Faithful techniques: Creative writing and The Traitors

ASHLI GILES explains how The Traitors is an inspiration goldmine for fictional character creation [with no spoilers for the current season!]

Being a creative writer is not just about the uniqueness of your work and the specificity of the metaphors you create; part of the process is sourcing inspiration from the world around you.

     I take lots of inspiration from music, locations, conversations, and also, television. And at the minute, a great source of inspiration is BBC’s The Traitors.

     The Traitors blends the scripted with the unscripted, leading to raw, emotional performances from competitors debating over who is being truthful (the Faithful), or who is slowly ‘killing’ off players (the Traitors), all with the goal of winning £120,000 for themselves. Each episode culminates with the Round Table, a chance for players to debate amongst themselves and display evidence as to who they think is a traitor and why, based on what they’ve seen in people’s personality, appearance and performance. Leading to this, we witness moments of quiet conversation, scheming and, additionally, private moments where the players discuss their inner thoughts and feelings directly to us, the audience, and no-one else.

Traitorly traits

     What makes The Traitors so appealing as a writer is being able to study people’s responses to various stimuli based on the role they’ve been chosen to play out. As Claudia Winkleman lurks around the table, choosing her traitors, you can see the personalities of the people who have been chosen. Can they contain their smile when everyone is blindfolded? Or do they react obviously to the word ‘traitor’ being used, like Linda famously, and hilariously, did in 2025’s season? Can they withstand the pressure of concealing their emotions and true identity from the Faithful?

Additionally, when they are the victim of the directed onslaught of evidence, how do they defend themselves and implicate other players? Do they play it cool, and suavely manoeuvre the focus onto an unsuspecting Faithful? Or do they crack under the pressure and make mistake after mistake, ultimately turning everyone’s gaze onto them and result in being banished?

Observing emotions

     As a writer, it is interesting to observe, especially when considering scenes of emotional climax. How do your characters react to being implicated for something they didn’t do? Do they lead the group, or watch from the shadows? How do they build alliances that may be truthful or fake? Analysing all of these make our scenes more alive, more human, more realistic: aspects which are, unexpectedly, quite tricky when putting pen to paper, with only an idea in mind.

Calculating character creation

     Watching these scenes can even help in the creation of your characters before they are placed in your story. For instance, as the players introduce themselves to the audience and others, you can quite quickly learn about their personality and demeanour from how they speak and act in front of the camera. Some appear jubilant, excited to meet others and wanting to learn about them. on the other hand, some appear calm and mysterious, wanting to conceal parts of their identity as part of their game plan. Using this, how can we present our characters in ways that we intend?

Do they speak fast-paced and excitedly, paired with jittery movements in their hands? Or do they speak slow and low, only moving with purpose to show a calculated, potentially sinister demeanour? And how do they utilise their presentation to deceive other people? The possibilities are endless.

     So, next time you watch TV or engage in a conversation, think about how these moments can bring your characters to life in an engaging and tense way. As I write my Gothic mystery, The Traitors is perfect for bringing the tense and exciting into word-form.

Written by ASHLI GILES (BA English Literature with Creative Writing student, University of Chester, UK)