If you plan on trying to keep track of multiple showers, attention must be paid to the proper assigning of each meteor you see. For those just starting out, it is usually easier to watch for one shower only, recording all other meteors as sporadic. Somewhat difficult at first, classification of a meteor becomes easier with practice. When a meteor shower occurs, all shower members radiate from a central location known as the radiant. By knowing where a shower's radiant lies, a meteor can be projected backward along the path it traveled to see if it crosses the radiant.
Radiant diameters vary depending on the shower.
Most are in the neighborhood of 5 degrees in size, although some are as large as 15x10 degrees. If a suspected meteor is traced back toward this radiant, count it as a shower member. Otherwise it should be considered a sporadic meteor. Care should be taken on nights when more than one meteor shower is active. On these nights, all radiant in the area of sky that is being covered should be accurately identified prior to the watch.