Category: Writing

A character who is a truth teller can be your best friend as a fiction writer. This type of character creates genuine conflict and makes it easier to reveal exposition in a quick, natural way.

But first, what is a truth teller?

Truth Tellers

You probably know a truth teller, or maybe you are one. That's the person who, whether you ask or not, will tell you when a color looks bad on you or your boss's critique of your skills is spot on or your novel drags in the middle.

The truth teller isn't trying to make you feel bad. They're giving honest feedback, at least from their perspective, because they believe that honesty is the best policy. Plus, the feedback might help you.

If you need straightforward, unfiltered information to improve your life, a truth teller is the one to ask.

Cordelia in Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a truth teller. Admonished for being tactless, Cordelia responds: “Tact is just not saying true things.”

Elizabeth Bennet, protagonist of Pride and Prejudice, is also a truth teller, a characteristic she learns to temper a bit during the course of the novel. But early on, and sometimes without knowing all the facts, she freely tells other characters when she thinks their choices, life philosophies, and behavior are in error.

Genuine Conflict Among Friends

Genuine conflict arises out of differences between characters that can't easily be solved. In contrast, false conflict exists where two characters could simply speak to one another and clear up the misunderstanding between them.

Unless you weave in very strong reasons why those two characters don't talk, false conflict frustrates readers. They can tell when you artificially create conflict by having characters hold back things they normally would share.

Genuine conflict is fairly easy to create between a protagonist and antagonist, as those two characters should have contrary goals. But creating conflict between your protagonist and their friends or allies is also key to keeping a plot or subplot engaging. That's a little harder to do because they're all on the same side.

That's where your truth teller comes in.

Sometimes, though it's not their goal, truth tellers hurt other people's feelings. Your protagonist may not want to hear about their missteps or flaws just now, which can lead to an angry response. Also, like anyone else, truth tellers can be wrong. In which case their tendency to speak without thought can cause a lot of harm if the listener doesn't remember that it's one person's view, not gospel truth.

Further, most people engage in denial at times or put off dealing with issues or habits that cause them trouble. The truth teller, though, won't have it. They'll call your hero on attempts to avoid, delay, or deny, forcing issues out into the open.

Finally, because they're not spending energy sorting out how to say something diplomatically or on whether something ought to be said at all, the truth teller often spots trouble and gets to the heart of it quickly. This is fantastic if you've got other characters who tend to miss warning signs, overthink, or hesitate to act.

The truth teller pushes them, and the story conflict, forward.

Easy Exposition

Because the truth teller forces issues and speaks without a filter, this character can bring out exposition in a natural way.

In real life, most people don't repeat background the other person they're talking to already knows. For example, I wouldn't say to a friend, “The other day I saw your ex-husband, John, who drove you into bankruptcy and gave signs even when you were first dating that he was terrible with money but you ignored them.”

Not only would my friend already know the history, she probably wouldn't appreciate what sounds like a criticism for not heeding early warning signs.

That's why a character who makes that kind of statement sounds clunky and forced.

A truth teller character, though, might very well say something like: “Hey, I ran into John. Too bad you ignored all those early warning signs and let him drive you into bankruptcy before you divorced him. But at least he seems pretty unhappy, too.”

Now you've shared back story with your reader through a character who has a tendency to point out flaws or mistakes, so it's believable. You've also started a potential conflict. John's ex will likely react defensively, maybe by explaining why they didn't see those early signs. Now you've revealed exposition in a way that's always interesting — through conflict.

I hope that's helpful!

Best,

L. M. Lilly

P.S. If you're looking for more on characterization, you might find my book Creating Compelling Characters From The Inside Out helpful. Available in ebook and print formats here.

Creating a strong story conflict starts with your protagonist and antagonist. The sample section below of How To Plot Your Novel: From Idea To First Draft shows how to do that.

But first, a few quick tips.

Life Is Hard

Make sure life is hard for your protagonist. Choose a goal that's difficult to reach. And remember, if you're writing a novel, the goal needs to be challenging enough that it takes the whole book for the protagonist to succeed or fail.

Strong Antagonist = Strong Story Conflict

Also, a strong story conflict requires a strong antagonist. Your antagonist's one job is to push against the protagonist. Make sure your antagonist is tough to beat and has a deep desire to achieve their goal.

Learn more on your main characters and plotting your novel in this sample section from How To Plot Your Novel: From Idea To First Draft:

To find out more about the course click here.

Good luck with your writing!

L.M. Lilly

P.S. Looking for more help with your novel but not sure about an online course? You can get free story structure worksheets here.

If you're struggling to sort out the plot of your novel and outlining isn't working (or just isn't for you), try a mind map.

A mind map is a non-linear way to plan before you write. I've used it for non-fiction books, legal briefs, and novels.

Using this technique helps me let go of my concern about what plot turn or scene (or non-fiction topic) comes first. Instead, I focus on what needs to happen as it occurs to me, then expand on it.

Here's how to do it.

The Blank Page

Start with a blank page. It can be notebook paper, butcher paper (as in my photo), or your screen if you have a program that allows for bubbles, lines, and words.

In the center, draw or circle or oval. In a few words, fill in your key conflict.

Is it solving a murder? A young man in love with someone out of reach? A superpowered protagonist who needs to defeat the villain?

