Observations…

Both positive and negative events in our modern everyday lives can be used to make our stories more relevant. A hassled and hurried commuter handing a McDonald’s breakfast meal (sandwich and coffee) to a homeless person; an unthinking neighbor letting their mongrel pee on garbage bags without thinking of the essential workers, the garbage collectors, who have to collect those bags; and so forth. These observations can make our prose come alive.

Of course, authors have to observe these events and...