People Watching

I really think Starbucks has to be one of the best places, as a writer, to hang out.

I was on a Valentine's Date yesterday (I know, I shouldn't be thinking of writing on a date...) with my hubby and we went to Starbucks because we'd gotten out of the house without having our morning coffee, which is basically unthinkable.

So as we're sitting at Starbucks and this group of men come in. They were military of some kind, so you know, they look all tough in their uniforms. One of them says to the other "Do you like sweet stuff?"

I guess the other said yes, though I didn't hear him.

"Then get a white mocha. That's a good thing to start with."

A third guy laughs. "No. I tall, black coffee would be a good thing to start with."

And that was all the conversation I overheard. But just from that my mind was spinning. Think of the different personalities involved there, all the ways those could be combined into a story. Think of how everyone's coffee choice says something about them, and of how funny it is that a big, burly military man would sip a white mocha while in uniform.

You have to live life to be a writer. If you just locked yourself away with your ideas, they'd eventually dwindle, because ideas come from experiences. If you're stuck in one of those stages where ideas just aren't coming to you, that's the BEST thing you can do--go live life.

The second best thing you can do to cure writer's block? People watch.

And personally, I think the best people watching happens at Starbucks. Plus you get to drink coffee. It's a win-win.