Random Talk.

[† Mute point]

Funniest thing was when I was mistaken for an employee because I spent a little time putting stuff back on shelves. And then the customers wanted my manager's name because I was so much more helpful than the others...

[Dae314]

You re-shelve things for the employees? How nice of you . I almost never re-shelve things . Most of the time I see only 1 thing and I have no idea where it goes, and I figure most people won't make the dumb mistake of grabbing that 1 off thing and not looking at it thinking it was the stuff behind it .

Why do we put smilies at the end of sentences instead of at the beginning?

[lolrawr]

Why do we put smilies at the end of sentences instead of at the beginning?

Aaaah you just blew my mind. Why don't we?

I guess it's like a surprise. We don't want people to know the tone until we're done with the sentence.

:[ I am sad.

I am sad. :[

Hm. It does look better. I guess it's good when it's just a standalone sentence.

[SammiePumpkin]

Funniest thing was when I was mistaken for an employee because I spent a little time putting stuff back on shelves. And then the customers wanted my manager's name because I was so much more helpful than the others...

haha i do that to and ppl look at me crazy once they notic i dont actually work there >> i spend way to much time in wallmart to be honest

 

but then agin it might be the fact that our mall sucks and closes at 10 sooo everyone just hanges at wallmart >> and its also in the next town over not in my town >> dang i use to live in a small town ><

 

 

Why do we put smilies at the end of sentences instead of at the beginning?

i think we do it so we dont give away things like what its goin to be about and stuff like if your being serious or joking or stuff like that

[† Mute point]

It's because the smiley doesn't make sense out of context, and the only way to put it into context, is to have it at the end of the sentence.

 

Example: I got a car today

 

vs : I got a car today

 

The first seems like you are just generally happy, and then saying you got a car. The second says that you are happy because you got a car. Both do work, but they make more sense the second way.

[† Emotional Outlet]

In a conversation, I tend to interpret smilies at the beginning of a sentence as a response to whatever is said in the last line. So like...

 

"And I finally got my refund in the mail!"

" How much was it?"

 

Still, smilies at the front just look weird and out of place. Like Mute says, they lack context.

[Dae314]

Do you think it might be related more deeply to how we process emotions as well? Perhaps we don't decide to assign what we say an emotion until we've formulated what's said? Or perhaps that's different for speech and writing? In writing as well, do authors usually preface the emotion in their character's lines (assuming only the cases where they actually note an emotion instead of let the emotion come from the words) or do they put the emotion at the end usually? I know I've seen both, but I'm not sure which is more prevalent.

One would think that we'd want the readers to read the line with the correct emotion the first time instead of having to go back and reattribute the emotion to what they read. Or perhaps that's again how humans process emotions...

[† Emotional Outlet]

I don't think I understand what you mean by authors prefacing with emotion as opposed to appending with emotion. Usually it's considered "telling" to say that a character is feeling a certain emotion instead of letting people see it themselves through the character's words and actions.

 

"Stacy felt angry."

"Anger welled in the pit of Stacy's stomach."

- First one is "telling". Second one may be considered telling. Depends who you ask.

 

"Stacy slammed her fists on the table."

"With anger, Stacy slammed her fists on the table."

- The second one is repetitive. You can guess that she's feeling angry through her action and the fact that her hands are clenched into fists.

 

"With bitterness, Stacy spat, 'You're filthy.'"

"Stacy spat with bitterness, 'You're filthy.'"

"Stacy spat, 'You're filthy.'"

"'You're filthy,' spat Stacy."

"'You're filthy,' spat Stacy with bitterness."

- The one that works best, IMO, depends on what the surrounding structures look like. "With bitterness" isn't vital; "spat" conveys a derisive tone.

 

If I'm told "Stacy felt angry" and the author goes on to expand on that anger--her harsh words, her rash actions, &c--I would say the line about her being angry is extraneous. If the author describes all these things and ends it with, "Stacy felt angry", I'm more likely to accept it as emphatic repetition. Or I might see it as kind of condescending, like I'm not able to tell that she's mad when she's throwing stuff everywhere and calling people names. Depends how it's written.

 

I think if people have to go back to figure out what's going on, it may not be well-written in the first place. It's one thing to have something revealed later on that paints previous events in a different light, but if you can't tell in the moment that someone is angry--however they may express that anger, whether a subtle fist clenching or a more evident reddening of the face--there might be something off with the writing.

