Cathy and I had a wonderful day—a little exercise, a good breakfast, a short road trip, a little shopping. Not a thing went haywire. A little laughter, a little conversation, a little flirting, a little of this, and a little of that. Nothing memorable outside the blessing of our time together. I mention this because I’m the sort who always expects trouble to find him. A perfect day, then, becomes truly remarkable.

We all know that narratives are interesting when they include complications. Trouble comes and people try to get out of it. Sometimes they create the trouble themselves. We writers can become a dour bunch since we’re always looking for that trouble to spur our narratives. We can forget to give our characters grace.

So here’s your prompt. Choose something you’re writing and give the people involved a perfect day amid whatever trouble they’re dealing with. One perfect day, or even a single perfect moment in that day. Let grace fill them. Your readers will relate to your characters even more because we know nothing is ever completely dark or light. Not only that, but you’ll also find yourself more engaged with your characters, perhaps even moved to tears, because you’ll recognize how temporary our beautiful moments can be and how precious they are because they can escape us. As writers and as people, we sometimes miss the glorious moments because we’re too caught up in what troubles us. Blessings are all around us. Let it be so for your characters as well.