the butter queen ([info]thepassinator) wrote in [info]write_away,
@ 2007-11-29 11:09:00
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Entry tags:type: question, user: thepassinator

QUESTION FOR YOU GUYS
alright. there are three characters in this bit of prose i'm working on.

would it make the character feel more awkward if she lit up a cigarette and the other two characters said "you still smoke?" or if the other two characters were smoking and she didn't smoke?


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[info]penchaft
2007-11-29 04:27 pm UTC (link)
How can we know what will make your character feel more awkward?

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[info]story_hunter
2007-11-29 04:36 pm UTC (link)
I think it depends on the situation and setting. You need to know whether the character would be more likely to smoke than her friends (/associates/whatever), and which option would be considered more socially or personably acceptable to those people.

Which is a convoluted way of saying you probably need to work it out for yourself...sorry!

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[info]thepassinator
2007-11-29 04:40 pm UTC (link)
alright. thanks anyway!

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[info]i_eatglass
2007-11-29 07:31 pm UTC (link)
Depends on the character. Me, personally, don't smoke, but I don't care if people do around me (unless they're unfiltered and particularly nasty cigarettes, most of my friends have better taste than that). I get a little defensive when smokers automatically assume I have a problem with them smoking if I don't smoke, and referring to other addictions, yes, two people asking "You still smoke?" friends or strangers, would be extremely awkward. Friends should be more understanding, and strangers shouldn't be so invasive. But that's me. Not all people and characters are like me.

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[info]2much_estrogen
2007-11-29 10:27 pm UTC (link)
the other characters were smoking and she didn't smoke. fo sho.

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[info]2much_estrogen
2007-11-29 10:37 pm UTC (link)
but everyone else is right. for some reason my answer was a totally natural impulse for me.

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[info]somerled
2007-12-02 12:47 am UTC (link)
really? I'm leaning the opposite direction 'cause in the "you still smoke" scenario they're explicitly judging her

wtf, [info]2much_estrogen you still freaking smoke?

vs

whatev [info]2much_estrogen, just hang tight til we finish ours

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[info]2much_estrogen
2007-12-02 01:14 am UTC (link)
i got this image of three friends walking out of a bar/restaurant. she heads to hail a cab, the other two fall back and whip out their cancer stix and lighters. she steps back and hangs around. they start talking and smoking. she tries to figure out what to do with her hands and then clasps them behind her back.

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[info]somerled
2007-12-02 01:19 am UTC (link)
"Sure I still smoke. I've always been a very oral person."

Goes to show context is king and queen.

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[info]2much_estrogen
2007-12-02 01:21 am UTC (link)
wurd

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[info]kvschwartz
2007-12-02 07:44 pm UTC (link)
Well, I think you're onto something related but not identical (a correlation without causation, to be more precise): high school students (for example) who choose to smoke, drink, do (mild) drugs, have sex -- they tend to be more socially relaxed and even reckless, whereas high school students who never smoke, never drink, have never done drugs, and don't have sex (perhaps even don't date) tend to be those who are more socially anxious. I more easily imagine the captain of the cheerleaders smoking (even if she knows it could get her kicked off the team) than the president of the math club.

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[info]2much_estrogen
2007-12-03 03:01 am UTC (link)
sounds like the movies.

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[info]kvschwartz
2007-12-03 04:40 am UTC (link)
Which movie?

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[info]2much_estrogen
2007-12-03 04:58 am UTC (link)
haha like every awkward scene in teen movies ;)

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[info]doctor_paradox
2007-11-29 11:58 pm UTC (link)
Is the question how a smoker/non-smoker would interact in this situation, or is the question how does the inclinations of the smokers & non smokers create conflict that delineates the characters?

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[info]mspixieears
2007-12-01 12:49 am UTC (link)
I think the first scenario sounds more plausible, personally.

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[info]en_nova
2007-12-05 09:25 am UTC (link)
if the person is likely to feel bad because someone else is dissappointed in her or she had felt pressure to quit.

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