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How many meme references can you get into one discussion between characters while still moving the story forward?
Put your characters under pressure by adding a time limit or a time-sensitive task. Make them race against the clock. Bonus points if they run out of time…
A hypothetical question of ethics comes up resulting in two or more of your characters debating the “right” answer. The what now? There is a runaway trolly and…
What is your character terrible at? Make that the thing they have to do (and do well) and write about how they struggle and fail.
In the middle of a crisis, have your characters stop everything to have a drink. Ideally of tea.
Have a character tear their clothes at the least opportune moment and have to somehow avoid embarrassment but continue with a vital task.
Get dragons in your story. Perhaps as a figurine or maybe real fire-breathing dragons. Bonus points if the setting is not a fantasy novel. Double Bonus points if…
A simple spelling mistake leads your characters in an unrelated direction where they stumble upon facts they might never have discovered otherwise.
Add sheep to your story in the least likely place that sheep might ever be expected to be found.
Two significant characters have a serious disagreement over how to approach something. As they argue over the specifics, it slowly becomes apparent that they are both totally wrong.
A character says something innocent but it sounds so very dirty that everyone is shocked.
How many spoons (or references to spoons) can you get into a chapter unrelated to food or eating?
A humiliating secret that your character has kept hidden most of their life becomes public knowledge.
Have one of your characters steal something random on an impulse only for it to turn out to be significant later on.
Your character eats some undercooked chicken. As a result, at the critical moment they are locked in the bathroom and decidedly unavailable to take action.
Have a character tell a whopping great lie with the purest of intentions and the worst of all repercussions.
Include a reference to The Fires of Mordor from Lord of the Rings in a description unrelated to fantasy fiction.
A character discovers an old grimy mirror. The reflection it shows is not the room it is on.
Your character begins to notice that someone is following them. No matter where they go, it seems someone is watching. They don’t know why.