Quote:
Originally Posted by BookCat
My first question is: why is this character reading in public places if they hate being approached by people enquiring about their book? Why aren't they reading at home? Okay, maybe they have a large family and can't find peace at home, so go to a library, or sit on the loo (I have a friend who reads in the bath and while running the bath.)
The point is that this character has holes for the reader
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What holes? What you have here is a failure of imagination. I'll read while waiting for a doctor, waiting for a blood test, waiting for an appointment, waiting for a script to be filled, waiting to meet a friend, waiting for an event to start, waiting for a waiter to bring me a coffee, waiting to be picked up, waiting for an Uber, waiting for my kid to finish an activity, all sorts of situations. And I'm only one real-life person.
"A conversation won't kill you"? Killing me is a pretty low bar, I think. How about "not starting a conversation with this specific person at this time won't kill you"?
Not wanting to be engaged by strangers 100% of the time I'm out in public doesn't make me socially anxious, or autistic, or in need of therapy, not that there is anything wrong with being any of those things. Sometimes I'm chatty, sometimes I'm not. Sometimes I'm in a lot of pain, sometimes I'm at the edge of exhaustion but need to get an errand run, sometimes I'm preoccupied, or sometimes I'm just sick to death of strangers asking "What's wrong with you?" or "Would you like a prayer, dear?"