Eavesdropping or Observation?

This is something I have been thinking about for some time, and have had this discussion with other peers. I have questioned that if I were to write what I have heard and have personally listened in on, is this an invasion of privacy, an observation of sorts, or is it wrong to use someone else’s words? In my down time, I sometimes spend some of it alone in pubs and coffee shops. I enjoy going to these places to sit and write. This means I can overhear people’s conversations.  Like the other day, I’m listening to two young women discuss the merits of Tony having left Rachel and the fact that Rachel is doing pretty well for herself now. The other afternoon I was listening to some professors’ chat about their research, though they must have started talking about something else soon after, because they burst into laughter. No one laughs that much about research.

 Because I consider myself a writer and occasionally like to go to pubs and coffee shops to write, I tend to get distracted by others’ conversations and then use them as fodder. I make notes about the looks on the young fellows’ faces as they listen to the old timer speak about his efforts in the Korean War. They seem interested, but at the same time they’re hoping the old timer will clock out before the cute chicks start showing up. Even though I have not used particular phrases or quotes in my own writings, I have endless scraps of different sized post-its, bar napkins, half-filled notebooks, and endless college ruled papers scattered throughout miscellaneous boxes and filing systems in the corner of my dining room.

Is it rude? Is it eavesdropping? I was taught it’s rude, or is it observation? This is an important skill to have as a writer. At least I am beginning to figure this out. As a writer I never know what might make for an interesting scene. What is fascinating to me may not mean squat to another.  The human condition is an important topic, perhaps the most important topic for a writer. This is why I don’t mind being slightly detached from the activity, of engaging, in so called conversation. I like to know what people are talking about and what is important to them? 

  I wonder about eavesdropping. Is it full of assumptions? Unless we are the only people in the room, can we be absolutely sure we know the context of what is being said? This can be a sticky thing, but, we can also use this to our advantage in our writing. We just have to change the places, names, and people to protect the innocent. 

“There’s nothing like eavesdropping to show you that the world outside your head is different from the world inside your head.”

Thornton Wilder

Playwright, Novelist, and three time Pulitzer Prize winner