I live on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where we don't get a lot of ice. But it's been in the 30s the last couple of mornings, and this morning I looked out our front window to see an icicle hanging from our gutter. I was seeing the unexpected.
Sometimes it's fun to add something unexpected--a sort of surprise--into our stories. It wakes our readers up (not that we want them falling asleep in the first place). It makes our readers say, "Ah. I didn't expect that!"
Of course, we don't want a jolt out of the blue. But something small and unexpected is like a gift to our readers. As the writer Garrison Keillor would say, it makes them sit up and take notice.
Try adding something unexpected to your story. Maybe the cat in your story eats dog food. Or your character likes to wear mismatched socks. Or your character wakes up to find an icicle hanging from the gutter --in the spring.
Play around with the unexpected, and expect to have fun!
