I gave my main character a boring job and it made the story way better

For a short story last month, I made my lead a guy who works at a water treatment plant. I thought it would just be background, but writing his daily checks on chlorine levels gave me a bunch of weird details to use. It ended up shaping how he solved the whole mystery, because he noticed things no one else would. Has anyone else found that a simple job detail opened up a plot for them?

3 comments

3 Comments

alicew681mo ago

Isn't it funny how the small stuff gives a story its bones?

nelson.nancy1mo ago

My friend wrote a librarian who solved a crime using the Dewey Decimal system.

grace_knight701mo ago

Isn't that the Library of Congress system?