Tips for Writers: Listen

You carry a pen and paper with you at all times, don't you?That's okay. I forget sometimes, too. But I often kick myself when an ideacomes to me and I'm without the tools of my trade. A borrowed pen and a papernapkin will do in a pinch of course, but I usually have a little notebook thatwill fit in a pocket and I almost always have a ballpoint pen on me, too.
I took a little trip last weekend and I didn't have thenotebook. I brought my tablet computer, but I was headed out to dinner with friendsand didn't want to take that along. But I was early, so stopped into a Barnes& Noble to browse, and the first thing I picked up was a packet ofpocket-size Moleskine notebooks. There are cheaper notebooks to be had, ofcourse, but this was an emergency, and the Moleskines are fine products. (Ialso fondled a large number of books, but kept reminding myself that I have noroom for books and I also own a Kindle; somehow I managed not to buy anybooks.)
I got to the restaurant early and ordered a glass of wine atthe bar to wait for my friends. Ideas had already been percolating so I tookout my notebook and jotted some things down. And then a nearby conversationbegan to fill my head. I wasn't intentionally eavesdropping, but the peoplewere right around the corner of the bar and they weren't exactly whispering, soI could hear every word. And it was fascinating. It wasn't an intimateconversation, which would have been embarrassing (but possibly alsofascinating), but the man was pouring his heart out to the woman about sometrouble he found himself in. Without being obvious (at least I hope I wasn'tobvious), I began writing down what he said.
I don't know if or when I'll be able to use this "founddialogue." I may not even want to use it. But there was emotion behind thewords the man was speaking, and the notes I took—I hope—mayhelp me tap into that emotion. But when you're out, keep your ears open—you never know what youmay hear.[image error]