When to do the reveal

[Mouse]

If you've got secrets in your WiPs, when do you bring them out? At the end?

I've got quite a few little secrets in mine. One, at the moment, is 'who is the murderer?' Now, I never intended for that to be a secret. But I've not revealed it yet (19k words in) because it just hasn't had chance to be revealed yet.

But it's come to the point now that I want/need to start writing from the murderer's POV properly. (They've had one scene so far and that's the one I started the 'gender' thread about).

Would you be disappointed that a 'secret' has been revealed quite early on? Or wouldn't you mind?

Now, the murderer's identity isn't the biggest secret. That one will come at the end. So does that make it ok?

[allmywires]

I love secrets so I always put off the reveal as long as possible But I do think you've got to do some reveals fairly early on, or else your reader is in danger of losing track and/or interest. Then again, too many(or too big) reveals could mean you're in danger of leeching the tension out of the work.

Short answer: if it's not the 'big reveal', and you've got more shenanigans going on to keep the work going, then go ahead.

[thaddeus6th]

Damn. Started to answer this because Bane of Souls also has a large number of murders, but I don't want to give away the plot, as it'll be released hopefully in a month or two.

In general terms, I think that revealing everything early on is a mistake. A lot can be revealed, but I like learning something near or at the end which twists things and makes the story seem a little different.

[Abernovo]

So long as it's obvious that there are more mysteries still to be revealed and it leads towards the final reveal, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

In fact, I like the breadcrumb approach, with information revealed a little at a time before a finale.

[Piousflea]

Not every story needs to have a "Big Reveal!" near the end. There are plenty of stories out there that are played completely straight, you know who the villains and the heroes are, you know their plans, and you know their tactics. As long as they all interact in fun and exciting ways, a non-surprising finale can work just fine. (for example - Gollum taking the One Ring and falling into the fire was about as predictable as they get)

It's definitely okay to give away secrets gradually throughout the plot. If the murderer's identity is not the "Big Reveal!" then I don't see anything wrong with giving it away relatively early.

[Warren_Paul]

You don't want to give away all your secrets ASAP, there should always be some unanswered questions, to make the reader keep reading in-order to find the answer.

Even though there is a bigger one, I'd still think the identity of the murderer would be a major secret that the reader should have to wait for to know.

I remember watching a show, and one season there were all these murders going on, but we didn't know who the killer was. It went a whole season like this, until the very last episode of that season where the murderer was revealed. The next season afterwards had heaps of scenes from his PoV since we knew who he was then, and it was the whole season of what he got up to and trying to catch him.

So long story short, I'd recommend writing at least half the book or more without us knowing the identity of the murderer.

90% of the secrets in my book you don't find the answers to until the final climatic ending - and even then some are left unanswered for the next book. I just drop hints and clues to get the reader thinking about it, then do a big reveal at the end.

[Mouse]

Hmm... just you then, Warren, who thinks differently at the mo!

I'm thinking it'll be too random if I just drop who the murderer is in at the end. Plus the way that the murders are done mean that we need to see it from the character's PoV to know how they happened because I can't get it in any other way. Does that make sense?

[Grizzgreen711]

I think that revealing 'who' the murderer is, around 19k words in, could actually work. I think it would depend upon how much time the reader has invested in the person who turns out to be the murderer.

If it's someone they have become familiar with and they discover that he is a psychotic killer, then it might could be fun from the reader's stand point. Because before the reveal, they think that they know him; they've learned all these things about his past and present, relationships, his intelligence, etc. . Now, about 19k words into the story, he's become something completely different; I think it could be quite an interesting story from that direction.

I don't know, it sounds interesting to me. Of course, I don't know your story; the reader may not know anything about your killer.

[Mouse]

The killer's name has come up in conversation once and we've had one small scene with them in, but we didn't know it was them.

So, the reader doesn't know them at all at the moment. I'm going to get my main girly to meet them, because I've got a connection for them, then I thought it'd be a nice lead in to the killer's POV.

[Warren_Paul]

Originally Posted by Mouse

Hmm... just you then, Warren, who thinks differently at the mo!

I'm thinking it'll be too random if I just drop who the murderer is in at the end. Plus the way that the murders are done mean that we need to see it from the character's PoV to know how they happened because I can't get it in any other way. Does that make sense?

Yeah guess so.

I wasn't saying to leave it right till the end either, just thought 20k into the story was too early - for me. But if the identity of the murder isn't what the main plot is about then you don't want to leave it right till the end anyway.

So, go with your gut instinct!

[Grizzgreen711]

Ah, I see. That sounds interesting. You got me hooked.

Solid advice though, as WP said, "Go with what your gut tells you." If you find it sounds like rubbish through a re-read, scrap it and go a different direction. At 19k words in, I think it's all about discovery!

[Mouse]

Thanks guys. You know, I reckon I could write a few thousand words from the killer's PoV without revealing they were the murderer yet anyway. So. Write it and see, I suppose!

[Abernovo]

Presuming it's not a murder mystery, that could add to the tension, knowing 'main girly' to meet the killer.

EDIT: Looking at your last post, Mouse, you could experiment with imitating Iain Banks' Complicity, where the murders were written POV, but no personal info was ever revealed.

[Mouse]

Nah, not a murder mystery. I think I'm worried in case it appears to be a murder mystery. Obviously, a reader will be disappointed to find out who the murderer is if they thought they were going to have to try to work it out for themselves.

[Gumboot]

My response probably isn't very helpful...

"Depends"

Don't underestimate the literary value of revealing information right at the beginning; perhaps one of the best examples is Romeo and Juliet. That play wouldn't have a fraction of the dramatic tension if it wasn't revealed right at the beginning that both of them die.

I think you have to manage reveals, because if you hold them all back your reader is liable to lose interest, and possibly be overwhelmed by all the reveals. At the same time you don't want to "blow your load" too soon.

I find big reveals like that (but secondary to the final climax) to be really useful points to pin the dramatic turning points into act two and three (I tend to use a classic 3-act structure).