How to Trick Your Readers
As writers, we get away with a lot:
plot twists, nail-biting suspense, cliff-hanger endings, killing off our
protagonists, and we can also trick our readers into believing a character is
good (or bad) even if they aren’t. Some of the tips below are ones that I used
in my eBook “Hurricane Crimes” with the hero, Donovan Goldwyn.
6
Tips to Make a Hero/Heroine Appear Bad:
1. Reveal
his/her thoughts, but give them a sinister twist a reader will use as evidence
that he/she is bad.
2. Bring
glaring evidence into light that clearly confirms he/she did something bad or is
a killer.
3. When
the protagonist confronts your character, have him/her say something that could
indicate guilt. You can also show a personality switch. For example: their eyes
can darken, their voice can deepen, and their attitude can change drastically
from what it was before the confrontation.
4. Have
moments when the protagonist’s back is to him/her. During these moments, the
mysterious character can sneak up on the MC, hide something, or lift an object
that can be used as a weapon. This works best if you use multiple perspectives
to tell the story.
5. Make
sure your main character becomes suspicious of the hero/heroine. If the MC
feels a certain way about another character, the reader will be inclined to
feel the same way. Or if your MC is the suspicious one then let minor
characters show unease toward him/her.
6. Uncover
a weapon or something he/she was trying to hide.
The main thing to
remember is that although you make your hero/heroine appear bad, they really
aren’t. You have to explain why they did, thought, or said certain things that
made them look bad. Most of all, you have to prove their innocence! Or he/she
can really be bad, in which case you just put your readers through a vicious
mind tug-of-war. Bravo!
6
Tips to Make an Antagonist Appear Good:
1. Give
the antagonist an alibi. Even if it’s completely false, make it seem
rock-solid.
2. When
they are being questioned about a crime, give them the appropriate emotions
that an innocent person would convey. You can even make them act too good.
3. Make
them charming. It’s always the charmers that you have to watch out for! Nothing
is more creepy, or shocking, as realizing the man/woman the protagonist kissed
is evil.
4. Have
the antagonist do everything right. A true antagonist does this so they don’t
get caught.
5. Let
the antagonist be perfect. We all know no one is perfect, but someone with a
past to hide, with secrets to keep, and with a criminal mind will make
themselves appear perfect to fool everyone.
6. To
make him/her perfect, don’t show their anger or hate for anything, always have
them presentable and poised, and easily likeable. Only you, the writer, will
know about the true evil lurking beneath their disguise.
Bonus Tip: You can keep the identity of
the antagonist a secret from the reader, which would create a bigger shock once
you unmask him/her.
Of course, the antagonist
can’t be good all of the time. At the end of your book, or when you want to
show him/her for who they really are, put a wrench into the antagonist’s plan
to trick everyone. Bring his/her lies out in the open and show his/her true
nature.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After her car breaks down,
Beth Kennedy is forced to stay in Florida, the target of Hurricane Sabrina. She
stocks up supplies, boards up windows, and hunkers down to wait out the storm,
but her plan unravels when she witnesses a car accident. Risking her life, she
braves the winds to save the driver. Just when she believes they are safe, she
finds out the man she saved could possibly be more dangerous than the severe
weather.
Donovan Goldwyn only
wanted to hide from the police, but the hurricane shoved his car into a tree.
Now he's trapped with a beautiful woman while the evidence that can prove his
innocence to a brutal crime is out there for anyone to find.
As Hurricane Sabrina
wreaks havoc, Beth has no other choice but to trust Donovan to stay alive. But
will she survive, or will she become another hurricane crime?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chrys Fey is the author of the short stories—The Summer
Bride and Fallen. She created the blog Write with Fey to offer aspiring writers
advice and inspiration. She lives in Florida where she is ready to battle the
next hurricane that comes her way.
