Playwriting - Part 8B - Honing Skills Outside of Writing, Eavesdropping

Another element I've mentioned is listening to conversations that happen around you. Yes, I am talking about eavesdropping, but not in the way most dictionaries define it. It is being used in the second way that the Oxford English Dictionary definies it: To listen secretly to a conversation. Also, it is okay if you become involved in the conversation, so it doesn't have to stay eavesdropping.

This eavesdropping isn't spying on people and trying to hear private conversations that people are trying to keep private. This one is just privately listening to conversations. That means that you go out and you find a busy place where people will be discussing things that they don't mind others hearing.

Some people are more private than others. This is normal. Listen to the different things that you hear. If you want to have a notebook with you to jot down ideas from conversations, that is fine. If you'd rather just listen and remember things, that is also fine.

With this eavesdropping, it doesn't matter if you remember things completely correctly. It doesn't matter if you hear the whole conversation. You can let your imagination run wild with what you hear. It is okay to let your imagination fill in the rest of a conversation when you've only heard part of it. It is okay if you imagine a person saying something different than he said.

This type of eavesdropping isn't to try to hear people's secrets. It is to get ideas. The only reason it is eavesdropping is that you are privately listening to a conversation or more than one conversation. These conversations are loud enough for you to hear from where you are sitting.

Where are possible places you can eavesdrop? A great place is at a busy fast food restaurant. You can often sit at a table that is near the order counter. People often talk about many different things there and you can hear the different conversations. If you live in a place where there are parades or festivals, you can sit or stand among the crowds to hear conversations. If you like going out to bars, you can hear conversations there. If you are in school, listen to your classmates before class starts. If you are in college, you can find a busy place where students walk to and from class if you don't have class and sit in that area and listen to conversations as they pass by. Just the few snippets of sentence that you hear can often be some of the greatest content.

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