answer their question, but doing so anyway.

"I've been around...traveling," [insert name] lied convincingly to her old neighbors.

Or something to that extent, only much better written ^^;;

In my book Psychic Straits, Gracie, the MC, has no secrets from anyone really. Everyone else has secrets they are keeping from her. First, her mother, then her father, etc. The reader doesn't know what the secrets are because they are in Gracie's head throughout the book. So, I think if you are in the character's POV, you should reveal what secrets they have. It's kind of annoying to have it dangled in front of you while you're reading.