National Eavesdropping Day

The title of this blog may be misleading. If you write dialogue, every day is Eavesdropping Day.

I don't know about you, but I LOVE to eavesdrop. How else are you going to develop great dialogue for your characters?

I've got my standard spots:

• supermarkets

• anywhere I have to stand in line

• conversations on cell phones (Hey, if you're going to talk on those things in public, you're fair game)

• restaurants and coffee shops

• restrooms (I don't know about guys, but girls do a lot of stall talking)

The more exotic locals:

• sporting events

• anywhere I'm on vacation

• family events — especially weddings with lots of weird guests

• concerts and other social activities

Then there's the happy accidents:

• visitors from out of town

• catching an argument in a street. (My favorite quote is from an angry 5-year-old girl, upset with her sister. She turned to her parents and yelled, "She's MEAN and she's STUPID!")

• any spontaneous incident

Carry a Notebook

I used to carry a notebook and try to capture great bits of dialogue. One year I challenged myself to write down a memorable piece of dialogue each day. I did it, but the problem was that I never went back and read any of those memorable quotes. (Note to self, go back and read those.)

Subtext

My current challenge is to see if I can spot subtext. Each day I want to capture dialogue where someone says something that meant something else. Like when someone tells you that your outfit is "interesting", which really means "Seriously? You wore that in public?"

I'm not sure if I'll meet my goal, but the real goal it to continually improve my ear for dialogue.

If you've got some tips on eavesdropping, I'd love to hear about it!

In the meantime, happy National Eavesdropping Day!