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On May 10, 2024, Kasie and rex took on the art of crafting good secrets for your MC and the lies they’re willing to believe. Here are the show notes:

Theme for the day

Secrets Your Characters Keep

Agenda

• Quick Catch Up
• Why your character should be hiding something
• Who they’re hiding it from
• How secrets raise the stakes of the story

Segment 1

We once did an episode on the character’s core wound and what’s occurred to me lately in my reading is that the core wound makes a really good secret. Something the character isn’t willing to admit to himself.

Charlie started watching Ted Lasso and in a recent episode he told his wife she didn’t need to keep trying to be happy with him. He let her go. I think the secret he was keeping – and something that made him a really compelling character – is that he knew he couldn’t optimism his way out of that situation. He couldn’t believe his way through it. His core value – the power of positive thinking – doesn’t always work.

So, today’s topic: What secrets are your characters keeping? Which ones are really dangerous? Which ones aren’t?

Let’s start with why your character should be hiding something. This article suggests secrets can add tension to the story, can give your characters a chance to grow, and add depth and complexity to the story. 

Where does the depth and complexity come from? The secret should be connected to the character’s goal. The depth comes in secondary and third-layer reasons for what they’re trying to do. Does the secret make it harder to achieve the goal? It can also add complexity to the mission if the secret affects the character in a certain way – does thinking of it make them sick? Make them sad?

When will the character come clean? Choosing the time to reveal the secret is critical. It should be a choice the character has to make – revealing the secret will move the plot in a specific direction. 

Some examples of secrets characters are keeping / have kept:

• Severus Snape was bullied by Harry Potter’s father
• Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader is Luke’s father
• Willy Lohman (Death of a Salesman) conceals the loss of his job from his family
• Jules (Demi Moore’s character) conceals her own firing from her friends
• Rapunzel’s keeper is her kidnapper, not her mom
• Brand Stark saw Circe and her brother having sex 
• Scarlett O’Hara threw herself at Ashley Wilkes and Rhett Butler keeps the secret (but taunts her with it)

This link reminds us that when a character has a secret, their fear of being “found out” or exposed and therefore ostracized or rejected is a clue to their personality and a universal trait all readers can connect to.

Segment 2

How big does the secret need to be? Small or silly is more for comedic effect. Something deep and fiercely protected for full impact. Some examples of potential secrets (from this list):

• Your character was a bully in high school
• Your character once outed a friend for having an affair with a teacher
• Your character once (or frequently) faked an injury or a disability to get sympathy
• Your character once had an unwanted pregnancy and dealt with it
• Your character once sabotaged a rival (in an election, a competition, or a contest)
• Your character did things of questionable morality to earn money
• Your character had a mentally ill or addicted parent for whom they covered and/or apologized
• Your character witnessed a crime and didn’t tell anyone

Did Peter Parker ever tell anyone he let the guy go?

From this link, first create a secret, then create the lies the character will tell to protect the secret. The two types of lies (same source):

• Everyday lie – the casual dismissal of the truth, the covering-for lie, the one they think is harmless; this one should be easy because s/he uses it all the time
• Under pressure lie – the redirect, the denial, the added details to the everyday lie, the way she fabricates another lie to cover when the everyday lie is questioned

Segment 3

What’s the lie that your character believes? This is a good video that breaks down the secrets being kept in Knives Out. The most compelling one is the lie the nurse, Marta, believes.

So what’s a lie your character believes? Romance novels like to oversimplify this is the “I’m not good enough” lie. This link has five steps to craft the lie your character believes:

1. Connect it to your character’s sense of safety or self worth
2. Root it in a compelling and powerful backstory – why are they willing to believe this?
3. Link it to your character’s goal
4. Make sure it creates conflict and prevents resolution
5. Drive home the theme of the entire piece.

Segment 4

How do you do it? Well, this link from Writer Unboxed offers this exercise and these related questions (directly copied):