Open Secrets

In the last post, we discussed plots with secrets which you want the reader to enjoy unravelling. In this post, I want to talk about open secrets.

What’s an open secret? The family knows Mom is slowly descending into madness but nobody talks about it. The brother in jail doesn’t exist to all intents and purposes. Secrets are not just found in families. The boss who drinks heavily in his office. The parish accounts known to be inaccurate. The office lovers who think they are keeping things clandestine.

I think these are way more fun to write about. Well, ‘fun’ may be, actually undoubtedly is, the wrong word as these secrets often spring from painful personal experiences. Their expression frequently requires bravery to reach emotional truth. But also produces the best writing.

How to convey an open secret

Open secrets are usually grounded in and influenced by their setting and the characters involved. So, if you are writing such a novel, you need to rely primarily on your sense of how to develop the story. But you might want to check the following questions just to ensure that you’ve answered them in your text.

Why is it secret?

Shame or some variant of it is often the reason for secrecy. For this or any other fundamental emotion to be credible to the reader, you need to establish why the characters are keeping silent.  Even before the reader knows of a secret, she needs to see the characters act in odd but not necessarily mysterious ways. The mother gets hysterical if the father is fifteen minutes late. The assistant refuses to book any of the big boss’ appointments after lunch.  The characters’ actions may be just quirky. Or even better, barely noticed by the reader. But they set the stage for their later involvement in the open secret.

Why is it nevertheless open?

There’s something big and covert but nevertheless known to a defined group of people. Some questions your story should answer:

Why do they know it and others don’t? Why can’t others know? Shame? Legal problems? Spy ring?

What are the machinations to protect the secret from outsiders? What actions or non-actions does this group take? How do these cause problems or awkwardness when interacting with outsiders?

And the machinations to protect themselves from knowing the secret? Often, and especially within families, those in the know ignore, downplay or lie about events even among themselves. The woman says she tripped. The repair to the wall is made without comment. Parents deny the event to children who witnessed it.

How does the reader know that there’s a skeleton?

Generally speaking, you want to slowly reveal that there is a secret. First stages can be sudden stops and/or starts of conversation or action which cue something is going on. Farther on, something might be said the reader knows to be untrue but nobody contradicts. Until finally, the secret is revealed.

In all of this, it’s important to keep up the mystery without confusing. If you throw out so many unanswered cues that Something is Wrong, the reader will feel lost. And eventually impatient. Give the reader enough along the way so that she feels as if she’s making some headway in understanding. Reveal the secret at a pace that fits the story but keep building tension.

Otherwise, she won’t care enough to stick with you until the secret is revealed.