Things That Annoy Me, But Shouldn't

Films that use shaky cameras and closely-cropped shots as a style choice. I'm looking at you, 28 Weeks Later. When I see this style of film-making it just makes me suspect the director used it to disguise the fact they aren't talented enough to shoot it conventionally.

 

Taken series, Bourne series, Cloverfield...

 

Granted. Of those I've only seen the second, but at least there was some talent evident with the Bourne series.

28 Weeks Later is absolute garbage. I'm only an hour in but it's going off very soon as I'm losing my patience with it. Danny Boyle must have really regretted selling the rights.

 

Finally, one more thing that annoys me but s h o u l d not:

First person narrative in books outside of fictional diaries.
I'm not entirely sure why that is other than I don't see how a whole story could be told that way. And that one time I was reading this trashy book where the author proceeded to hijack the narrator just to express homophobic bullshit that had nothing to do with the story.

 

You see I see it the exact opposite way. It makes perfect sense to tell a story in first-person. It's third-person narratives that don't make sense to me because the narrator is somehow getting inside other people's heads in order to tell us their thoughts.

We all share our day-to-day experiences in the first-person, so why is it so hard to see how a story can be told this way?

Imagine this. You return home after a tough day at work. Your partner asks, "How was your day?" and you proceed to tell them the day's events:

"Oh it was terrible. Lisa came in late and all the way there she was thinking, I'm gonna get fired! I'm gonna get fired! Tom, the boss, noticed her come in. I'll let this one go, he thought to himself. She's a good worker and we need her. In truth it was only because he had a secret crush on her."

 

I agree, they really need to take the camera away from the guy with cerebral palsy.

 

This particular style is just above 'found footage' films - another lame excuse to disguise a lack of talent.

 

Good point. That would be weird and awkward.

 

I don't have any allergies but I hate cigarette smoke. I even have a hard time standing in close proximity to smokers when they're not smoking because I think they smell like ashtrays. I've turned down cuddle time and more with a woman way out of my league simply because I could smell it on her. But pulling out a flashlight when someone asks for a light? I like you.

Just for the sake of clarity, the knife I carry would be hard-pressed to be genuinely mistaken as anything but a tool. I would think that someone would have to be overly dramatic to think that I am carrying it as a weapon (not that it couldn't easily be used as such). I'm not walking around with a big ol' hunting knife or anything (that's not a knife, that's a knife). I typically carry a Milwaukee brand box cutter but I do sometimes carry another one of the same brand with a slightly larger blade that flips open (not a switch blade which is illegal to carry even here) and while I still see it as obviously a tool, I understand how it might be intimidating but it's still small enough that it stays in my pocket.

 

It was an extreme analogy and I think it's safe to say I'm in the minority in preferring a first-person narrative. I think most people, like yourself, prefer third.

 

Speaking of, and no offense to anyone here, but how dumb would you have to be to still be vaping, especially with off-brand cartridges?

 

I can respect your decision, even though I disagree.
I smoke, and I think a woman who smokes can be
quite sexy.

 

You make a good point but to be fair, when you are writing a story in the first-person, you're typically using first-person phrasing to describe the actions of someone who isn't yourself and so you're still getting inside of someone else's head. The only difference is that the narrator isn't on the page with the character.

That's not to mention that the third-person narrative you're referring to is only if said narrator is omniscient. Personally, I prefer third-person subjective where the narrator's perspective is limited to one character at a time (typically the immediate viewpoint character, even when there is more than one main character). The subjective narrator is closer to first-person than the omniscient with the biggest difference I can see being that the reader is not limited to a single perspective throughout the entirety of the story.

I've recently taken to reading first-person stories since I used to have an aversion to them. I've grown to appreciate them more and more but I still have a difficult time writing that way. It's one thing to write about my own personal experiences but trying to write in the first-person about someone who isn't myself, especially someone who is so different from me, I have difficulty not injecting myself into the character. One thing I've discovered that I really like about reading first-person is that you only know as much as the main character which can really up the suspense.

First-person can also offer some pretty cool perspectives when the person telling the story isn't the main character, such as with Sherlock Holmes but I still have difficulty reading those. My biggest gripe is that I have yet to read a story in which the reader and the character can be filled in the gaps of a mystery without a giant info dump from a supporting character or a weird, out-of-place monologue from the viewpoint character.

