Dramatic Irony vs. Surprise: Which One Should You Use (and When)?

By Janice Hardy

Should you clue readers in or keep them guessing?

It’s one of those sneaky little questions that pops up mid-draft, usually right when you’ve got a big moment brewing. You’re plotting a reveal, or writing a high-stakes scene, and BAM!—you're second-guessing yourself. Should readers know what’s coming, or should they be as shocked as the protagonist? Will a slow-building dread serve you better, or is it time for a jaw-dropping twist?

It's time to choose between dramatic irony and surprise.

Both are powerful narrative tools that, when used well, can hook your reader, raise your tension, and add a satisfying emotional punch. But used poorly? You risk confusing your audience, frustrating their expectations, or even undercutting your story’s payoff.

Three Types of Irony in Lois Lowry's The Giver

By Natalie Odisho

Let’s Get Lit: Spotlight on Allegory

In The Giver, Jonas is scolded for using imprecise language of “starving”. He is assured by the community that he will never be starving in his life. Isn’t it ironic?

"It’s ironic, a little too ironic don’t you think?" Aside from Alanis Morisette’s literary lyrics, irony is a common rhetorical device used to add drama and mystery.

Lois Lowry uses irony to create complicated layers of ethics, emotion and morality in The Giver. The Giver is the groundbreaking 1994 Newbery award winner in which a young boy, Jonas, is sorted into a painfully real career receiving memories from a tired Giver in a seemingly perfect community.

(Warning! Spoiler alert for The Giver. Read at your own caution.)

How Dramatic Irony Can Heighten Tensions and Strengthen Plots

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Dramatic irony is a fun way to create tension in a story while building a strong plot.

Dramatic irony is a wonderful tool to create mystery and tension in a novel. Not only does it allow you to convey vital information, it lets readers in "on the secret' and makes them feel like they're part of the story. 

For those unfamiliar with the term, dramatic irony is when the reader knows information but the characters don’t, and some of the story's tension comes from wondering what will happen when those characters finally meet or realize the truth.

(Here's more on dramatic irony)

There’s a lot of fun for readers to imagine how things would be different if only the characters knew what they knew (this works especially well in the romance department). It's also fun to play one character off another, which can add a nice layer of mystery since the reader might not be sure which character is telling (or knows) the truth and which one is wrong.

Oh, the Irony: Working With Dramatic Irony

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

One of my favorite techniques is dramatic irony, which itself is a little ironic since I've discovered I love first person. Harder to pull of dramatic irony when there's only one POV.

So what is dramatic irony?

Basically, it's when the reader knows more about what's going on than the characters, and they see the meaning or truth where the characters do not.