Betrayal: Why You Can Only Trick Your Reader So Much and No More

A few years ago I was reading the third book in a fantasy trilogy I had been really enjoying. At least, so far I had really enjoyed it. The first book had been excellent, the second good, and the third was just…meh. Why wasn’t I enjoying this series anymore? One of the reasons was the constant betrayal.

Betrayal in and of itself isn’t a bad thing; in fact, when done well it can be absolutely excellent in a story. What was wrong with this particular story was that the same characters switched sides over and over again. There was no one for you to root for. I hated this. It meant I couldn’t become attached to anyone, and when I did start to like a character, they would switch to the wrong side again.

I couldn’t trust anybody in the story.

I stopped reading it.

Betrayal is popular in writing. A lot of adventure series you read, especially if it’s a genre like high fantasy where there’s an evil overlord trying to take over the main character’s country, will have betrayal in it. A lot of people like betrayal, and so do I. It adds a twist to the story that you don’t expect. But here’s the thing that all writers should come to terms with: You can only trick your readers so much and no more. It’s definitely a possibility to overdo the betrayal. What will happen if you overdo the betrayal or do betrayal badly? The reader is going to feel like they can’t trust anyone in your story, and they aren’t going to like that. When we read a story we want to be rooting for the characters. Sure, it’s fine to have one or at most a couple rogue characters who switch sides and betray their family and friends, and it’s fine to have some of those couple rogue characters maybe switch back. But you can’t keep having several characters betraying the main character, coming back to the right side, and then switching again and again. What’s wrong with this? It’s not only confusing, but it’s inconsistent. People are consistent. In real life do you think that people are going to switch sides like that over and over again? Probably not. It’s not only confusing to the reader and not only makes them feel like they can’t trust anyone, but it’s also unrealistic. You don’t want to make your betrayal unbelievable.

I’ll close this article with the fact that if you think you can do betrayal well, then I wouldn’t hesitate to put some in your story if it would fit well in it. But remember: You can only trick your readers so much and no more. Be true to your readers and give them something to trust, believe in, and root for in your story. Earning someone’s trust, even in a story, is important.