The Art of Conversation
And how it can improve your writing
You know the feeling — walking into a room full of strangers, fearful that someone will come up and talk to you, even more fearful that no-one will come up and talk to you. You’d rather be anywhere else.
This used to happen to me all the time. People think writers should be good with words. We are, of course, but skill at the written word doesn’t necessarily translate to the art of conversation. Writers are very good at thinking of the perfect line about twenty-four hours after the fact. That’s called editing. There’s no time for editing in real life, though.
Of course, there’s the option of not going into the room full of people in the first place, but you can only avoid social situations for so long. Sooner or later, unless you’ve created a doomsday bunker equipped to keep you alive on your own for decades, you’re going to have to talk to people.
And you know what? Once you get yourself out there you could discover that talking to people isn’t too bad. It can even be productive. You’d be surprised how often conversations with strangers can trigger ideas for stories you’d never have come up with otherwise. So, to get your discourse juices flowing and unlock all those neat story ideas, here are a few simple tips for improving your conversation skills.
