Masking and unveiling

E.B. White

Writing is both mask and unveiling.

E.B. White

So what did E.B. White, author of Charlotte's Web, mean by that?

Writers of fiction gradually reveal their stories, revealing the inner lives of their characters along the way. Unveiling is the author's job. Yet writers cannot unveil too much too soon. To create suspense and keep readers turning the pages, they must keep some things masked, at least until the time is right for the unmasking. Nobody would read an Agatha Christie novel if she had unmasked the killer in the first chapter. The Columbo television series famously revealed the killer early in each episode, but the mystery was how the detective would gather enough evidence to make an arrest in what seemed like the perfect crime. This unveiling never happened until the very end.

Fiction also reveals something about the author. Real events, real feelings and real people often show up in stories, yet they are usually disguised. Masks are worn.

Writers of nonfiction do their masking and unveiling in different ways. History writers must decide what to include and what not to include. Sometimes they have a particular ax to grind and and make such decisions accordingly. Political writers are even more likely to write in this manner, including what advances their argument, ignoring or downplaying what doesn't.

Those who write their autobiographies or memoirs must make such decisions on every page. The purpose of the book is unveiling, yet even so-called tell-all books probably don't really tell all. Sometimes they decide the mask is best kept in place.