Have you ever watched something unexpected happen?
My now-8 year old daughter was a cute baby. She was roly-poly and liked singing to herself in baby babble. Her hair stuck straight up and her serious eyes stared directly at or through you.
When cooing strangers in the grocery store came up to my baby? She’d fire them an unblinking, belligerent glare that could curdle milk. Then she’d recoil–withdraw her arm, her head, her whole body from the stranger’s looming proximity. She looked like an outraged adult, offended by an unwelcome advance.
The strangers would draw back and laugh nervously. I’d mildly say, “ I’m sorry. She’s so funny sometimes.” And then I’d laugh hysterically as soon as the stranger left my aisle. The strangers’ reaction to her unexpected response was always so funny. Just like watching “Candid Camera.”
I’m really fond of the unexpected in my writing and I lenjoy reading it, too.
What surprises are good for:
For adding humor or quirkiness: You think a character is going to behave in a particular way. You’ve carefully portrayed Edna as an uptight prude. Your protagonist views Edna that way. Then Edna says something outrageous and brazen that completely shatters this stereotype. Or Edna invites the protagonist to lunch—and serves McDonald’s Quarter Pounders with Cheese on her delicate china. And Bloody Marys.
For suspense: Your character juggles his groceries on one hip while he fumbles with his house key. It’s a ho-hum scene with a character focused on doing two things at once. Ho-hum until he feels the gun pressing into his side.
As a distraction: Mystery writers need to put in clues. We don’t particularly want our readers to notice the clue until it’s time for the case to be solved. A suddenly erupting argument or a quickly-contained but alarming grease fire provides a wonderful opportunity to slip in a clue under the radar.
As a breath of fresh air: Is your scene getting stale? Is your character going through the same motions every day? Are their days a little too ordinary. Liven things up with something unexpected. It doesn’t have to be something major (scary landing during their plane trip)—it could be something as minor as a flat tire or a broken air conditioner that takes their day on a different and surprising trajectory.
Surprises may not be as fun in real life as they are in books. Do you enjoy throwing in unexpected elements to your story? Do you use big or little twists?
Elizabeth – I agree that haviing the unexpected happen is such a useful strategy for slipping clues in! I think that’s my favorite use for it when I read. When I write, I use the unexpected to keep the action going and to set the scene for something else that’s going to happen.
Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot often mentions what he calls a psychological moment, during which everyone’s attention is riveted on something (say, a bee buzzing around), so that the murderer gets her or his chance. The unexpected works for that, too.
This is an interesting post, Elizabeth. I’ll have to remember to use the unexpected as outlined in your suggestions. Great advice!
I love the unexpected, and I love surprises. I appreciate that my characters always throw me a twist that I didn’t see coming. It keeps me feverishly writing.
Surprises are GOOD. Twists are GOOD. There’s nothing better than having my crit group say, “I never saw that coming.”
Of course, DOING it is something else.
They can be small: my six-foot-six cop didn’t play basketball in college; he rowed crew, and instead of a big, mean dog, he has two cats.
A lot of times the surprise is as surprise for me too, as when I found out my cop was an accomplished pianist.
Then there was the book where I didn’t know what the secret “thing” everyone wanted actually was, or who the bad guy was until well into the writing.
The unexpected is good in mysteries. Stories that have characters like Edna that completely show a different side to them are the best. Those type novels keep the reader guessing, wanting more. As a reader you not only enjoy the book for what’s there, but you feel the author is inviting you to play along and try guess if there is more twists and turns coming.
I enjoy the unexpected as well. My mc started off as kind of a doormat. When she blows up unexpectedly, it’s fun!
I love surprises, too, in reading and in writing. When they surprise me while I’m writing, I know they’ll surprise the reader. The ones I create knowingly, I’m never sure about.
Love your daughter!
I love using surprises! Most of the time they happen by accident by me, but they are definitely the most fun!
Oh, I love this!! Surprises are so important in literature. I think the rule of thumb is to always take your reader by surprise, but do it in a way where the reader ends up thinking, “that’s absolutely right.” Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions for adding surprise.
Great post.
Hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season.
That is hilarious about your daughter!!! Great post. I’ve made a big point to put lots of unexpected moments into my MS. Hope I did it justice :)
I love surprises in books. If the unexpected doesn’t happen occasionally, the book can get boring. Since I like this in books I read, I pay attention to having surprises in books I write.
Great post, Elizabeth. And I love your daughter, even though I’ve never met her. She most likely will grow up with personality and spunk!
Helen
Straight From Hel
These are great points. I might refer to this article in a future blog if you don’t mind.
ann
Hello Elizabeth!
I love the unexpected twists and turns that turn up in books. Especially mysteries. Anytime I can gasp and say “no WAY!” in a book is a good thing :)
Happy Monday,
Jen
LOVE surprises in books, both when reading and when I write them. Good list of uses for them here, Elizabeth!
Marvin D Wilson
Those little touches and quirks are often what makes a book!