Whatever it is, include it. Now you're ready to think about what will happen in your novel.

The Smaller Bubbles

Anywhere on the page, write a short phrase about something your protagonist needs to do to come into conflict with the antagonist. If you know character names you can include them. If you don't know, just describe the characters. Circle the phrase and draw a line connecting it to your main conflict.

For instance, say you're writing a romance with a protagonist named Gabriela who will fall in love with a teacher and eventually live happily ever after.

You might write “Gabriela and good-looking teacher clash, then fall in love” in the center circle. And in a smaller bubble you can write “Gabriela meets teacher at bowling alley.”

You don't need to know when she'll meet the teacher yet or why either character is at the bowling alley.

Now think of something else your protagonist needs to do. Or write about the antagonist. In our romance, you might write “Antagonist goes bowling.”

Again, you can place this bubble anywhere on the page. Also, this event can happen at any time in the novel. Once you've filled in a number of events, start thinking about what leads to them or happens because of them.

The Mind Map Spokes

Going back to Gabriela, you can draw spokes jutting out from the bubble about her meeting the teacher at the bowling alley. For each spoke, write ideas about what happens once she meets him, such as:

• She drops a bowling ball on his foot
• He had a bad day at work and is rude to her
• Her best friend flirts with him

You don't need to be sure about any of these ideas. You may use all of them or none of them later. Also, it's okay if you only write one idea for now. Or if you start with a different bubble.

You can also draw other spokes and bubbles to cover what happened before Gabriela met the teacher. If any of those event trigger other ideas about what needs to happen before that, draw spokes jutting out from them.

And so on.

When you run out of ideas, walk away. Take a walk, make dinner, or do something else on your To Do list. When you come back, odds are more ideas will have sprung to mind. Fill those in, too.

When The Map Is Full

Whenever you feel ready, look over your map as a whole. Write in any other ideas, using as many spokes and bubbles as you need.

Then consider in what order these scenes or events need to occur. You can write the phrases on index cards and lay them out in a rough chronological order. Read through them and if something seems off, move the cards around.

Or put the phrases on a list and number the list in order.

You'll probably number and renumber a few times before you feel satisfied.

Once you do, though, you've got an outline of your novel. Without ever officially outlining it.

I hope that's helpful.

L.M. Lilly

P.S. For more on painlessly plotting a novel, check out Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide To Plotting And Writing Your Novel.

How do you revise when your early readers find a scene or scenes dull or slow?

That's tough feedback to hear, especially if you thought what you wrote was gripping.

At the same time, you've been given a gift. Knowing when a reader feels bored is some of the most valuable feedback you can get. Because now you can revise to keep readers engaged from start to finish.

Here are three questions to ask yourself:

1. Do you need the scene?

Sometimes a scene or section of your novel feels slow because you don't need it. If you can remove it and the rest of the story makes perfect sense – and you don't lose any key character development – consider dropping it entirely.

2. Is it all exposition or backstory?

If the scene conveys information the reader needs, such as key backstory for a character, ask yourself if you can get that across more quickly. Or in a more engaging way.

For instance, let's say you wrote a flashback about your (adult) protagonist when she was ten and learned her mother died in a highway car accident.

Sounds fairly dramatic, right? But if it doesn't matter much to your present-day story, readers may very well find it slow.

Try sharing that backstory in a few sentences instead. Something like:

When she reached sixty miles per hour Anora immediately eased off the gas. When she was ten, her mother died in a highway crash. The other driver drove only ten miles over the limit, but it was enough.

You can also look for a way to convey the backstory through conflict. If your plot revolves around Anora's career you might try something like this:

Her boss frowned. “If I knew you planned to crawl there I would've driven. Pick up the pace or we'll miss the first half.”

“Driving fast makes me nervous,” Anora said.

“Fast?” He leaned closer to peer at the speedometer, which read fifty-five. “In no universe is this fast.”

“It is to someone whose mom was killed in a highway crash,” Anora said. But she pressed harder on the gas pedal. 

3. Does it include unnecessary detail or repetition?

If the scene moves the story forward, look at how it's written. You may have included a lot of unneeded detail or information. Or you might be repeating too much.

Think about that friend or coworker who takes forever to tell a story and you're dying for them to cut to the chase.

A few things to look for as you revise:

• “Hello, how are you?” dialogue

For the most part you can cut hellos, good-byes, good mornings, how was your days, etc. We all say those things in real life, at least we do if we're polite.

But while readers want the flavor of real conversation, the parts that interest them are the parts with conflict.

• Repetitive description

If you have 3 sentences describing the icy walkway, revise so there's only one. If you include paragraph after paragraph of the viewpoint character's internal thoughts about their spouse, look at each sentence and ask if it truly adds anything you haven't already covered.

If not, cut it.

• Telling what you've already shown

Look for instances where there's action or dialogue and you then tell the reader what it meant. In the dialogue above, for example, you don't need to add a few lines explaining that Anora's boss was irritated with her. Or that she pushed herself to drive a little faster because he was irritated, but it made her uncomfortable.

All that is already there.

I hope that's helpful. Good luck with your writing!

Best,

L.M. Lilly

P.S. Looking for help revising your plot? Download free Story Structure Worksheets here.