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; what happened to Stella Vignes after abandoning her twin sister in the 1950s to live as a white woman in Brit Bennett’s reverberates among all the other characters for generations.
