Quote

It's kind of part of human nature to want to know the truth or want to be in on the secret. For stories that focus in on that - like whodunits - it's easy to get drawn into.

One of the ways that you reveal character is by getting a character into a situation and seeing what they do.

There are secrets at the heart of every story; there is something that must be uncovered or discovered, both by the reader and by the characters.

If you have a secret, and it's embarrassing to you, when you tell that story - you own it. It becomes yours, and no one can use it against you.

The more you are known, the more difficult it is to hide behind characters.

Any movie I've done, my character has had a secret. Whether it's in the movie or not, it is usually never and it's usually not something I tell anybody. It is for me.

You run the risk, whenever you build your story around a central mystery, of either letting it go too long, or revealing it too soon and then taking the wind out of the sails of the narrative.

Characters are often revealed by the ways they misapprehend others.

That's the mark of a great storyteller, never to give away secrets in advance.

Sometimes I know what my characters are moving away from or toward; more often I just wait and see. For instance, though I knew Sinkler in 'The Trusty' was going for water, I did not know that he would meet a fetching young farm wife until I got him into her front yard.