As a kid I was an observer. I was shy, so in group situations you could usually find me off in a corner, eating whatever was available, watching the festivities.
Even back then I was adding to my compilation of observations, to be used later when I began writing. Of course I didn’t know it way back then; it wasn’t a conscious decision on my part; but today I can sure see how it all unfolded.
When my family would head off on a car trip/vacation, I would sit in the backseat, not reading a book but studying the passing landscapes, storing it all in my brain for future use.
I was reminded of that this past weekend when my wife and I went on a mini-vacation to see friends in Southern Oregon. It was about an eight-hour trip one-way, and most of the way Bev spent that time listening to music and playing with the puppy, while I observed everything we passed along the way.
I think writers are just wired differently. I was consciously thinking of certain sites and tucking them safely away until I need them in a new novel. That’s basically what I do every single day I’m out and about running errands . . . I’m observing! I even caught myself mentally writing some scenes for my latest novel while driving. I saw this great old mansion in Ashland, Oregon, and that mansion deserves a spot in the next novel.
I love everything about the writing process.
One of the people we visited on the trip asked me to explain how I write a particular scene. What process do I use as a scene unfolds, and I found it difficult to answer that question because it just happens, but it can only happen because of all the observations made over the span of my life.
Does that make sense?
If you’re a writer you are nodding your head right now.
We’re just wired a little bit differently.
Bill
“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”
Billybuc
Artistry With Words 
I was a lot like you as a kid here, as well. I only became more extroverted in my early 20s to be honest. But still there are times where I much really be observant and take it all in rather than be the opposite if that makes sense. Thanks for sharing and wishing you a Happy Tuesday now 😉
it makes perfect sense, Janine…thanks for sharing that, and I hope your Tuesday is everything you want it to be.
I can certainly relate to what you said in this post. When I was a kid, I would sit listening to the adults who sat around the table telling stories. My aunt used to say that you had to watch the quiet ones because you never knew what they were thinking.
True words from your aunt. I heard the same thing when I was young. 🙂
I was always the quiet one when I was a lot younger. I can totally relate to what you’re saying here. Have a great week Bill!
Evidently, Susan, most of us were the quiet ones. It’s a good group I hang out with. 🙂 Thanks and you do the same.
Wired a bit differently…
What can I say? Or perhaps in some the creativity is unawakened…lies dormant or exhausted. Observation can be so meaningful!
I like that, Manatita..unawakened….very nice!
Writers. Creatives. We’re all just a little weird and that’s what makes us so interesting. Tee hee. I’m definitely weird. I am not shy about it. I was a weird kid who stuck out like a sore thumb, and I didn’t know it then, but those experiences shaped who I am such that I wouldn’t take them back. Though I do think if I knew then what I know now…haha.
In any case, your mind works awesomely well! You keep on keepin’ on, Big Bro!
Lil Sis, I’ll match you weirdness for weirdness when I was a kid. In fact, I don’t think the word was invented until I was ten, and then someone decided that “weird” fit me, a new word, thanks to my bizarre social behavior. LOL
It seems being an observer was a requirement to writing. I too was of this nature. Great minds think alike! Yes, we are wired differently.
We all make a great society I am proud to be a part of, Dee. Thank you!
I totally agree that writers are wired differently. People are social creatures and they tend to interact with each other. Writers, though we can socialise with others, tend to interact more with our environment. Now that I think about it, we probably socialise with others so we can have more fodder for our stories. Yep, definitely hard-wired differently.
Zulma, I just knew you’d understand. We even, at times, appear normal to the rest of society. Boy do we have them fooled. LOL
Of course, we do. If people knew what we were up to, they’d probably avoid us. Then where would we get our stories from. 😀
LOL…so very true, Zulma!
Yep, I’m nodding. I wonder if I would have been a writer at all if I wasn’t that shy observer.
Andrea, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been. Writing gives me an outlet that I just don’t have in any other fashion. It puts me in contact with the world.
Yes, yes, and yes all the way, Bill 🙂 I’m nodding the same as Andrea and with her all the way, too. I’ve noticed that people who are excessively extrovert often don’t listen properly and seldom stand still enough to take everything in. Occasionally I get bursts of extroversion, but they exhaust me and they usually involve me chasing my tail and not achieving a lasting creative thought. Presently, I’m just battening down my hatches for total submersion in National Novel Writing month come November. It promises to be an introvert’s paradise!
I love it, Sarah, and I’ve noticed the same thing about extroverts. I just want to grab them, hold them down, and force them to observe for a moment. LOL Probably be arrested if I tried that.
I hope you are well. Best wishes with NanNo
Thanks, Bill. I’m a little bit daunted by the prospect of speed-writing for a month, when I’m usually such a slow writer. My son is going to do NanNo, too, so we can spur each other on!
Well best wishes, my friend. I’ll be cheering you on from a distance.
Great insights into the mind of a future writer from his younger self.
Thanks Mike! A trip into my mind can be a scary thing, but a short visit like this one is okay. 🙂