Sunday, September 30, 2012

Mundane Tasks

Today is a day for getting chores done. We were out all day yesterday, so that means the work needs to be done today: laundry, cleaning, putting up Halloween decs, etc. It will be a busy day.

It got me to thinking. Do our characters ever do such mundane tasks? Readers probably don't want to hear about your hero or heroine cleaning the bathroom or doing the laundry. But what if obssesive neatness was a character trait for one? In order to show rather than tell, shouldn't there be at least one scene involving him/her cleaning the house? I did have my hero doing laundry in one scene. It was a device for him to find her silky panties in the dryer. And in my upcoming release (An Unexpected Blessing) I do have my heroine decorating for and then later setting the table for Thanksgiving. It helped to set the mood and really ground the setting.

How about you? Have you ever had your characters doing mundane tasks in the interest of story-telling?

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

4 comments:

Morgan Mandel said...

In Two Wrongs I have the hero and one of the main characters carrying food to the table, also taking steaks off the grill.

Morgan Mandel

Debra St. John said...

My characters often eat in the course of the story. The trick is to remember the food is in front of them and have them interact with it, not just let it sit there!

Deb Larson said...

I think it makes the characters all the more real when they do the things we all have to do. Great post Deb.
DL Larson

Margot Justes said...

I think the holiday description will add a festive touch to the story and I agree with D.L. it will make it more real.
Margot