Unexpected surprises are great when you want to introduce something to the reader, such as the list you mentioned.
Planting clues is fun. I also had a hint of taboo to hidden clues so they stand out just enough that the reader will remember them.
I’ll also rush through a clue. Example, while planting a clue as detectives are sorting through details of a murder, I added, “Vasquez checked his rearview mirror to make sure Buerling made it through the yellow light that he probably should have stopped at. They were right behind him.”
Although I’m not rushing the reader, I am rushing the read (hope that made sense). I’ve planted the clue, but I’m adding the element of “rushing a particular action” to keep the reader from pondering the clue too much and start making connections before I’m ready for them to do so.
Stephen Tremp
Margot–So true! I’d forgotten about “Murder in the Air” (is that the name of it?) It’s cool that Christie had murders occur with other people around–with the aid of a distraction. All my murders have taken place off-stage.
Kathleen–Thanks so much!
Tamika–And it makes it more fun to write, doesn’t it?
Terry–If you don’t know who the killer was until the end of the book (and you’re *writing* the book), then you’ve got a good read on your hands! To me, that’s the most fun–everyone *could* have done it. It makes the plot more mysterious.
Mason–And there are many books that seem to follow a particular pattern. Or the character’s days follow a pattern. I have a pattern in my life…I want more of an escape when I’m reading!
Marybeth–She’s a mess. :) Hope the surprises worked out well in your manuscript.
Helen–If a book is as predictable as my life is? Not a good thing.
Jemi–That IS fun. And makes the reader go, “Oh! I didn’t really know her that well, after all…”
Carol–I know what you mean. When I’m brainstorming a surprise, it never quite seems right to me.
Ann–Absolutely…feel free. And thanks.
Kristen–That’s fun when the surprise kind of writes itself!
Marvin–Thanks! I bet you like surprises in life, too. I’m a little more hesitant around real-life surprises than fictional ones, but you’re more adventurous than I am.
Diane–It makes them fun, doesn’t it?
Carolina–You’re so right. Because if the reader is thinking, “That’s really odd!” then we haven’t integrated the surprise to the story in a believable way.
Stephen–That’s a good idea. By hurrying along the action, the reader isn’t able to take too much notice of what’s going on…and you can slip in a clue.
I also enjoy the unexpected. I am not sure I am that good at it in novels, but according to my readers my flash fiction pieces do surprise them.
I love the unexpected in books and in real life. I was buying a bookmark (which was all I could afford in this very posh hand-made book shop in the city) and this wealthy woman was chatting to the shop owner about the difficulty of bringing pens as carry-on in airplanes these days. The well-mannered wealthy woman suddenly quipped, “I don’t see why they bother. If you really want to do some damage, a large earring jammed in someone’s eye will do the trick.” We all laughed, and she apologised, as though mortified she’d actually said that aloud, but it was great to see the savagery lurking beneath such a smooth exterior!
These blog posts are good for making me think. I’m very automatic when I write. I don’t generally think ‘why’ I employ a certain writing device; I do it by instinct, because writing it any other way feels ‘off.’
I’ve never really thought about adding surprising plot twists? I write literary fiction though, so usually it’s a surprising character that freshens up the story.
I try to end on a fresh note in a chapter, rather than ending in a predictable way. And if it’s possible to turn the plot, I generally do.
I can’t cite any examples, though, because I didn’t think it through when I wrote as a means to freshen the read. I just knew ‘this is what happens next’ and wrote what I saw.
Love the picture of your daughter.. how much fun
and love the idea that our characters can also be spontaneous and quirky.. makes them so much more fun… I’m so new to this writing thing- it’s great to see so many sides
Jen–Me too! Or in a movie. I had the same response watching “Sixth Sense,” I remember. “No WAY!”
Corra–I think instinct, if you’re a reader, is usually unerring. You *know* what makes a good story and the story almost tells itself.
Dorte–They *are* surprising. You do twists really, really well.
Sally–It does make them fun, doesn’t it? If they’re more like real people who can be surprised or taken off-guard? Then they’re more like us!
I imagine being a bitty baby and having complete strangers fawning all over would be kind of frightening. I love to be surprised when I’m reading, predictable is boring.
Elizabeth–That’s what I think, too. If a book is too much like real life, then where’s the fun with it?
Lorel–Oh, that is a GREAT story! It’s those little moments that make us raise our eyebrows that really rock. It makes us wonder what kind of a person she is! Is she frustrated in her well-ordered life? Got a lot of pent-up fury? What a great character!
Excellent post, Elizabeth. I agree, sometimes you have to have the characters break stereotype – not something so far off it is not believable but maybe showing a different aspect of personality just to the left of the expected. It makes you sit up and pay attention…not get so comfortable with the character you can predict everything they say or do. It does provide a great distraction for the reader so they may miss that subtly placed clue too which will throw them off the trail. Love those surprising little twists!
Nancy, from Realms of Thought…