STEAL A LINE FROM AN OVERHEARD CONVERSATION
Dialogue and story sparks are all around us. Today, listen for a line in a conversation (if you spend the whole day alone at home, turn on the TV or the radio for three minutes). Pick a phrase that you hear. Use the line somewhere in your story today.
This morning I overheard a woman say,
“Karen, have you been to the new Casino yet?”
I might write about the casino or about Karen, or about a coffee shop in a small town with a regular cast of visitors – one of whom is a street person on her regular round of public spaces.
What will your eavesdropping yield?
Go!
Oh yes! i think public transportation should be compulsory for writers!
I’d recommend public transportation for this exercise. I’ve heard the best lines of dialogue on the subway, like “We all need a bit of smut now and then!” or, in a jam-packed car, “Shit, my shoe’s untied.”