WHAT IS YOUR CHARACTER IS WRONG

One of the hardest things to do as a suspense writer isn’t creating a clever twist or a chilling villain. It’s allowing your main character to fail.

Not just stumble. Not just hesitate. Fail

As writers, we spend so much time building competent, capable protagonists – especially in suspense. Detectives, profilers, investigators – these are people who are supposed to notice what others miss. Readers trust them. We trust them. So, when they make a mistake, when they follow the wrong lead, trust the wrong person, or come to the wrong conclusion, it can feel uncomfortable. Even risky.

But here’s the truth: those mistakes are often where the story comes alive. A character who gets everything right may be impressive, but a character who gets something wrong becomes human. And more than that, it raises the stakes.

In suspense, being wrong isn’t just embarrassing. It can be dangerous. It can cost time. It can cost trust. And sometimes, it can cost lives. That kind of weight changes everything in the story. It deepens the emotional impact of the novel. It forces your characters to question themselves. And it gives readers something powerful to connect with, because we all know what it feels like to realize we were wrong about something that mattered.

In the second book of my new series, “The Holmes and Watson Files,” my protagonist comes face-to-face with that reality. What he believed was settled isn’t settled at all. A man who spent years in prison – because of a case Detective Nate Holmes helped build – may be innocent. As Nate begins to see the truth, the pressure of his possible mistake presses in from every side. He learns that sometimes the past doesn’t stay buried – and sometimes it turns out we buried the wrong truth.

For an author, the key, of course, is balance. The mistake has to make sense. It has to come from who the character is, their past experiences, their biases, their fears. When that happens, it doesn’t weaken the story. It strengthens it. It also opens the door for one of the most satisfying elements in suspense: redemption.

When a character recognizes their mistake and chooses to face it – to correct it, learn from it, and keep going despite the cost – that’s when readers become engaged with your story. That’s when it stops being just about solving a mystery and becomes about something deeper.

So, the next time you’re tempted to let your character be the smartest person in the room, consider this:

What if they’re not?

What if they’re wrong?

You might just find that’s where your story truly begins.

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