Do you love a surprise?

There’s a new addition to my Story Power series of videos, and it’s all about surprise

Some of a story’s most memorable moments strike us out of the blue. These surprises pack a punch, keeping us involved in what’s happening on the page and wanting to know more.

When we’re blindsided by surprise in a story, it creates shock and has an immediate impact. It affects us in the moment, but its influence can quickly dissipate, meaning something else—like curiosity or suspense—will need to take its place to keep us glued to the story, turning pages to find out what happens next.

The stealthy superpower

As a story ingredient, surprise’s stealthy superpower is its ability to focus our attention like no other. Think about a time when someone handed you one of those gag gifts, the can of nuts with a coiled up snake inside.

Or jumped out at you, screaming, “Boo!”

In that moment, everything else fell away and your attention was totally focused on what just transpired.

Let the surprises fall where they may

It happens like that in a story, too. Surprise grabs your attention, narrows your focus, and whets your appetite for more.

Though we don’t always appreciate the surprises that occur in real life, in the pages of a book, we love being surprised—those twists and turns that make the story exciting and rivet our interest.

So dive into a story and let the surprises fall where they may!

I hope you’ll take a moment to watch this two-minute entertaining video. And then stick with me as I explore and share the power of Story in future videos. Thank you for watching.

How about you? Do you love surprises in the stories you read? Tell us about it in the comments.