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Please, bear with me as I upgrade my sites.This last month, I got a crash course in the art of character reveals in crafting a story. While I seem to have instinctively known how to apply reveals in my stories, I was inconsistent and informal. Wikipedia defines the Literary Character Reveal as: ‘a plot device in narrative structure, and is the exposure to the reader or audience of a previously hidden key element of plot or of the performance.’ I already knew that, in a novel, each scene should advance the story and build to a climax. What I was missing was that each scene should also reveal some trait or truth about one or more of the characters that will be germane to the story at a time when it is inconvenient to present the reveal. The author should sprinkled the reveals throughout the story such that when presenting the big climax, the storyteller doesn’t have to break the flow of the climactic scene to reveal something important. Don’t wait until the big fight scene in the scaffolding at the top of The Statue of Liberty to reveal that the well-grounded heroine goes blind when confronted with great heights. Don’t wait until the hero is face–to-face with a ghost holding a cat to reveal the normally stoic hero has a phobia against cats. Or in the case of the main female character in my book Wine Country, don’t wait until the big fight scene to reveal that the normally quiet, non-violent nursing student is also adept at self-defense martial arts.
If the author waits until the big scene to have the main character display what seems like incompatible traits or characteristics, the character will come off as contrived and inconsistent. I’ve seen this in many stories where a main character will do something out of character just to make the scene work thus sacrificing the character for the scene. To me, nothing ruins a story more than having a main character change colors in the middle of the story. Spock never breaks down in tears unless there is a reveal that he is allergic to onions.
Looking back over my books, I find that I did commit the sin of an unscheduled characteristic change during the climactic scene. I can repair most of them. Where possible, I will avoid this Faux Pas in the future. I now know what I’m looking for in the big scene. Anything that breaks the flow of the scene must be revealed earlier in the story.
Another minor mistake some authors make with reveals is that they try to present them all in a gush just before the climax. A skill that I see in Grisham’s and King’s books is that they spread out the reveals throughout the story to conceal them. It’s takings effort on my part to recognize their well-crafted reveals
. They are subtlety presented almost as a side story.
I have added an extra layer to my use of reveals that seems to work well from the story telling point of view. First, I use The Positive Trait Thesaurus by Ackerman and Puglisi to define the three to five traits that best describe my lead character. I add one or two traits that seem to be inconsistent to my character but are essential to the story. Then I scan the Associated Behaviors and Attitudes and select one or two actions or attitudes that might be displayed by a person with each trait. This produces a complex list of reveals for each main character. I sprinkle this list of reveals across the story to build my special character. When I’m presenting the climactic scene, I don’t have to stop and explain anything and my character still comes across as consistent. For me, it works and it adds depth to my stories.
I must say one last thing about reveals. While it has added to my understanding of how to craft a story, it has also added to my pleasure in reading a story. I find myself looking for how other authors advance the story as I did before. But now, I find myself looking for what the author might be trying to reveal about the main character in preparation of the big scene. Whom is the author building? I must not be very good at it, yet. As I think back over the books I’ve read, I would have guessed one series of scenes and been completely incorrect at my assumptions. I am still pleasantly entertained by the array of surprise endings that authors can create. I like being surprised and entertained by a good read. I’m also enjoying learning how to try to foresee the surprises.
My name is Jeff Bailey. I write nuclear thrillers for a reason, I’ve worked in nuclear related industries, from nuclear weapons to nuclear research, for fifty years. Deer Hawk Publications released my first book, The Defect in June of 2016. In The Defect, I tell the story of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant and why the government covered it up. The Defect is based on true events. Deer Hawk Publications is scheduled to release I’m a Marine in May of 2017. I’m a Marine is about a female aviation firefighter in the U.S. Marines who witnesses the murder of two M.P.s. She decides that it is her duty to stop them. Keep in mind that I write nuclear thrillers. The Chilcoat Project, to be released in spring of 2018, is about the theft of nuclear weapons secrets from a national laboratory. The Chilcoat Project is also based on true events. My current project, Wine Country, is based on the true story of the Radioactive Boy Scout, but with a more sinister twist.
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