Comments on: The Big Seckrit

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:36:48 +0000

Janet – yes, the ‘not talking about it’ thing is SOOOO annoying! It might work the first couple of times but to drag it out to the end of the book just so the secret doesn’t get discovered too soon is irritating in the extreme.

Kerrin – Oh, thanks heaps for that!! So glad you found it useful!

By: Kerrin

Kerrin — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:06:53 +0000

awesome post Jackie! You are always so insightful!!
I have linked this post from my blog – hope that is okay! I just had to share it with my followers!!

By: Janet

Janet — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:41:17 +0000

I agree with Joanne –not a fan of the big misunderstanding (especially when it’s the main conflict for the whole book) eg He believes she’s due to marry someone else or he thinks she’s already married. But they don’t actually ask the other person (or have a good reason not to)so this stretches credibility quite a bit.

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:35:38 +0000

Sally – so true! Insulting is right. It’s the way they change that makes it interesting. They have to be different in the end otherwise what was the point of the story?

By: Sally Clements

Sally Clements — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:22:16 +0000

I really agree with you on this one, Jackie. There is nothing more annoying than discovering the secret at the end. Because it just seems so…so insulting to the reader. It’s like – you thought she was like this because…but actually… Now if the character reveals the secret, and changes behaviour as they grow, facing similar conflict than they’ve faced before, but with a different outcome, that’s powerful. They’ve changed. And we get to see their inner demons along the way!

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:12:56 +0000

Jo – Oooh, must check that out. Hurl at the wall is right. Annoys the hell out of me. I can understand the characters wanting to hide the secret as long as possible but sometimes it goes on longer than it should and what’s REALLY going on is lost under all the secret crap. 🙂

Lacey – hehe! Oh yeah, I’m not saying secrets are bad, it’s just when they get dragged out WAY beyond what they should.

By: Lacey Devlin

Lacey Devlin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:26:06 +0000

*rolls eyes at Jo* ;-)

Just kidding. Who can blame her for being obsessed with Jenny Crusie?

I'm a fan of BIG secrets. But as you said, they shouldn't carry the story right to the end or I'll pout.

By: joanne pibworth

joanne pibworth — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:50:48 +0000

Am not a big fan of misunderstandings / lies that carry the story. I read a new book over Christmas and it centred around the heroine having lied about her identity and then not feeling been able to confess – I wanted to hurl it up the wall.
The minxes will roll their eyes at this next bit, because I am obsessed with Ms crusie at the moment!… Jenny Crusie blogged recently about ‘the big lie’and ‘big misunderstanding’ here http://www.arghink.com/2012/01/07/the-three-goddesses-chat-romantic-comedy/
Makes perfect sense to me, and makes it so much harder to write without using cliches and crutches.