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When someone is telling a story or about to tell a story, what part makes you think it's going to be interesting or boring? (kbin.melroy.org)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Whenever someone has to highlight the fact that when they're telling a story from 30 years ago or longer, that they 'didn't have smartphones'. Like yeah, I don't expect someone from 1995 to have such a device and the closest things you've got were PDAs.

I just know it's going to be some old boomer like story that'll bore me.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If someone starts the story by saying "I had a dream last night", I know it's going to be a long account of something totally nonsensical that I will be utterly uninterested in, that will not teach me anything of value, amaze me or amuse be in any way.

Depending on how much I care about not antagonizing that person, I might walk away without saying a word, lash out at them to shut them the hell up immediately, or politely listen while quietly escaping to my happy place in my mind while the torture lasts.

There are few things I hate more than people wasting my time telling me their dreams.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That's because it's almost always a poor retelling.

When someone talks about their dreams, they're biased; to them, it's already profound. But to you, it sounds like a disconnected infodump because, well, it usually is.

I was in an apocalypse, then met Stu, he's 6 foot 4 and had 730 quadrillion molecules in his body, then Gandhi sold me to Justin Trudeau. Woke up in a cold sweat. (add 200 words of filler)

Is this a testament to the importance of writing skill, or insurmountable bias? I suppose a hobbyist writer would have a better chance at keeping one compelled.

Here's my favorite example of better dream storytelling: tumblr

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Tumblr is is such a goldmine sometimes, thanks for that.