People Watching and Persistence

 by Sybil Johnson

People watching and persistence. I’ll call them the 2 Ps. They are both important for writers. One of them gives us ideas for stories. The other makes us keep on going through the ups and downs of the writing life. 

I enjoy people watching whether it’s at Disneyland or at the airport or anywhere else. I have a Magic Key pass so I go to Disneyland around 8 times a year. Sometimes it’s nice just to sit on a bench and watch people walk by. Most people wear comfortable clothing, but some are dressed much fancier. On my last trip not that long ago, there was a couple dressed more formally. The woman had on a dress that could serve as a wedding dress or a prom dress. Were they coming from a wedding? Or going to another event later that day? We could make up stories.

Then there’s the airport. I suspect I haven’t spent as much time in airports as Steve P. has, but when I’m there and I have time to kill I do some people watching.

I don’t take notes like Steve does, but I file interesting things away in my mind to possibly use in a story. I was in the Seattle airport, many years ago now, when I noticed a man coming from the direction of security wearing khaki pants, no shoes and no shirt (i.e. bare-chested). He was carrying a duffel bag which I assume contained the missing parts of his wardrobe. I always wondered what the story was there. The shoes I understand because they do make you take them off. But, the shirt? I haven’t come up with a story yet for this one, but if anyone does, let me know. I look forward to reading it when it’s published. 

That brings me to the idea of persistence. Charlotte noted in her post yesterday that it’s important for a writer to have resilience and patience. These traits plus persistence are important. I recently reread a post I wrote on persistence paying off for a blog tour I did for my first book, Fatal Brushstroke, in 2014. I think it still applies.I haven't been as good about writing as I should these days. I am a little discouraged, honestly. So I needed to reread this.

 Here are a few quotes from it that I think are important for a writer to remember:

“A writer’s life can be a bit of a roller coaster ride. One day the writing’s flowing and hope fills your heart. The next day you receive a story rejection and that hope is dashed. The ups and downs can be a bit gut-wrenching. So much so, you wonder why you thought you could be a writer in the first place and consider giving up. Believe me, I’ve been there. I’ve even stopped writing for months at a time because I was so discouraged, but something always made me pick it up again.”

“My own writing journey has been fraught with rejections. It’s the nature of the beast, I know, but it’s still hard to take. One thing that’s kept me going is the small successes along the way.”

“Persistence pays off. No matter how many rejections you receive, how discouraged you get, if you truly want to be a writer, keep on going. Eventually, if you’ve done your homework and worked to improve your writing, someone will publish something you’ve written.”

So, keep on with your people watching and keep on writing.You never know what will happen.