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| Writer's
Blog - 5. |
If
you are writing a book - a work of fiction -
it's often recommended that you build up a
scrapbook of useful cuttings and
fragments.
These can help add detail and realism to your
writing.
Often, too, their oddness can be quite
inspirational.
You keep turning up things that are much harder
to believe than anything you'd find in a work of
fiction.
One such example has unfolded over the past year
in Scottish politics.
There is now an annual bash called the
"Scottish Politician of the Year
Awards".
That's pretty incredible in itself, but there's
more.
Last year's event was held in a rather posh
hotel where a prominent politician - a Lord, no
less - got (a) drunk and (b) angry. In the
midst of his alcohol-fuelled strop, he tried to
set the curtains on fire. His Lordship was
arrested and charged, then tried and found
guilty: he was sentenced to three years in
jail.
That's where he is now.
But my favorite clipping tells an even stranger
tale.
It concerns a football fan, a Liverpool
supporter, who owned a scale model of his team's
stadium - Annfield. One day he had a tiff
with his (male) partner. During this
encounter, he fell on top of the toy
stadium. He picked himself up and life
carried on. But, unknown to the fan, he
had sustained internal injuries.
He died a few days later.
You couldn't make it up.
© David
Gray |
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