Nasty characters
Coming in contact with nasty or mad people is useful for a writer. While the experience can be alarming or frustrating it can be stored for later use. Need a nasty character? Dredge your memory.
Working with the public is a goldmine. When I was working for The National Archives in London, we had at least one nasty person a week.
One man came rushing up to our desk demanding we call the police because someone had stolen his documents. He had left them on his desk while he went to lunch. We tried in vain to calm him by telling him that no one can get through security with an armful of documents. He launched into a conspiracy theory. The documents were a vital part of his research and only he had realised their significance.
We checked the references and went into the reading room. It didn't take us long to find them. 'That's not my desk!' he thundered. It was his desk. He had got confused on his return from lunch and gone to the wrong desk.
Instead of being embarrassed and apologetic, he grunted, sat down and said, 'I hate this place.'
How we would have loved to reply, 'And we hate readers like you.'
I haven't used his rudness and paronia in a novel yet, but I will.
posted by Outback Writer @ 7:02 AM
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