off the top of my head i can think of numerous examples Broken prey by john sandford - Del the MC's side kick has a cold and turns up on stake out with a swollen red nose (later important because it explains why he didn't go near their elderly witness and consequently screwed up the perp ID)... also john Sandford Stolen Prey Lucas (the MC) has a broken wrist for much of the book. The Running man Stephen King - the MCs daughter is dying of a respiratory infection - its why he goes to the games, late he meets another character who's little sister is dying of cancer. Green River Rising - tim willocks, about five mentions of the MC taking a shit, Barry Eisler - Requiem for an assassin, John Rain takes a piss because its good not to go on a job with a full bladder. Tom Clancy - Teeth of the tiger one character tells the other "hang onto your [large coffee cup] in case you need to piss," during a stake out The Dark Hours - Michael Connolly - set during the pandemic, covid is mentioned extensively Bahama Crisis - Desmond Baggley - one of the MCs daughters has a fever, that's why she doesnt go on the boat trip that kills his wife and his other daughter La Requiem- Robert Crais - the supervisor gets a bad clamm and has gas all through the disciplinary, another character harvey krantz shits himself in fear when Joe pike grabs him by the throat, thus earning the nick name of 'shit his pants krantz' or just 'pants' for short I could go on but i'm fairly sure the point is clear - good writing is not about eliminating the mundane, good writing is about (in part) creating believable characters in a believable setting... if your characters never do anything 'mundane' and exist only to carry out the major actions then they are just two dimensional cardboard cut outs
Yes, and all those examples are there for a reason, they’re justified - something which you even made the effort to point out. Before this you were suggesting these things should be included in story telling for the sake of it…simply because they exist in real life. I think you’ve proved my point. Thanks.
Nice move of the goal posts, but no i'm not suggesting things are included because they are justified by the plot - in stolen prey for example thee is no justification for lucas having a broken wrist..it has nothing to do with the main story, its merely characterful. There's no reason for Renee Ballard to have had covid in the Dark Hours, except that its happening during a pandemic. Theres no reason for Aldo and Enzo to have to consider having to piss on stake out in the teeth of the tiger, except that having to piss is a human thing to do...and something you'd think about on a stakeout (likewise john rain). Theres no reason for Ray Klein to have an explosive shit in Green River Rising, complete with detail of it splattering in the bowl, except that shitting is something you have to do...even during a prison riot.
This is a good question, in that it raises a broader question: how and when should books indicate their precise date if it is contemporary fiction? Is it even necessary? If it's not necessary, then you can avoid COVID references, which will imply it's sometime in the past 5 years (depending on the technology and other references, etc.). If it's intended to be set in 2020-2021, you'd probably want some type of reference to whatever impact COVID had on your setting, even if it's not central to the story, because if not, you could have just left the date vague. But if you specify a specific time, readers may want some references to make it authentic, even if it's not central to the plot. On the other hand, (and full disclosure: I haven't read the book) the movie 'No Country for Old Men' is supposed to take place in 1980. There are no references to the exact date, except for one I almost forgot until I began typing this: the quarter. It's a 1958 quarter and Chigurh mentions that it's been traveling 22 years to reach the gas station owner. Other than that, I can't remember any other specific references, and to me, if you take out that reference, the movie could have taken place anytime between 1975-1985. Does say, '50 Shades of Grey' have any specific references to the date it takes place? Obviously there are emails, but email has been around for at least 35-40 years, and widespread for the past 20. So I think the answer depends more on why it's set in 2020-2021, and to some degree, how people will look back on this period years from now, if you want the book to still be read at that time. I'm sure there are exceptions, but in film, most movies that take place in Paris will have some shot of the Eiffel Tower at some point, even though it's often not an important part of the plot (unless something happens at the Eiffel Tower). But in a book this wouldn't be the same, but I'm sure there would be references to other parts of Paris (food, language, etc.) even if they don't impact the plot.
BTW, for the horror peeps with Shudder, there's an episode of Eli Roth's History of Horror in the new series that looks at pandemic movies from the 70s onwards, and is even more insightful having been made in the Covid era. Certainly worth an hour if you like that type of thing.
It's a situation with its own set of detailed circumstances, which is material, good for building the world, events around which characters work and show themselves.
