We usually expect the unexpected…

We have all read books. We have all loved them, hated them. Ever wondered why? Ever wondered why one such book grabs our attention that we want to read more books from that author? Ever wondered why sometimes even the world class books don't get our vote? What I am going to discuss is one of the most important thing about a storyline, so listen close. Have you ever read stories where you can literary tell what's going to happen next with your eyes closed and it really happens? Those scenes are called expected scenes. It doesn't take a genius to guess them. And there are some stories where whatever you guess don't happen. Those are called unexpected scenes.

So, when you think it over, you can probably guess that unexpected stories get more marks. That's one point you have got to keep in mind while writing: your story's too expected and you are out of the game.

Let's consider the following scene.

A guy and a girl go out to dinner. After dinner they drive to the top of the cliff and get out of the car. They stand really close to the edge. Then the girl pushes the guy off the cliff.

Okay, before we consider the guy here, who obviously is waiting for us to decide what happens to him, let's consider the motive behind the girl's action. Following things come to mind:

• The guy and girl had some dispute over the past.
  
• The girl might be taking revenge from the boy about something.
  
• It might be an accident.
  

Now, those things are expected. In a scene like this, you might expect a deep emotion to be the cause of the 'pushing over' or, it could just be a mistake. Now, if this scene is going to be in a great book, I am sure that the writer would want to associate an unexpected scene to this one, something that would hook the readers to the story and make them want to read more. The writer would spice the whole thing up a little. Far from ordinary, for example:

• The guy wanted to frame the girl of committing a murder so he threw himself down the cliff.
  
• The girl was under some sort of power.
  
• The girl was a guy in disguise.
  
• The guy was a girl in disguise.
  

Well, that's for now. We'll discuss more later on.