 For Authors: January 04, 2012 Issue [#4803] |
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This week: Proud to be an Eavesdropper! Edited by: THANKFUL SONALI Library Class!  
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Eavesdropping is the act of secretly listening to the private conversation of others without their consent ... and why you should eavesdrop!
I was thrilled when I attended a playwrights' workshop - and the workshop leader, a much respected writer himself, ordered all us participants to go out there and LISTEN to others' conversations, no matter WHO said it's rude!
Here, I pass on some of his 'wisdom and advice' ... and some of my thoughts! |
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So you're a writer.
As a writer, you have to portray people's real feelings. You have to replicate conversations as they actually sound. Else, you're not being true to your readers. Heck, you're not being true to humanity!
Formally 'interviewing' people to find out their feelings or portray their conversations is going to get you just thus far. They're bound to put their best foot forward (not in their mouth, probably!), they're bound to be on their guard. They may try to use perfect grammar, complete sentences. They may not express their actual views completely and honestly. And, if you are a participant in the conversation you can't record it exactly, naturally. You, the writer, are going to interfere with you, the participant in the conversation.
Besides, the cadence of a formal interview is just not the same as the cadence of normal conversation.
What you therefore, legitimately, have, is the licence to eavesdrop.
Incidentally, to digress just a bit, I looked up the origin of the word 'eavesdropping'. It comes from 'eavesdrip'. Once upon a time, houses were built with eaves that would let the rain drip off, leaving two feet on the side of the house. People would hide in the 'eavesdrip' to listen in on conversations inside the house, and they became known as 'eavesdroppers'.
Today, you can eavesdrop anywhere. In a restaurant, at the dentist's waiting room, at the bus-stop - wherever. And make your writing richer!
A tiny example - here in India, many people seem to say 'ching' gum instead of 'chewing' gum. Having heard this several times, I decided to use the word 'ching' gum in a play I co-wrote. It was a spoof on detective stories, and the main clue was the scent of mint ching gum. The play was performed in a small amphitheatre, with an audience of about sixty people. After the show, most of the people who met me particularly appreciated the 'ching'!
Oh, and I'd accompanied my Dad to the dentist's once. Dad wanted to visit a particular temple atop a hill, and it's one that the dentist visits often. So Dad was asking him about the rules and etiquette to be followed there. The dentist's wife is his receptionist, and she joined in the conversation. So, in the midst of all the tooth-stuff, they had a conversation, and I present a couple of lines below:-
Dad: Is it easy to climb?
Dentist's Wife: But remove your footwear. Climbing up no shoes.
Believe it or not, I tape recorded the conversation for the playwrights' workshop, and we analysed it. This exchange was analysed as implying that climbing down you could put your footwear back on, though it's not stated. Had this been a more formal exchange, the Dentist's Wife might have added that in, which may not have sounded as natural.
We also analysed why a dentist and his patient and his wife-receptionist would talk about visiting a temple (or any topic other than teeth). In this case, it was because my Dad actually wanted to go there and needed the information. But it could also be that the dentist was trying to distract the patient from the pain ... So the analysis of a natural conversation led to going deeper into the reasons why the conversation happened in the first place.
Of course, when you try to eavesdrop, you'll hear - 'that's very rude'. I was at a restaurant once with a group of teachers (at that time, I was librarian at a school, and the staff were having a lunch out) and one of the seniormost ladies in the group caught me straining my ears to hear what the folks at the next table were saying ... she frowned heavily, and I had a lot of explaining to do the next day!
As I type, I tell a writer-friend that I'm doing this newsletter, and ask if he has ever eavesdropped. He says he has, as a child. I say - 'oh, not lately?' - to which he replies - 'no. men dont listen to active conversations' (I've copy pasted his chat exactly!). He also says that 'eavesdropping sounds like a crime', so I should call it 'listening in'!
Well, have a Happy 2012, and resolve to eavesdrop - or listen in, if you prefer  !
- Sonali
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Would've liked to eavesdrop on some of these conversations, huh? 
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A big THANK YOU to all those who responded to "For Authors Newsletter (August 24, 2011)"
I think you are absolutely right. It sounds like a great tool to use in the editing process, and I can't wait to try it out. Write on! - glo-stick
Thanks, Sonali, for your thoughts on creating strong characters. I think this exercise of playing with the characters could lead to some interesting scenes. Once you know how your character will react in certain situations, you can create a situation for your character in which all of her options are ones she normally would not choose. Or perhaps all of her options are ones she would choose, but she can't choose them all, and the consequences are not good for those she ignores. The choices she makes in these types of situations will tell even more about her character. - MKEidson 
THIS IS GREAT! Thank you so much, I have two characters, Joe and Roy. Roy Is calm, cool, and powerful. Joe is clam, but has been known to make bad choices in being so. I wonder if I can play these games with them...- gardevoirlovr7
That's a great idea for testing the strength of a character's character. I never thought about writing a scene with opposite choices to see how it feels. And if it doesn't feel wrong then the character isn't strong enough. I'll be sure to use this technique with characters I create! - sarahreed
Yes. That may also mean and entails deep human interactions on my part to create 'those' memorable characters. - J.Cat
Great message. At first my character seemed like putty. Was she a cocksure twenty-something (rewrite 2) or 35 year broken single mom? (first draft)? But as I looked there were things that she *couldn't* be, and she began to take shape: Smart mouth single mom w/confidence issues... Lol.Excuse me, I just came up with another scene... - Joto-Kai 
Thank you! Very useful advice especially for developing a villain. - creatress |
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