A thief of conversations
I am a thief, and here is my confession.
About a year ago, I was sitting with a bunch of people and an acquaintance said something problematic. Immediately, another friend asked the acquaintance to stop talking or else she (I) will write something on her (my) blog. This got me thinking.
A professor once told me (and the entire class) how she stopped listening to music on the local train and started listening to people's conversations. The professor talked about how refreshing it was to overhear menial conversations like office gossip, a frustrated student venting to their peer, two lovers talking, a lady squabbling about the lack of space in the train, etc.
The professor said how something as weird as purposely overhearing people’s conversations did wonders for her writing; that these strangers gave her inspiration, moulded characters and became the subject of some of her blogs.
Since then, I have begun stealing conversations. While I don’t always adhere to it and purposely listen to people’s conversations, I do steal conversations and healthy debates from friends and acquaintances.
If I think about it, most of my blogs have been based on myriad conversations and debates. While I agree that it might not be a good thing for the subject, I have always made it a habit to not reveal anything about the subject.
Anyhow, I strongly believe that stealing conversations and typing out my internal monologue has helped me become a better writer. The best part is that whenever I lack motivation, I listen to conversations, and it has helped me gain perspective, empathize with people and become more compassionate and understanding of people’s situations and beliefs.
One fact that not everyone knows is that all writers steal. Do you think it’s humanly possible for someone to come up with elaborate characters with specific habits without a reference? Every character, every topic, and every idea is birthed by people. It may be your family, friends- or even strangers commuting to their workplace. Most importantly, it is important to differentiate stealing experiences and plagiarism. Not every writer that steals conversations does plagiarism because plagiarism is the act of stealing ideas that someone has worked on in the past, and stealing conversations is literally stealing conversations.
So, if you are a writer and if you are accused of stealing conversations and bits of people's lives- don’t worry. It’s completely normal to steal conversations and write elaborate articles about how they are bad people or even glorify them in your work. Because, at the end of the day, it’s your blog, novel and or life that was either a part of the conversation or a mere spectator.