[Dae314]

The last of your 3 example chunks is what I was referring to. Not with larger themes, solely with a single line of speech from a character. You can think of the "With bitterness Stacy spat" and "spat Stacy with bitterness" as emoticons. In the top stuff the emoticon is first. It sets the tone of the following quote. In the bottom stuff, the emoticon is last (typical for online chat) where it sets the tone for the quote that came before it.

The difference between the two in writing is delimited with a period. The difference between the two in chat is done with line-feeds (line breaks).

HAI!!

HAI!!

vs

HAI!!

HAI!!

Also I'm back in school after a short spring break ^^.

Edited March 4, 2013 by Dae314

[Dark-hunter]

u 2 are putting way to much effort into this lols ._.

[† Emotional Outlet]

Haha, I think about writing a lot.

 

Anyway, in that case, I think writers tend to either put it at the end or in the middle.

 

I still think you should be able to tell a character's emotions from their words--the tags are just icing, a way to remind readers who is speaking without using an action beat.

 

"You're filthy." Stacy slammed her fists on the table. "Get out. Now."

 

But yeah, sentence flow and variety is pretty important. Putting them all in the front reads a little weird??

 

Mary said, her voice cracking, "I don't understand what you're saying. How am I filthy?" She shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

 

Stacy turned away, letting out a heavy breath. She replied gruffly, "You know damn well what I'm saying. Get. Out."

 

I've read a little into the matter and one of the criticisms people have about putting tags at the front is it breaks immersion by calling attention to itself. It reminds people that they are in fact reading a book. When placed at the end, readers remain within the fiction.

 

It also has a very informal feel to it, like someone at the pub is telling you a story. "So I said this, but then she was like this, so he yelled at her and said this". Some people even read the quotes first, then go back to the tag, breaking flow even more.

[coffeeNiK]

I love Mountain Dew. 

I think the world aspires to bring me down when a regular selling spot runs out. 

I get depressed. Angry. Sad. All a mix of emotions until it becomes a melting pot of apocalyptic chaos. 

I wish to destroy the silly owners for not having decent purchasing knowledge. Lack of inventory is critical to the failure of some small businesses. I wish I could teach them. Maybe with their blood they will learn. 

 

: (

 

I love Mountain Dew. 

[† Emotional Outlet]

My dad drinks so much Mountain Dew, it's pretty much replaced his blood.

 

My grandmother similarly drinks a lot of Diet Coke.

[Dark-hunter]

im full of Pepsi then

[SammiePumpkin]

Mountain Dew is full of an oil that is used to make stuff flam retardant

[† Mute point]

I'm a coke drinker. Always have been, always will be.

 

I barely remember this, but I had a serious Rugrats moment when I was little. I was thirsty, but no one was getting me a drink even though I put my sippy cup on their lap like usual. So I went into the kitchen, saw one of dad's scewdrivers on the floor. Used it to pry open the fridge. Waaaaaay up on the top shelf was the pretty red box everyone else got their drinks out of... So I climbed inside of the fridge, got all the way up there, grabbed a can, managed to climb back down with it. Pushed the door shut, and used the screwdriver to open the can.

 

Apparently I was halfway through the can by the time anyone got in there. I was a hyper little toddler that day.

[Dark-hunter]

lols nice one

i don't know if i have moments like that

[† Emotional Outlet]

Then I guess my dad won't be catching fire any time soon, haha. That sounds like one of those things where it's like, "Don't eat that, it's only one molecule away from being plastic!" I'm pretty sure I also share a lot of DNA with a banana, that doesn't mean I am a banana.

 

I have no memories of little me. Apparently one time I stole a bag of doughnuts and hid in a closet with them as I proceeded to shove all of them down my tiny tiny throat. There's photographic evidence of this. As well as the one time I was up on the counter with a gallon of ice cream, trying to pry it open so I can also shove it down my throat. My little brother was on the floor, trying to reach up for the ice cream. My sweet tooth knows no bounds.

 

Conversely, I used to eat toothpaste samples and drink vinegar when I was little, so I don't know. Being an unsupervised child meant eating a lot of weird stuff apparently.

[Dark-hunter]

u remind of snorelax lols

[Dae314]

Salt's 1 molecule away (literally) from being poisonous and killing you .

Also, everything's 1 proton away from being something else so...

I drink milk.