 | 9 Oct 08 |
I have a confession to make. I love eavesdropping. I think it’s one of the best writing tools a writer can have, and I’ve long ago quit feeling guilty about it. (I’ll never post someone’s personal tragedies or travails specifically, so confidences are kept that way. But random overheard moments? One of the best resources ever.)
~*~
“Well,” the man said, drawing the single syllable into the next decade, “what’cha have right here is a lil’ ol’ crik, and then down thar’ is the river, an’ over thar is the bridge, and that’s the one you wanna be fishin’ off of, ‘cuz there ain’t no fish here in the crik.”
~*~
“Do I even look like I know what the hell I’m doing?”
~*~
“Ohmygod, that’s so fab, darling. Fabulocity. Honey, you are luscious in that dress.”
~*~
“So then he pulled out his leather bra and–”
“The youth minister?”
“Yah. Purple leather. That man’s got good taste.”
~*~
I have a lot of fun whenever I’m traveling… or out at restaurants… or sitting at big family gatherings, because inevitably, someone says something that sparks an idea I can use to deepen a character, give a flavor that it something other than just me, just how I would react in that moment. Sometimes I’ll immediately make a note, but often, the best bits of dialog stick with me for years and will resurface just when I need that little detail to help create a character. (It’s gotten to the point where my family now realizes that anything and everything is fair game, if they say it in front of me. It’s both fun and slightly horrifying for them, and I can’t tell you how many times they’ve been doubled over with laughter and then looked up suddenly at me with a new awareness of oh, jeez, that is so going in a book!) (disguised, of course)
Writers sometimes worry that if they only write what they know, they won’t “know enough” to give their work the resonance it needs to appeal to a bigger audience, but part of the solution to that is to apply the ability, opportunity, and willingness to eavesdrop on perfect strangers, and the mercenary aptitude to recognize when something is useful. (There have been times when I’ve been in a room with a group of writers and someone said something profoundly dumb / smart / useful and the rest of us nearly bludgeoned each other for the right to incorporate it. I think it’s about as close to contact sports as writers get. That, and snark.)
There’s more to it, though, than just grabbing the exact wording or dialog of the moment. I’ve got a few things I listen for:
cadence / rhythm
Allegro and staccato are the obvious first choices, but there’s a spectrum. There’s also a balance that you have to maintain as a writer, a fine line between recreating cadence and trying to create dialect. The former gives the reader a hint of how the person structures their sentences (and therefore, their thought patterns and personality), but the latter is often too much, unless that character only has a line or two. An entire book of dialect will often grate on the nerves and defeat the purpose, which is to pull the reader into the world of the character(s).
syntax
Educational, regional, cultural, economic, gender, age all combine to form unique backgrounds and it’s always fun to play with those elements with dialog–it’ll show information about the character that will illuminate them. I’ll play with these elements until each character has his or her own voice within the story–it’s critical that all of the characters don’t sound the same. Even if they all have similar educational backgrounds, for example, gender, socio-economic factors will still have influenced them.
conflict
What’s the level of conflict in the person’s manner? Is the person confrontational or concerned? Enraged or apathetic? Do they stress their consonants or is their tone full of vowels, flowing like water over stones? Shy? Scared? People pleaser? Cruel?
pitch / tone
Is their voice gravelly? A smoker’s voice? Soprano? Tenor? Squeaky? These things often affect not only their word choices, but how well they’re listened to. A person who isn’t listened to frequently will either get more confrontational in order to be heard, or will start disappearing right in front of you, and that level of self will affect many other stylistic choices.
I’m sure there are others… one of my absolute favorite websites (in all its permutations) is Overheard… Whenever I’m stuck for a character and cannot get out to any public place for inspiration, I’ll often scroll through their archives and invariably, I come away with a complete character just from a snippet. So how about you? Where do you like to eavesdrop? (and what’s something you’ve overheard recently that surprised you or made you laugh or made you think of a character?)
Toni McGee Causey lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She and her husband, Carl, are licensed general contractors and, in order to support her writing addition, they run their own company, specializing in civil construction.
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Toni,
Welcome, welcome, welcome!
The last time I eavesdropped was at Children’s Urgent Care the other day. I just wanted to make sure little “Johnny” wasn’t contagious because he was sitting next to my middle daughter.
I had never thought of using those overheard tidbits in my stories. That’s one of the many reasons your writing rocks.
by HollyD October 9th, 2008 at 8:00 amI write for the confessions magazines, so eavesdropping is a great source of material for me (along with talk shows, Judge Judy and the rest of the judge shows, WE network’s Secret Lives of Women and Discovery Health). Thanks for sharing the Overheard sight. It’s a gold mine!
My best eavesdropping story is actually someone overhearing me. My #2 son had a middle-school friend whose last name was Fagg (yeah, I know, I’d have changed it too). Anyway, #2 son called me at work one day and wanted to know if he could go home with his friend after school and could I pick him up at his friend’s house. I told him yes and ended with, “Remember to behave and I’ll pick you up at the Fagg’s at about 5:30.” One of my co-workers was walking by my cubicle as I said it and stopped dead in her tracks with a horrified look on her face.
