My six-year-old has a favorite phrase of late: "Weren't you surprised?" He may say, "Weren't you surprised that I practiced my piano so fast?" (two minutes to practice three songs - am I supposed to be proud of that?) or "Weren't you surprised I picked a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for my lunch?" (he only eats them three times a day!) or "Are you surprised that I'm wearing this shirt?"
As a parent, I can play along and be "surprised," but I'm guessing most people wouldn't actually be so. I'm understanding that this is the key to fiction writing. As readers, we want to be surprised, really surprised. Predictability is mundane and boring - why waste time reading something where you know exactly what will happen and when. We may even be content to understand the end if how to get there is a mystery. Some books will even start with the end and then the rest of the book is the flashback to lead to that end. This can even heighten our enjoyment as we wonder how it is even possible to end there!
You may think I am talking only about mysteries or suspense novels, but I am not. If you are reading a romance, do you wonder who the girl will end up with or how or why? In historical fiction, how will real life events impact your fictional characters. I just finished a novel with a minor character named Benedict. I only know two Benedicts: Eggs Benedict and Benedict Arnold. I kept wondering how this Benedict would betray the main character. I was not let down in this, but I was surprised.
The current novel that I am working on prominently features apples. On the surface that doesn't sound very exciting. But will you be surprised by how they figure? I hope so. I do indeed hope so.
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