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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/39791
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/39791
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

You do it by limiting the narrator's gaze. You can describe things from the point of view of one or more characters, who haven't yet figured out the secret identities of the celebrity characters. Or, if you have a broader narrator, you can simply turn away when the secret identities of the characters are more obvious.

A good example of this is _American Gods_. Despite the title, and the obviously supernatural happenings in the first few chapters, we do not know the identity of Mr. Wednesday until much later. Mostly because the book is from the point of view of a naive outsider.

We realize quickly Mr. Wednesday isn't who he claims to be, but we don't know he's a God—and we certainly don't know which one—until he tells us well into the book. Sure, some readers figure it out earlier, but I didn't. It's still a big reveal. It's not the biggest secret the author keeps from the reader either, because the main character doesn't know his own identity.

Every reader will have a different experience with your book. If you aim to keep the secret from every reader, then it will come as a shock to most, and not in a delightful surprise way. So tease your reader with hints and aim for maybe 80-90% to be surprised by the reveals.

Original score: 3