As much as I love the story, I still can't make it through Bram Stoker's Dracula. How do you feel about it as a first-person story? Even if you're not a fan of the genre or the story itself.

 

Not really sure. I don't vape and I don't understand the point of it. Apparently, I'm a terribly boring person at parties as I don't smoke, drink, or do any kind of recreational drugs (at least not anymore). So I'm not sure what the difference is between branded or off-brand cartridges. I wasn't even aware that there were such a thing as 'off-brand' cartridges.

I get the stylistic appeal and understand why it is romanticized in fiction, especially in film (just look at my name). There is something inherently cool about the leather-bound rebel with a cigarette in his lip or the allure of a beautiful lady with a smoke (especially one of those long cigarette holders) but that's where the appeal stops for me. I think smokers become nose-blind to the smell which is why they usually roll their eyes and pretend that I'm exaggerating if I mention that I can smell it despite the fact that they haven't had a smoke in over an hour or something.

But hey, we're not kissing. So you do you.

 

I was going to say (and probably should have said) 'black market' carts. Most contain THC and seem to be the cause of most of the lung issues users are seeing. Interesting story about the industry here:

https://www.leafly.com/news/health/...jury-rise-and-fall-of-vitamin-e-oil-honey-cut

 

Ah yes, I've read a similar article not too long ago (I didn't read this entire article, just FYI). I have a friend who is an avid vaper (vapor?) who was growing annoyed with all of the stigma surrounding vaping. I believe he stays away from those with Vitamin E as they were linked to what was causing so many lung problems (something about it being a thickening agent). I still think my own solution works best; stop inhaling smoke into your lungs because none of it is good for you. To me, it's like arguing which brand of gasoline is the safest to huff.

I'd also like to mention that this problem isn't just with those that contain THC. Some of them contain THC and are meant to get you high and others don't and aren't. My friend has a job that regularly drug tests so he doesn't vape as a way to get high, just as an alternative to smoking cigarettes.

I've seen some of these black market cartridges that you're referring to and most of them do seem to contain THC. Back when I did partake in recreational drugs (I smoked weed, that was it, and I've always enjoyed the taste and smell, oddly enough), I wasn't into all of these special methods of smoking or ingestion. I didn't need 101 Ways to Ingest Weed. I was happy with a glass bowl or the occasional joint. Personally, I'm against its legalization on a recreational level but not for any moral reasons. Funny enough, I'd feel safer buying weed from a drug dealer on the streets than I would from the government or a business.

This is way off topic from this thread, though so I'll stop now.

 

The Doctors-and-Staff-Only parking places at my doctor's office are closer to the entrance than the handicapped spots.

 

What do you mean by black market? Over here you can buy little juice bottles for £1 from these bargain stores. Can’t imagine why anyone would buy black market juice when it’s available in shops for so little.

 

I think logically your view makes sense BUT third person narration has been common to storytellers for ...well, as long as stories have been told, really. Unless the oral storyteller claims the events actually happened to him or her, they will naturally use third person. Fairy tales, folk tales, sagas, etc ...all third person. It is pretty much ingrained in listeners, and probably readers as well. The story either happened to 'you' the storyteller, or it happened to 'somebody out there.'

Nothing wrong with writing first person, of course. But it's not the commonest go-to storytelling mode, is it?

 

Black market cartridges usually contain THC and are sold in places where marijuana isn't legal, or are sold for less than the carts from the marijuana stores.

 

I challenged myself to write in first person just to sabotage my effort and make me stop writing. 225k later, I still ask, "did the MC see that? How did he know that?" Then, I obsess over solving the puzzle and create even more actual story in the process.

 

Hey! That's My brane! How'd you get my brane??

 

No, it definitely isn’t. I think I’m biased because I used to get lost when writing in 3rd.

 

Modern music. Yes I’ve had this one before but I don’t think I fully let rip.

Some irritations boil down to personal opinion, but this is based on hard facts. Modern music is crap, ‘written’ by social media whores who know nothing about the craft and who disguise the fact they can’t hold a note to save their lives by under-singing in this tortured, mournful whine that makes me want to squat over the radio and have violent diarrhoea!