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Don't mislead the reader. It is a cheap trick that will leave the reader unsatisfied and disinclined to trust you as an author. This does not mean you cannot have surprise, but the surprise should ...
Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2020-01-03T20:41:49Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/23381 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T05:19:53Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/23381 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
System
·
2019-12-08T05:19:53Z (over 4 years ago)
Don't mislead the reader. It is a cheap trick that will leave the reader unsatisfied and disinclined to trust you as an author. This does not mean you cannot have surprise, but the surprise should be produced by the logical progress of the story, not by artificially withholding information. Ask yourself, whose story is this. There may be surprises in the course of unfolding that person's story. They may be as surprising to the reader as they are to the character. But if you are telling a person's story and withholding information to create an artificial surprise for the reader alone, that is dishonest storytelling and the reader will not thank you for it.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2016-06-16T05:43:17Z (almost 8 years ago)
Original score: 2