Some people like predictable stories. A lot of people like them. I'm not talking about stories without originality. Or without character. Just stories where the plot isn't twisty and weird.

You know the kind, where you start the book and it turns out to be a story about a boy who hates his father and the point of the story is for him to come to understand his father and there's a poignant scene at exactly page 185 where the father weeps and tells about his life, and the way his father treated him, and the boy and the father have a bonding moment. And then that's the end. A little denouement, something light involving friends (because that's what friends are for, in a book. You can have conflict with them, but not the main conflict. Because well, they're just friends.)

But even in a contemporary novel, I want something to happen that I don't expect. And I want to be satisfied by the ending. I know this is asking a lot. But I still want it. I think I'm even less forgiving than I once was because I have less time to read than I once did. Yes, I am an adult. I know that. I expect more from a book than a kid does. Probably. But does that mean that an author should just let him or herself off the hook? Well, you decide.

In a fantasy or a science fiction story, I also expect to be surprised. I don't think more so. Just the same. I want the writer to think, what does the reader expect to happen next? And then do something completely different. Only something that makes absolute sense considering the circumstances and the characters. I want a story that feels old and new at the same time. I want to be on a roller coaster where the car jumps off the tracks and I am terrified about what happens next, and thrilled all at once. (Note: this is a metaphor. I don't actually think that would be fun.)

And then again, sometimes what I expect to happen happens, only it's the results that are unexpected. That works, too. Where you start with an old story, and then roll off into new territory after that.

I think of this little letter that Joss Whedon put in the Angel collection I have where he talks about the difference between Buffy and Angel. Buffy is the super hero story. It knows what it is. It stretches the boundaries of that story, but it stays within it, too. And then there's Angel. In some ways, Angel is a much less successful series because every episode, you feel like you're watching a new show and you have no idea where it's going to go next (after Season 1, anyway). I think there are some serious coherence problems in Angel, and the last season is a disaster. But I'll tell you, I will watch Angel's worst episode four or five times anyway, because it's so different. It's so original. There's a writer willing to take risks.

I hope I am that kind of writer.