People Watching – Everywhere You Go

That’s what a writer does. Whether or not we realize it we all do it. The weirdest thing for me is now I’ve started noticing it happening more and more. I can be anywhere and the writer in me will kick in. Begging for a pen and paper my brain starts taking it all in. Everything that is happening around me and how people are reacting to the situation.

I’ve found myself hurrying to get to the car to jot it down or even asking the waiter for another napkin to write some little tidbit down.

The TV isn’t even safe. I’ll see something in a commercial and it’ll trigger the writer. Last night an allergy commercial was on and all of sudden I’m talking aloud to myself. “This is great. That could so happen in my book.” Not what I actually saw on the TV but what it triggered in my mind.

I’ve even found myself doing this during a very trying moment in my friend’s life. I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t thinking about writing, my wip, or anything remotely close to that. It just happened. It just sort of starts. Of course I sent the little muse journalist to the back of my mind once I realized I was doing it. But she only went once I promised I’d write it down when I got home.

Science guy has gotten used to me doing this now. He’ll say are you talking to me or to that thing you call a muse? Once in a while he will ask if I can turn it off for a little while. I tell him of course I can baby. I can’t. So I quietly think these things until I have to get up and go write it down.

While this is and can be a great thing, especially if you have writers block, it can also be quite annoying when all you want to do is buy a new pair of shorts, get an ice cream, or simply watch some TV and relax.

What about you? Do you find yourself people watching when you least expect it? Do you feel the need to write down what you see and how people react?

Writing Wishes and Plotting Dreams,
Vicki