Tony Tips Tuesdays™: Writing Hidden Desires
- Tyrone Tony Reed Jr.
- Feb 3
- 4 min read
Some characters chase their wants openly.
They speak them.
They plan for them.
They announce them to the world.
But the most unforgettable characters?
They want something they’re terrified to name.
They bury it under responsibility.
They disguise it as anger.
They mask it as ambition, loyalty, bitterness, or pride.
And that hidden desire—the one they refuse to look at directly—is the truest version of them.
If you want your characters to feel alive, if you want readers to lean in and say“I know exactly why they did that”, you must learn to write what your characters won’t say.
Today on Tony Tips Tuesdays™, we’re going deeper into the craft of writing hidden desires—the emotional engines that quietly drive decisions, sabotage relationships, and eventually force characters to confront themselves.
And because today is the third day of Black History Month, we’ll also ground this lesson in real history by spotlighting a Black literary giant whose life and work embodied the tension between hidden longing and truth.
🔍 Hidden Desires Are the Story Beneath the Story
Hidden desires are not subplots. They are subtext.
They live beneath:
The stated goal
The public persona
The heroic mission
The rational explanation
Your character may say they want:
Justice
Success
Peace
Love
But what they really want might be:
To be seen
To be forgiven
To belong
To feel safe
To stop pretending
The visible goal moves the plot.
The hidden desire moves the soul of the story.
🧠 Why Readers Respond to Hidden Desires
Readers are intuitive.
They don’t just read what’s on the page—they read what’s between the lines.
Hidden desires work because:
Real people rarely say what they want outright
We recognize emotional avoidance instantly
We empathize with contradiction
A character who says one thing but behaves another way feels human, not artificial.
And humanity is what keeps readers invested.
⚖️ The Collision: Want vs. Permission
Every hidden desire exists because of a barrier.
Ask yourself:
Who told this character they weren’t allowed to want this?
When did they learn to hide it?
What would it cost them to admit it?
Hidden desires often collide with:
Culture
Faith
Family expectations
Trauma
Survival instincts
Power dynamics
The desire isn’t hidden because it’s weak.
It’s hidden because it’s dangerous.
✍🏾 Writing Hidden Desires with Precision
1. Let the Lie Be Clear
Most characters operate under a personal lie.
“I’m fine.”
“I don’t need anyone.”
“This is just who I am.”
The hidden desire is what threatens that lie.
Your job as a writer is to:
Identify the lie
Pressure it
Let it crack
2. Use Overcompensation
People often hide desire by overcorrecting.
A character who:
Overworks may crave rest or love
Controls everything may fear abandonment
Judges others harshly may envy their freedom
Excess behavior is a clue.
3. Create Moments of Near-Confession
The most powerful scenes are often almost moments.
A character:
Starts to say something, then stops
Jokes instead of admitting truth
Changes the subject at the worst possible time
Near-confessions build tension and anticipation.
4. Let the Desire Leak at Inconvenient Times
Hidden desires surface under pressure.
They show up:
During arguments
In moments of jealousy
When the character is exhausted
When something is almost lost
The worst timing often reveals the deepest truth.
5. Force a Choice
Eventually, the story must corner the desire.
The character must choose between:
Safety and honesty
Comfort and truth
Loyalty and selfhood
Whether they admit the desire or continue hiding it, the choice should cost them something.
🎬 Hidden Desires Across Storytelling
📚 Literature
Celie (The Color Purple) hides her desire for dignity, voice, and love because survival requires silence.
Gatsby hides his desire for acceptance behind wealth and spectacle.
Sethe hides her longing for peace beneath unbearable guilt.
These characters aren’t driven by what they say—they’re driven by what they fear admitting.
🎬 Film & TV
Moonlight shows how a hidden desire, left unspoken, can shape an entire life.
Insecure thrives on what characters won’t say to each other.
The Wire exposes how hidden desires for dignity and respect undermine systems built to deny them.
Hidden desires turn social stories into personal ones.
🖤 Black History Month Spotlight: James Baldwin
On this third day of Black History Month, we honor James Baldwin, a writer who understood the cost of hiding desire better than most.
Baldwin lived at the intersection of:
Race
Sexuality
Faith
Truth
He knew what it meant to want freedom, love, and honesty in a world that punished those desires.
Through essays and fiction, Baldwin exposed:
The damage of repression
The violence of denial
The liberation of naming truth
His work teaches writers an essential lesson:
What is hidden does not stay harmless. It shapes everything.
Baldwin didn’t just write about hidden desires—he challenged readers to confront their own.
That’s the power you’re aiming for.
🧩 Writing Prompts (Advanced)
A character denies wanting love—but panics when someone leaves.
A leader claims loyalty—but secretly longs for escape.
A believer hides doubt behind discipline.
A hero fears peace more than conflict.
A character finally gets what they said they wanted—and realizes it’s not enough.
Write the contradiction.
🎯 Final Thought: Desire Is the Truth Teller
Your character’s hidden desire is not optional.
It is:
The reason they hesitate
The reason they fail
The reason they change—or don’t
If you know what your character wants but won’t say, you can:
Predict their mistakes
Design their growth
Shape their ending
Don’t rush the reveal.
Don’t flatten the complexity.
Let the desire simmer until it demands attention.
That’s where unforgettable stories live.
Tony Tip™
“If you listen closely, your character’s silence will tell you exactly what they want.”
Until next time—Write boldly.
Write honestly.
And never underestimate the power of what your characters are afraid to want.
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