I explained and we too had the discussion about how we’d have changed the name in a heartbeat.
by Marilyn AKA The Playground Monitor October 9th, 2008 at 8:28 amI evasdrop everywhere I go. I listen to syntex of voices, language, phrases. Its the only way to grow in language and expand ideas and make what you’re writing real. So if I’m in B&N or just in line a the store, I’m listening to everything around me.
by Lee October 9th, 2008 at 8:35 amHey Toni, it’s so cool to have you here! I love evesdropping too. My husband and I make a game of it when we’re out. Not just the dialogue, but the actions of people. One that stands out in my mind, we were waiting for a table at a restaurant and watching this couple at the bar. We had this whole scenario going about a first date–when my husband suddenly realized he recognized the couple. He had gone to high school with them…it was hilarious. We were soooo off the mark. He went over and said hello. But you know, it’s harmless fun and, heck yeah, much of that kind of those observations end up in my books.
by Jen Apodaca October 9th, 2008 at 9:15 amHi Toni!!
My writing has made me a hermit the last three years, so the only eavesdropping I get to do is on my kids (ages 9 and 7). I have to tell ya, they’re hilarious. The little kid things they say to each other often has me ROFL.
Or maybe it’s just that they’ve driven me nuts…
by S.J. Day October 9th, 2008 at 9:17 amHey Toni!
Great to see you here. And your blog is one reason I love Pittsburgh. You don’t even have to try to eavesdrop here – people just talk all over the place and no one cares.
My best overheard line from last week was during our 250th Birthday fireworks extravaganza.
Drunk Mom: “Lookit ‘ere! Them’s f*&cking AWEsome! Look how quick they reolad ‘em guns!”
Sober Kid: “Mom’s hammered. Who’s got the keys?”
by Kathy Sweeney October 9th, 2008 at 9:29 amHey, Toni! Great start to your new gig! I’m definitely going to have to check out that overheard website.
As for eavesdropping–oh yes, constantly. Of course so much of what you overhear would never be believed in a book–truth is stranger than fiction!
by cj lyons October 9th, 2008 at 9:32 amHey Toni! Always good to *see* you.
I tend to block out conversations, but I can’t help but notice body language. it’s a huge distraction, especially when I’m out writing at Starbucks or BJs.
For example, I used to write at this one specific Starbucks in Elk Grove–in fact, I wrote most of SPEAK and SEE NO EVIL at that Starbucks because it had a back room well lit, quiet, and they always played good music and loud back there. They had a great table where my back was to the wall, and there were trees outside the window. I loved that place. Until all these couples started coming in. I didn’t get that–until then, it had basically been a meeting place for church groups and moms meeting for coffee after dropping the kids off or interviews or study groups. But this was going on for weeks, and increasing, and I realized that it was the meeting place for people who met on-line. Suddenly, I was far more interested in whether I thought they were going to click. How were they sitting? Where were their eyes? Were they checking their watches? Smiling? Laughing? Glancing toward the door? How did they dress? What was the tone of their voice? I pretty much decided that out of the dozens and dozens of couples I saw, there was never an instant mutual attraction. There was often one side more interested than the other, and often both sides disinterested, but polite (and some of the women were just plain bitchy), but no couple I thought would be going out on a date.
It was so distracting to me, I wasn’t writing enough, so I moved Starbucks. BUT I did come up with the opening for FEAR NO EVIL, where Lucy’s car was found outside Starbucks because she’d planned to meet her online “boyfriend” there. She never got inside. Originally I was going to have her friend go with her and be killed, but NONE of these women had brought a friend with them to Starbucks (unless they were out in the car, but I highly doubt it.) So I figured I was safe in having Lucy think she was safe to meet in public.
Anyway, that’s my story.
by Allison Brennan October 9th, 2008 at 9:56 amI love eavesdropping at B & N. Why do people say things among strangers they would never say with their friends? LOL
I was writing in B & N and these two young men sat by me on the other side of a partition. Since they were my son’s age I shamelessly eavesdropped. If I ever hear my son talk like these boys I’ll wash his mouth out with soap.
The one young man told the other, “I’ve invested two months in her, she better put out or else.” If I were his mother I’d slap him upside the head. I was so angry I had to go home, but maybe some jerky, immature guy in a story will get that dialogue.
by Amanda October 9th, 2008 at 10:25 amHello Miss Toni! Great blog! Fantastic advice on the dialogue and dialect front. I admit I’m an eavesdropper, too. (I can’t wait to check out the OVERHEARD site – have never been there before.) I could never write somewhere like B&N or Starbucks, because I couldn’t stop listening to other people long enough to produce a page!
