When I was nine or ten, I read a book called The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler by Gene Kemp.

It was, as I remember it, a fun and quick read. But (apologies for the spoiler), what I remembered most was an astounding twist at the end: the narrator, Tyke, who I'd assumed to be a boy, turned out to be a girl.

This twist surprised and delighted me when I was a child (and when I hadn't come across that trick before). I think it worked well in the context of that book, too.

Obviously, Tyke knew she was a girl. Everyone around her knew she was a girl. But the reader didn't.

Is that a fair trick to play?

I think it can be. Sometimes, concealing something (that would be obvious to other characters in the story) about your narrator can surprise the reader in a good way, perhaps turning their assumptions about your protagonist or your story world on their head.

This is what TV Tropes (one of my favourite time-wasting sites) calls a "Tomato Surprise" ... and the specific version "this character you thought was male is actually female" is "Samus is a Girl". 

Concealing information like this can be powerful, but it can also fall rather flat.

I think it works best in relatively short works: think a short story or novella, rather than a whole novel. It's hard to successfully mislead a reader during the course of a novel ... and they may end up feeling that the deception was a bit pointless.

You also need a good reason to hide obvious information: perhaps you want the reader to question their assumptions, or the hidden information is important for your worldbuilding or plot.

So when doesn't it work? I don't think it worked at all well in The Light Brigade, a novel I've been reading for the SF book group I attend. The main character, Dietz, is consistently not described in any gendered terms. Other characters are gendered, though there's no real distinction in behaviour between the female and the male soldiers. 

The revelation at the end that Dietz is female just doesn't have any impact. I'd assumed so from the first chapter, mostly because of the author's resolute refusal to let us know Dietz's gender. There's also no real reason to hide it, because there doesn't seem to be any difference in how female and male characters behave or how they're treated in the story.

If you're going to conceal something obvious about your main character from the reader, something that most or all of the other characters will know, then make sure you have a good reason for doing so. You also need to be in control of when you reveal that information: if the reader has guessed by page 10 and your reveal doesn't come until page 400, that's likely not to work well.

Happy writing,

Ali

P.S. If you missed last week's blog post, you can find it here:

Never Miss a Deadline: Seven Foolproof Techniques to Stay on Top of Your Writing Assignments