random writing query

[schmerica]

lyra_sena: well, the truth is that as much as it makes us uncomfortable? the distinction is very real.

Okay, so I'm taking the above sentence completely out of context from the conversation lyra_sena and I were having earlier, because it's a perfect example of a kind of style I've been wondering about a lot lately.

Basically, that questioning intonation/statements that are not statements thing -- that's how I talk, really a lot of the time. I know quite a few people who do the same thing, even; it's not something I notice in everyday conversation.

On the other hand, though, it's something that can suddenly become *really* noticeable in writing. There's been a couple of stories I've read lately (though, dammit, I apparently cannot *locate* any of them again) that had this kind of construction in them. And for, say, Gretchen in Mean Girls it comes across as perfectly natural, whether in dialogue or narration, but for Ray Kowalski, it seems odd. It makes me think of the author, rather than the character a lot of the time.

Is this true for others?

I'm trying to think of what it is that makes it read that way to me. The first thing that comes to my mind is that is sounds "feminine" -- except that word is no end of troublesome, and even just that description kind of gets my rankles up. Especially when I try and figure out what I mean by that, and the next word I come up with is "uncertain".

Is it something along those lines? There are male characters whom I can picture such dialogue working with -- Dan Rydell, perhaps, comes to mind. Is it simpler than that -- just another matter of character voice? Am I just on crack? Am I on crack but have a point in this instance? I don't know.

Comments

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... I didn't get sarcasm from what Erica was saying so much as the uncertainty or hesitance of framing statements as questions and then answering. There's a difference between the "not so much" example people are using - which strikes me as a (probably Jewish) New York thing that Sorkin and Seinfeld popularized, which pops up everywhere now, and the other thing, the "this thing I'm talking about here? I'm not sure if it's making sense or if you want me to stop talking." construction, the latter of which is what I thought was under discussion.

[shayheyred.livejournal.com]

the uncertainty or hesitance of framing statements as questions and then answering Well, that's one, fairly narrow definition of what's being described. It seems to me we're talking about the construction in general, which can be used in a number of ways, including sarcasm. That's where the difference in the characters is important; hesitancy, possibly of youth, is well-served by it; sarcasm or irony becomes apparent by exactly the same format. Different purposes, different characters, different intentions, yes. It's still the same construction, which is what I perceive to be what we're talking about.