The Eavesdrop

Go somewhere with people in it. A coffee shop, a train, an airport, the line at the pharmacy. Your own kitchen counts, if your family talks enough.

Write down ten things you overhear exactly as they are said. Don’t add any context, clean up grammar, or change any word. The weirder the better.

Now take this list and use it to create something. Write a short story, a scene, a poem, or a song that includes all ten overheard phrases. You can use them in any order, but you can’t change the words.

I’ve gotten song lyrics out of this method more than once. Once my cousin used the phrase “little disappointment” in a conversation and I heard that, and not only used it in a song, but it was the title of the song.