The Fiction Shelf

As writers, we’re sure a lot of you know how it feels to spend your time working in a coffee shop or chained to a similar rent‐paying day job. What makes you go back is the money, what keeps you sane are the people you see and the small differences you notice in each customer.

Regulars give relief between the demands of the day and hypothesising about the life stories of customers is a great way of making conversation with colleagues you don’t like.

But writing a story about this is boring. Mostly. This story manages not to be. It sensitively and warm‐heartedly builds a relationship between a customer and worker through the shortest of exchanges. A lot of stories with this as their aim would fail by appearing trivial and reminding us all that we have to work. But this reminds us that there’s a place in every work day to enjoy the people you meet.

• With possibilities only limited by the imagination what are the benefits of setting a story in an everyday or mundane setting.
• Unless in the children’s/teen genre, humorous books and stories are often victim to literary snobbery. Why do we think this is?