When a character holds a false belief, it creates enormous opportunity for the writer. The misbelief may be about the world, another character or about themself. The misbelief may be an instance of denial or simply stem from errors of fact. In some stories, the truth always remains uncertain because two (or more) characters present different, irreconcilable versions of the truth. Regardless, misbeliefs present the opportunity for change and for characters to make critical choices based on their (mis)beliefs. Whether change comes through the character discovering some truth, or in the form of other characters — or the reader — learning the truth while the character persists in their misbelief, the disjunction between truth and misbelief generates narrative energy. Narratively, this disjunction is often more essential than any resolution.

The narrator of Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier, John Dowell, is famous for his unreliability, but it is immensely complex to sort out whether he is naively in thrall to his own lies and contradictions — genuinely subject, that is, to a set of misbeliefs — or is, instead, a highly skilled liar, possibly culpable for the suicides of his wife and friend, or worse. This masterful novel is an example of how successful it can be to leave a misbelief unresolved.

PROMPT: Is your character deluded or locked into a fixed false belief about something, large or small? It could be something factual (as John Dowell naively/seemingly believes his wife has a severe heart condition when she does not), something emotional (“I don’t deserve to be happy because I am a bad person”) or perhaps an instance of transference (so and so was responsible for the near death of my mother, rather than myself). Keep the thread of the misbelief alive throughout your text, asking what caused it to arise and whether you will correct it? If you reveal the truth, to whom will you do so — the character? the reader? When, and what will ensue? Try this with secondary and third level characters as well as your protagonist, especially if they seem flat.