Habits of the Species Writerix Fictionalus

The species Writerix Fictionalus has many strange but noteworthy habits.

The subject to your left is one of this strange species. Note the wild look in the eyes. Apparently this one's muse is loose and sharing.

Today in a scientific breakthough, we will discuss three of those notables:

Auditory:
I'll admit it—I eavesdrop, especially in line at the mall. If you're lucky, you can catch two conversations at once. In that case, you may have to incorporate the "new-mother- sway" to catch both without being too obvious.

Someone once told me, "Thou shalt not eavesdrop." But since they couldn't show it to me in Scripture and since I'm a writer, I ignored them. Besides, you can find wonderful fodder for fiction by listening in on conversations of which you're not a participant.

Oh come on. Don't tell me you've never sat in a restaurant, trying to ignore that toddler in the booth behind you. You know the one who stands and drools down the back of your collar. Just as you're about to turn around and ask the parents to kindly restrain their little darling, you hear the dad say, "If only Uncle Harry hadn't left that axe where Bobby Jo could find it."

Now if you're Brandilyn Collins, you suddenly have a serial axe murderer, and in the time it takes to wipe the drool off your neck, you've got a three book series plotted. And if you're Diann Hunt, you've got a stand-alone about a quirky hair stylist who couldn't find her scissors.

A single word gleaned from an overheard conversation can spark a "what if" that becomes a full length novel. My friends and family know when I glaze over, no longer hearing them, my muse has awakened and is running with that "what if". They just smile indulgently, knowing I’ll rejoin them eventually.

I have a tee shirt that says: Careful or you'll end up in my novel. Hmm, I wonder if that's why conversation suddenly stops when I join a group of friends around the coffee kiosk at church.

Dietary:
Relevant to writing, there are two basic dietary needs: caffeine and chocolate. The caffeine keeps the writer awake and the chocolate is their reward. I have it all figured out. I get one M&M for every 25 words written. If I write a thousand words, I get 40 M&Ms.

Coffee can change by the species' genre. While there may be exceptions to this rule, on the whole, romance and women's fiction writers prefer flavored coffees often containing their other dietary staple – chocolate. Suspense and thriller authors are hard core, dark roast or espresso imbibers. It fuels those black thoughts needed to create the criminal mindset.

Habitat:
From cave to garret, a writer's lair is as individual as the author. I once had a nest – I mean office of my own. Until my grown son moved back home for a time of regrouping. Now I have a corner in the master bedroom. Habitat doesn't seem to inhibit writers, but they do have some strange quirks about their space.

A feathery yellow duck pen that lights up when the point is pressed against paper, my special coyote coffee mug, a bamboo backscratcher, several different colors of sticky tabs (okay, I'm anal)—all are essential to my creativity. Should one be missing, my muse won't come out to play.

So what are your writer's habits? Do share – I know you have some quirky ones. And those who share will be entered in a drawing for two book, both humorous:

Only Uni by Camy Tang

and

Stuck in the Middle by Virginia Smith.