A writer needs to have an interesting story but how can they do that? Creating an interesting character can be a good way to do it, a character that can surprise the reader is an even better way.
Find ways to add that little extra something. Try some of these ways and see how they work for you.
Have the bank manager take some money, or maybe the movie store clerk has a habit of taking movies home without paying. The lady in the coffee shop keeps money from the checks instead of ringing them up. The neighbor lady likes to undress with the curtains open right across from the teenage boys' window every night.
Just like Jason in Halloween when his sister talks to him and he stops and realizes who she is for that one moment, have a bad character show some type of good response to another character. Bad guys don't always have to be so bad. Robin Hood stole from the rich but he gave to the poor.
Grandma can be bad sometimes, and grandpa well he's got his secrets too. They don't have to be the picture of virtue just because they are the older characters in the story.
Grandma sneaks out to smoke or drink, maybe she visits the neighbor guy next door. Grandpa urinates in the back yard or he squirts the neighborhood dog when he catches him in his yard. Grandparents do funny things we would never expect and it brings some funny stuff to the reader.
Finding ways to change what the common reader expects to find in a book will make it more appealing than the ordinary same old stories in most books. Laughter is a good thing and shock is a great way to wake up a reader and keep them coming back for more. Making your story closer to life can make your story unpredictable just as life is.
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