22 April 2011

What Surprises Your Character?

Today is Good Friday.  I grew up in the northern hemisphere where Easter is celebrated in Spring.  Here we are now starting to feel the freshness of autumn at either end of the day.  Spring in the northern hemisphere and Autumn here can be similar in terms of weather.  I suppose the biggest difference is the approach of winter rather than waving it goodbye.
For the first few years I lived in New Zealand Christmas was the biggest difference.  Christmas in the summer!  Weird didn’t even begin to describe how that first Christmas felt.  Barbeques and holidays at the beach - don't get me wrong I'm not complaining - but it was vastly different to snow, cold noses, and dark evenings.  It took me years to get used to it, and even now it still occasionally feels funny to be in summer clothes while shopping for presents, watching the shopping mall Santa’s sweltering in their white beards and red outfits, and listening to Christmas songs playing in the shops.
What would surprise your protagonist?  Not necessarily the large events that change their lives and start them on their character arc journey, but the smaller things that can round them out as a person, and add more depth to their character.

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