Secrets, Part 2

I had time to reflect on yesterday's blog, and I realized I left out some important things.

First, here's my secret: I keep a stash of chocolate way in the back of a cupboard in my kitchen. Behind the vitamins and boxes of herbal tea, tin cookie trays and the ceramic pumpkin we put the Halloween candy in. It's such a secret, I've even forgotten about it at times. Which isn't a bad thing. Because when I remember it, I tend to eat the whole bag. I keep it there for those times when I'm all alone and depressed, needing a little pick me up (and weigh me down). If my family knew it existed (and again, I'm relying on the fact that no one in my family reads my blog--heheheh, the fools!), they'd scarf it all down faster than I can say, "Hey! That's MY chocolate!"

Hence, that's why it's a secret.

As secrets go, it's a fairly small one. I don't think that keeping this little bit of information from my children and spouse is all that deceptive. (Unlike the woman from yesterday's blog, who hid an entire equine from her husband.) I can't even say it's all that selfish, because if it were discovered, I would share the bag. (I'd also find a new hiding place for the next bag.) In fact, since neither my spouse nor my children should be ingesting sugar and caffeine, you might even say I'm saving their lives.

Second: I suggest writers use secrets wisely. And carefully. And, most importantly, sparingly. (Sort of like I should be using adverbs. But that's another blog.) I've critiqued manuscripts, contest entries and synopsis' where the writer has used a secret as their characters' conflict or motivation.

Unless they're writing a spy novel, this "I've got a secret" thing doesn't work. (It's even worse when the writer won't even tell the secret in the synopsis. Eeek!) Because--and I know I'm not the only person who feels this way--it makes the hero or heroine just look sneaky. By the time they admit their gigantic secret to their hero/heroine, the reader has lost all respect for the story, the characters and even, the writer. Unless--wait, let me emphasize that--UNLESS they've got a really good reason for it.

Pretending to be your twin sister so that you can sleep with the hero--not a good reason.

Pretending to be of noble birth to save a man's life--good reason. *

Pretending to be someone of a specific career path (I dunno, pick one...brain surgeon will work) so that you can impress strangers and most importantly, the hero--not a good reason.

Pretending to be a waitress so that you can take a break from being a brain surgeon and not impress anybody...we-e-e-ell, that depends. Could be a good reason, IF you make the protagonist angst about the lie and even try to tell the truth; until she needs to perform emergency surgery at the bed and breakfast where she's hiding out and she saves someone's life.

In my story, Overnight Groom, my hero (JP) and heroine (Emma) are keeping a secret: They're not really married and they never eloped. The reason? Emma's Great Aunt Maisie got so excited when she heard the mistaken report that they eloped, she had a heart attack. And Emma, who used to be a nurse, knows that sometimes good news helps people heal. So she convinces JP to continue to pretend to be her husband for as long as it takes for Maisie to get well.

If only JP's brother, Father Tim, didn't keep hounding him to tell the truth... (conflict)

If only Maisie didn't keep chirping about how happy she is about Emma and JP's unexpected marriage from behind her oxygen mask...(motivation. you see, the old lady could still go at any time.)

If only there wasn't a gossip reporter hounding their every move, threatening to get to the bottom of their relationship... (What? Doesn't everyone have a gossip reporter following them?)

Anyhow, you can see that even if a secret is driving the plot, there needs to be a strong motivation to maintain that secret. Like--keeping someone alive. And, the protagonist/s will angst over the fact that s/he is, in fact, lying. Or else they'll just be sneaky and deceptive people--like the woman hiding a horse from her husband--and how heroic is that?

*See the movie, Ever After: (http://www.foxmovies.com/everafter/) There's no violence, no cursing and no embarrassing sex scenes to hide from the kids, so you can even watch it with them in the same room. Unless, of course, you're eating the chocolate you're hiding from them.