Love all these comments, too. Kathy, I’m from Pittsburgh, so I totally know what you’re talking about!
by Roxanne St. Claire October 9th, 2008 at 10:58 amMy favorite place for eavesdropping – the metro. Since I spend about an hour a day on it. Some days its pretty quite – but there is always at least one person on the cell phone or a group of people talking. And because it is so quite except for these few conversation you cant help but eavesdrop. And yeah some of these conversation have made there way into my writing.
by Tiffany October 9th, 2008 at 11:01 amHolly – thank you! and yep, I have definitely done that eavesdropping in the doctor’s office, especially when someone’s kid is busy sneezing on my kid!
Oh, Marilyn, that’s hysterical! We have family friends with the last name of “Smelly” and I always wondered why they didn’t change it. I guess it really takes a certain strength of character to have a name that conjures up something negative and still be proud of it. I’m not sure I’d be able to do it!
Lee, yep, so glad I’m not alone. You know where a great place for eavesdropping is? Dressing rooms. People often shop together and forget that they are in a cubicle with a bunch of other people, talking about their bodies and their significant others and I have gotten fits of giggles over some of the things I have overheard and had to sit down and wait a bit before exiting.
Jen, I love doing that, too – making up whole stories. I have to force myself not to then go quiz the people and see just how close I came, how accurate my observations were. (I think this would be one of the great aspects of being a spy–you’d get to eavesdrop and then find proof! Of course, that whole ‘being shot at’ part might not be very fun.)
by toni mcgee causey October 9th, 2008 at 11:08 amSylvia, I can totally appreciate the ‘nuts’ part–I am totally blaming my kids that I am the way I am (that is my story and I’m sticking to it). Kids have such a wonderful, twisted way of seeing the world because they’re so ungoverned and free associate so well. It’s a real skill, I think, to watch how they do that and learn from them.
Hey, Kathy! Great to see you here. And geez, that’s freaking funny. Thank God there was at least one sober kid.
CJ, you’re gonna love that site. I probably should have put a big ol’ “procrastination warning” sign next to that link, though–I swear, I could keep drilling down and reading that stuff for an hour!
Oh, Allison, that is a really cool observation. I’ve often wanted to do a short film on watching couples meet at Starbucks, and you’ve described it perfectly. I would be completely distracted with people moving around me, even if I had my earphones in. I am like a ferret… focus with intensity until something moves… oh, look, a dust mite….
by toni mcgee causey October 9th, 2008 at 11:14 amAmanda, damn, I admire your fortitude in restraint. I’d have probably said something to the kid. Then again, it might be more fun to kill off a character with his description.
Hey, Rocki, thanks — and seriously, set aside procrastination time at that site. Don’t come smack me upside the head when you’ve lost a couple of hours!
Tiffany, I would love it if we had a metro around here. Our traffic is terrible and to go anywhere across town in an hour–and it’s just insane. A commuter metro would save us all so much time, so much aggravation, and the eavesdropping potential would be a kick! And the likelihood of that ever happening here in my lifetime is exactly zero. (sigh) (I am probably one of the few people who enjoyed the subway while in NY, because at least there were other people to listen to and observe!)
by toni mcgee causey October 9th, 2008 at 11:19 amHey, Toni! I’m so glad you joined us! My most cherished eavesdropping event occurs every Sunday here at my house when all of the kids are at the table. The things they say! The words I learn. I’m always amazed. They are my own personal cool things kids say and do Wiki page.
by Karin Tabke October 9th, 2008 at 12:46 pmWelcome home, Toni!
by Margaret A. Golla October 9th, 2008 at 1:18 pmWonderful topic!
Ack! I’m late today–I did check the blog at 6:30 but no one was here to play. I really need to hang out with my teenage nephew more often to get an idea of modern slang. My kiddo is a little too young, but I’m amazed what she talks about.
And Kathy, too freakin’ funny! I’m so glad the sober kid was keeping an eye on mom. Hm, who’s the mature one in the family?!
Toni,
What a great post! And excellent suggestions. I’m an eavesdropper, too, and I LOVE conversations that I don’t understand. Gives the imagination wings.
So glad you joined us.
by Natalie October 9th, 2008 at 2:22 pmHa ha, Purple leather bra—youth minister—good taste…too much.
by Cele October 9th, 2008 at 9:35 pmOne of the best places for dialogue is a women’s room at a club or restaurant.
I stayed in there too long recently in New Orleans listening to two girlfriends dish out about their boyfriends.
“Um hum, girl, he’s the real thing.”
Then it got to the point where they were just saying too much and I couldn’t come out, not while they were still in there. I was stuck. LOL.
This website is gorgeous, Toni. I love the graphics and the portraits are so tastefully done.
by kitty October 10th, 2008 at 1:16 amT: You’re here with a great group o’ gals! *waving to Deb L., Nat & Heather*
Your post gave me a shock. Ya mean every writer woman doesn’t do this?
by Angie October 11th, 2008 at 5:31 am