Last week, I posted this story about writing fish-out-of-water stories—stories about people who find themselves in unfamiliar surroundings and circumstances and struggle to fit in. Another trope I enjoy reading is the hidden identity, in which the protagonist hides some aspect of themselves to achieve a certain goal. I’ve always liked the suspense that builds as the character strives to keep their secret self hidden from others.

These characters lead double lives, with one foot in one setting and the other foot in another. They choose to conceal their true identities to protect themselves or the ones they love.

You probably recognize the secret identity trope from popular culture.

• In adventure and superhero stories, our hero often poses as a regular guy or gal on the street. Think of Superman’s Clark Kent who works for the local newspaper and meets his love interest, Lois Lane.
• In mystery novels and spy thrillers, the hero goes undercover to investigate a crime. This might be especially true for amateur sleuths who often disguise themselves to get close to their target.
• In fantasy and science fiction, the hero must often hide an aspect of themselves to protect themselves from a terrible, untimely demise. Harry Potter, for instance, must hide his magic powers when he returns home to his muggle parents, though they make it difficult for him to do so.
• In romance, the protagonist hides some aspect of themselves that they perceive interferes with their ability to find true love. For example, a prince or princess lives among commoners to escape their royal duties, or an heiress who hides her wealthy upbringing to seem more normal and attract someone who will love her for who she is not for her money.    
• In literary fiction, a character may adopt a new persona to hide from danger. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah comes to mind. Protagonist Isabelle becomes an underground messenger known by her code name The Nightingale to support the Allies during World War II.
  

According to First Draft Pro blog, the hidden identity trope explores themes of privacy, nature of self, duality and the consequences of leading a double life. There is often the conflict between the public face presented to others versus the personal self that those closest to you know best.

Like fish-out-of-water stories, hidden identity tropes resonate with the human experience. After all, who hasn’t presented a different persona in public settings while keeping their personal identity hidden? Why else would Halloween be such a popular holiday? Because it allows people to disguise their true selves and adopt a new persona that may be truly different from who they really are.

So how should you write these hidden identity stories? There are different approaches you can take that can build suspense while making your character relatable.

Approach 1: The Surprise Reveal
In this scenario, when the character’s true identity is revealed toward the end of the story, it usually surprises other characters and readers. It makes for a great plot twist. Jodi Picoult’s Leaving Time has one of the best and most surprising plot twists when readers discover the true identity of one of the main characters. It moves the story in an entirely new direction.

Approach 2:  Going Along for the Ride
Readers know the true identity of the protagonist early on, even though other characters haven’t learned about it yet. Readers are taken along for the ride as the protagonist fights to keep his identity hidden. Superhero stories are constructed this way. In Superman, we know who Clark Kent is long before Lois Lane does.  

Approach 3: Everybody’s in the Act
In this scenario, each of the main characters is hiding some aspect of themselves or guarding a secret. One by one, each of their secret identities is revealed. In Hallmark Channel’s The Christmas Train, for example, during a long cross country train ride, we learn about the cast of characters which include several actors hired by a scheming director to push the two romantic leads together. Other characters not involved in the plot have their own secret identities, including one woman who is actually a private investigator trying to uncover a string of thefts on the train.

When done well, the hidden identity trope can create suspense and keep your readers guessing about what secret the character is hiding and who your character really is.

To learn more about the hidden identity trope in romance stories, check out this post by Seacrow Books.