The Writing Club

I feel a twinge of shame as I write this sentence, but the truth is that I quite enjoy eavesdropping.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t spy on people. I never physically change my location in order to learn another person’s secrets, and I never hold an empty glass up to my ear against a closed door. But I do eavesdrop, often, and I find a wealth of ideas within the conversations of others.

Eavesdropping is a great way to find situations for characters to be in, to think about the patterns of dialogue between two people, or to discover ways to add depth and nuance to a character. Eavesdropping falls under the larger category of “people watching,” which is a great way to let your imagination run wild. What appointment is the man in the pin-striped suit hurrying to? Has the dog-walker left acting on the brink of stardom to pursue a quieter, more anonymous life? Is the friendly teller at the bank really concealing a gun in her lunchbag?

Eavesdropping has become even more interesting now that many of the conversations we hear in public are are one-sided. I am amazed at how cell phone conversations can be so personal and yet so LOUD when people are talking in public. Imagining what is being said on the other end of the line can be a great exercise to think about relationships between two people, and that exercise can be mined for character development.

Of course, eavesdropping has a very strict set of ethics. If you have to hide in order to eavesdrop, you are in the wrong. If you have to move much closer to the person speaking because they are whispering to someone else, that is not defensible. But the reality is that you won’t ever need to do either of those things, because open conversations between two humans are often very interesting and full of creative possibility. You’ll never need to skulk, because there is so much material without it.

The Writing Challenge: When you are on the subway, the streetcar or in a coffee shop this weekend, try tuning in to the conversations around you. Your goal is not to record the words verbatim (unless they are REALLY interesting!) but to use the experience as a jumping off point to create situation, dialogue or character. And no hiding!  If you have  giant ears like the dog in this picture, don’t use them either.  It’s cheating.