The Masks We Wear: What Halloween Teaches Writers About Character Arcs

From Edie: Discover what Halloween reveals about character development. Learn how to unmask your characters and craft powerful, authentic arcs that transform readers.

The Masks We Wear: What Halloween Teaches Writers About Character Arcs

by Zena Dell Lowe @ZenaDellLowe

Every October, we put on masks and pretend to be something we’re not. But writers know this isn’t just a Halloween tradition — it’s human nature. Every character we create begins their journey behind a mask.

The Masks Our Characters Wear

At the start of a story, our heroes are not yet heroes. They may have all the raw materials — courage, compassion, conviction — but they haven’t yet embodied their true nature. They might have heroic potential, but they’re still playing a role — pretending, avoiding, or hiding. Here are the most common “masks” in story:

• A false identity or protective persona (the image they present to the world)
• Lies they believe about themselves (“I’m not worthy,” “I don’t need anyone,” “I’m fine”)
• Roles they play to survive — dutiful daughter, charming rogue, people pleaser, cynic, etc.

We all wear masks for the same reason — to protect ourselves. We want to be liked. We want to belong. We want to feel safe. But masks also keep us from seeing ourselves clearly, from being known, and from living fully in our purpose.

Our heroes start out just like us — afraid of being seen, unsure of their worth. The story becomes their path toward authenticity, where they slowly take off the mask and become who they were meant to be. And the story itself is the process of taking the mask off.

The Call to Adventure: The First Crack in the Mask

Every story has a moment that shatters the illusion — the call to adventure, or inciting incident. This is when the hero’s mask starts to crack. Something happens that makes it impossible for them to keep pretending.

• Peter Parker hides behind shyness and anonymity until his uncle’s death forces him to embrace his true responsibility.
• Elizabeth Bennet wears the mask of moral superiority until she’s humbled by her own prejudice.
• Elsa in Frozen hides behind control and isolation until love exposes her fear and frees her from it.

The call to adventure is the first demand for authenticity. It’s the story’s way of saying, “You can’t keep pretending anymore.” And from that moment on, the character’s journey is about choosing to become who they were always meant to be.

The Price of Authenticity

But taking off the mask always costs something. 

When a character begins to live authentically, they must be willing to face the consequences of being known. They risk rejection. They risk failure. They risk losing the relationships, reputations, or comforts that their disguise afforded them. But that’s the necessary price of transformation. 

Every story is its own kind of Halloween – a journey from disguise to truth. And authenticity requires sacrifice. It demands that we value something bigger than ourselves — truth, love, duty, or calling — more than we value comfort or safety.

By the end of a powerful story, the mask is gone. The character stands revealed — not as who they were pretending to be, but as who they truly are. Sometimes that’s the hero, finally stepping into their destiny. Sometimes it’s the villain, finally embracing the darkness they’ve been denying. Either way, by the end, there’s no illusion left. We see them clearly. And so do they.

Helping Your Characters Unmask

Transformation doesn’t happen by accident. As writers, we must engineer moments that strip the mask away. So how do we, as writers, help our characters take off their masks?

• Give them a noble cause.
• When a character is called to something bigger than themselves, they have to stop hiding. Courage is born in the act of serving something higher — something worth the risk.
• Give them unique gifts or skills.
• Even if they don’t see their own worth, they already have abilities that hint at who they really are. It’s through using these gifts that they grow into their truest selves.
• Let failure strip away their false selves.
• Every time they fall short, another layer of the mask peels away. Each defeat exposes a truth they’ve been avoiding — and forces them to face it.
• Reward authenticity with clarity.
• As they begin to act in alignment with their true values, they start to see themselves (and the world) more clearly. Confidence grows not from perfection, but from integrity.

The goal isn’t to shame the mask — it served a purpose once — but to outgrow it.

The Writer’s Role

Ultimately, that’s our job as storytellers: to help our characters — and our readers — unmask. We guide them through fear, failure, and revelation until the truth finally shines through. By the end of the story, the mask falls away, and what’s left is something radiant and real.

That’s what great storytelling does. It reminds us that the person we pretend to be is never as beautiful as the person we actually are. Because the world doesn’t need more people pretending.

It needs more people willing to be seen.

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The Masks We Wear: What Halloween Teaches Writers About Character Arcs from @ZenaDellLowe on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Zena has worked professionally in the entertainment industry for over 20 years as a writer, producer, director, actress, and story consultant. Zena also teaches advanced classes on writing all over the country. As a writer, Zena has won numerous awards for her work. She also has several feature film projects in development through her independent production company, Mission Ranch Films. In addition to her work as a filmmaker, Zena launched The Storyteller’s Mission with Zena Dell Lowe, a podcast designed to serve the whole artist, not just focus on craft. In 2021, Zena launched The Storyteller’s Mission Online Platform, where she offers advanced classes and other key services to writers. Zena loves story and loves to support storytellers. Her passion is to equip artists of all levels to achieve excellence at their craft, so that they will truly have everything they need to change the world for the better through story.

To find out more about Zena or her current courses and projects, check out her websites at WWW.MISSIONRANCHFILMS.COM and WWW.THESTORYTELLERSMISSION.COM