Sometimes in a short story or novel, you'll want the reader to know (or at least have a good guess at) something that your character doesn't yet know.

This could be for a number of reasons. Maybe you want to build the stakes and the tension: we know some vital piece of information and we're worried whether the character will discover it in time. Or maybe you want to raise more questions in the reader's mind and prompt them to keep reading. You could be highlighting the character's naive or vulnerable nature.

The literary term for this technique is dramatic irony ... and you'll probably have come across examples in classic works of literature. A good example is Shakespeare's Othello, where we the audience know that Desdemona is honest and Iago is scheming and manipulative long before Othello realises this.

Giving the reader access to information that your main character doesn't have can be a little tricky. Here are some options to consider.

#1: Using the Omniscient Perspective

One (slightly clunky) way to convey information succinctly is to simply tell the reader. You might have come across this in the classic phrase Little did he know...

Let's say your character James is preparing for a job interview. He doesn't know that the interviewer is Amanda, the ex he ghosted four years ago ... but you want the reader to have this information. Assuming you've already established who Amanda is, you could write:

As James prepared for the interview, he had no idea that he was going to be facing Amanda. 

The problem with this method is that it takes the reader out of the character's head. The omniscient perspective is a valid choice, but it can be hard to handle well, and it can seem old-fashioned to many readers.

#2: Using a Naive Narrator

If you haven't yet detailed your characters, but you know a key part of the plot is going to involve the main character not knowing something, then it may make sense to choose a protagonist who's quite naive or struggles to understand the world.

Your main character might be very young, like five-year-old Jack in Room by Emma Donoghue. They could be neurodiverse, like fifteen-year-old Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. This type of perspective could let you subtly convey information about other characters or the story world without your protagonist fully understanding it.

Even if you have a character who isn't particuarly naive, you could still have them distracted or confused by a piece of information that you're hoping the reader will pick up on.

#3: Using a Secondary Character's Perspective

This is probably the simplest method: you can simply put forward the information in a scene that doesn't include your main character. 

You'll need to consider why the secondary character is keeping this information from your protagonist. (Are they enemies? Is the importance of the information not clear to the secondary character? Do your characters think the protagonist already knows?)

Obviously, this method only works if you're willing to use multiple perspectives, which is tricky in a first-person narrative and may not suit some third-person ones.

Managing the flow of information in your story can be tricky. Sometimes, readers may not pick up on clues that you thought were obvious; other times, your subtle foreshadowing may not be subtle enough, and readers will see your twist coming a mile off.

Giving the reader information that your main character isn't (yet) privy to can be tough, but hopefully one of the ideas above will suit your story.