"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader." - Robert Frost
I think that the writer can look at this in several ways. First, if the writing is not difficult enough, thought-provoking enough, or self-searching enough to cause the writer a few tears, the reader will sense this and feel as though the story is not 'enough' either. Second, if the writer can feel genuinely enough to care for his characters, feel their pain, as well as their joy, cry tears for them and laugh hysterically with them, the reader will embrace these emotions as their own as well.
Surprise works the same way. If the writer does not allow his plot to flow in the direction that it wishes (plots do have a mind of their own), the reader will be bored with what is happening in the story, even if it is an action/adventure story. You as the writer must set the plot free and allow it to surprise you, and in turn it will surprise the reader.
It always catches me off guard when my plot wants to vary from my outline because I'm not a by-the-seat-of-my-pants writer. I've learned, however, sometimes it is best to toss the outline and let my plot do its own thing. They really do have a mind of their own.
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