Assembled in the USA from 100% Chinese parts.

Never the less, it's that sort of thing that keeps me smiling about the fact that I date men. Or, frowning because I don't as the case may be. Whichever.

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Honey, men don't do this any less than women.

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bookly.livejournal.com

Is this apropos of something recent? My phone is on, if you want to talk (about anything in specific or nothing in general :).

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Is this apropos of something recent?

Oh dear me, no.

My phone is on, if you want to talk (about anything in specific or nothing in general :)

Thanks! I may call you, actually, as my friend seems dead set on going to Nepal.

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You think? When I've encountered this in men (and to make this weird, it's only been w/my father) they simply refuse to admit any inconsistency at all. And then we all sublimate happily ever after.

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Didn't king of Nepal close the airport? And isn't there martial law and all sorts of other craziness?

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You think? When I've encountered this in men (and to make this weird, it's only been w/my father) they simply refuse to admit any inconsistency at all.

Oh, I do think...and that they don't admit the inconsistency merely makes it more likely that we don't remember, or bow to their rewriting of events.

But they do it as often, but have different coping mechanisms for it. Just wait until you date one of those :)

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Indeed he did, then he opened it again. And yes, there is all sorts of craziness. As far as I know, the borders and the airport are now open again. I don't know about phone service; that was cut off at one point.

An acquaintance--she was a boarder last summer--is actually from Nepal. I hope to get to talk to her soon about all of this.

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Just because what she said then she now contradicts completely doesn't mean she was any less sincere then, or believes in what she says or does now any less.

You know, this is one of the things that makes writing realistic characters so damned hard. Because people *do* that, and yet if you're inconsistent within the bounds of a story and do a 180 degree reversal, readers get fussy because hey! she said just the opposite five pages ago! Reality has no need to be consistent. Fiction, however, has to make sense. Aggravating!

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I swear I'm no being cheeky when I say this, but with a character, I suspect you'd need to be consistent with your inconsistency. You're right that you probably won't get away with it if you do it just once, but if you establish it as a character trait, your audience will begin to catch on.

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You know, this is one of the things that makes writing realistic characters so damned hard.

It is! I mean, I never thought of it in that context, but it must be a raging pain.

Also, because people expect standards of consistency from others--real or fictional--that they'd never themselves be able to match, it's a hard lesson to learn. I see a lot of finger pointing and anger, both in myself and others, because it's easier to get upset than to realize that reality isn't particularly neat or orderly.

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Yah, point.

I actually thought about posting a comment about certain people making their inconsistency a habit, but I decided it would detract from my point.

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Nah, you don't sound cheeky. :) What you have to do is *explain* the inconsistency. There's got to be an acknowlegement of the change, either internal or external, and if the character flips back and forth too much you get annoyed readers, not understanding ones. People are a lot more forgiving of erratic behavior in real life than they are in fiction. Possibly because it's harder to drop a friend than drop a book. :)

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redbird

Given the choice, I'd rather have a friend (in my approach, partners are a subset of friends) who admitted to inconsistency than one who insisted that we had always been at war with Eastasia.

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It is! I mean, I never thought of it in that context, but it must be a raging pain.

It is! 'cause people will run hot and cold at a moment's notice in real life, and sometimes you do have to explain your change in behavior, but you pretty much *always* have to explain it in fiction (see above!) And writing in a dramatic change of behavior or opinion that's based in emotion rather than intellect can be awkward, because you don't want to interrupt the flow of the story, but you're also largely obliged to be sure the reader understands what's really going on there. It's not one of my strengths as a writer (motivation? who needs motivation? it happens because I SAID SO!), but I'm learning.

Also, because people expect standards of consistency from others--real or fictional--that they'd never themselves be able to match, it's a hard lesson to learn. I see a lot of finger pointing and anger, both in myself and others, because it's easier to get upset than to realize that reality isn't particularly neat or orderly.

Yeah. That's actually one of my big beefs with many, many romance novels: at *least* 50% and frequently 90% of the problems in many romances could be cleared up if the two main characters would actually *talk* to one another. And then you'd have a short story instead of a novel, but that's a different problem. :)

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one who insisted that we had always been at war with Eastasia.

This reference just made me smile.

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And then you'd have a short story instead of a novel, but that's a different problem.

Or, they might have the conversation, but the talk would spawn different, more subtle misunderstandings or frustrations, and then you'd have a different novel, probably sending you right out of the romance genre, into...um...there's probably a genre known for this but I can't name it offhand. :)

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tcb.livejournal.com

wow. hard truths. I've been finding so many lately.

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bloodstones.livejournal.com

I don't think fewer romance novels in the world is a problem. I have to admit the frustration with characters for creating problems that could easily be solved if they would just talk to each other and tell the truth is what makes me unable to like greek trajedy. I just want to sit them all in a room and make them say what's really going on. Strangely, that's why my father caN't stand the play Noises Off (which I like a lot) because he just wants to open all the doors. (which only makes sense if you know the play, but it's really funny if you do)

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gracest.livejournal.com

Not exactly true for me though. I try to be consistent. Of course I fail at times.

But if I've said something inconsistent previously, and I'm aware of it, that does make me question what I'm saying now, and whether I really believe it.

It's very tiring :)

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I can't believe I'm going here, but whatever. Buffy actually had a lot of this going on, and the non-communication device drove a great deal of the story. Giles witholding from Buffy, Willow to scared to tell Xander something, Buffy bottling up everything she possibly could cause she likes to sulk, etc etc ad inifinitum.

I nearly cheered in the last season when Faith, having just finished her creepy encounter with the First in the guise of The Mayor, was asked by bald-principal guy if something was up, and she started to do the standard "no everything is fine, i'm just gonna let this encounter fester and eat at me" thing, but stopped, and actually talked about it w/bald prinicipal guy. Thus averting some crazy disaster. It was a small moment, but so telling about how thoroughly the show had relied on it's characters being so distant from one another most of the time. (And it confirmed my love for Faith as my favorite character.)

Ok, sorry about that, I'm done now.

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Of course I fail at times.

The thing is, people change. Situations change. Life changes.

In a lot of ways it's completely unfair to expect someone to stay consistent despite all the changes. In fact, when some people do, we call them stubborn, out of touch, or inflexible.

When someone is inconsistent in something we relied on them for, that's hard, but sometimes it's unavoidable.

I guess what I've tried to learn is how to accept people's inconsistencies. And be able to distinguish inconsistency because of change from mere flakiness. :)

But if I've said something inconsistent previously, and I'm aware of it, that does make me question what I'm saying now, and whether I really believe it.

It's very tiring :)

I'm a big believer in self-analysis, so it seems to me that kind of questioning is helpful. But if it's getting too tiring, well, you seem a lot more consistent than a lot of other people, so...

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"Fiction". :)

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*laugh*! I do know the play, and I never thought of it that way. *laugh*! I'm with you, though, not your father. *laugh*!

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That's one of the things that drove me nuts about Buffy. Not necessarily the fact that they didn't talk to each other, because okay, people are dumb, they do that all the time. But that the NEVER LEARNED FROM IT. The final season in particular annoyed me with that aspect. :)

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Your icon rocks.

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tcb.livejournal.com

thanks :)

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