We are cautioned that neither of these should be used in a novel despite the fact that they occur in real life all the time. Here are a couple of examples:
1. In my law practice I met with a couple of clients who couldn't speak English. They were Germans and fortunately my secretary's mother was visiting and she spoke German so she translated for me. Once we concluded the business at hand, theyexchanged pleasantries in German. I couldn't understand them but as they progressd they got more and more excited waving their hands about rather in the manner of the French. At long last my secretary's mother told me what they had been discussing.
The initial excitement was that they'd both lived in the same city in East Germany. The next level was that they both lived on the same street then the same house and as girls they both had thesame bedroom in that house. Germany is about eleven thousand miles from my office. True stroy but there is no way you could use it as a plot element;
2. One of my law partners recently resigned from the profession. He'd had it, the late nights, the rotten matrimonial clients who wouldn't pay his bills, the fact that he couldn't go into any of the local watering holes with out some drunken ex- husband threatening him. He is now employed as a grave digger. He says its outside work, he doesn't have to think any more and he can keep a bottle of rye behind the nearest tomb stone. Now that's a change of careers that simply would not fly in an novel IMHO.
Any thoughts?
1. In my law practice I met with a couple of clients who couldn't speak English. They were Germans and fortunately my secretary's mother was visiting and she spoke German so she translated for me. Once we concluded the business at hand, theyexchanged pleasantries in German. I couldn't understand them but as they progressd they got more and more excited waving their hands about rather in the manner of the French. At long last my secretary's mother told me what they had been discussing.
The initial excitement was that they'd both lived in the same city in East Germany. The next level was that they both lived on the same street then the same house and as girls they both had thesame bedroom in that house. Germany is about eleven thousand miles from my office. True stroy but there is no way you could use it as a plot element;
2. One of my law partners recently resigned from the profession. He'd had it, the late nights, the rotten matrimonial clients who wouldn't pay his bills, the fact that he couldn't go into any of the local watering holes with out some drunken ex- husband threatening him. He is now employed as a grave digger. He says its outside work, he doesn't have to think any more and he can keep a bottle of rye behind the nearest tomb stone. Now that's a change of careers that simply would not fly in an novel IMHO.
Any thoughts?
