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Mental landscapes
Aug. 1st, 2010 01:04 pmPandagon had an interesting entry about how cellphones and other tech are rendering some plots obsolete. http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/the_cellular_telephone_assault_on_fiction/
Go read it. I'll wait.
We don't all use tech well.
Some do. And I wonder if it's a function of age and mental landscape.
Everyone has a mental landscape that's a little different from everyone else's.
In my mental world, telephones hang on walls or sit on desks. They have cords (I never owned a cordless until 2001). They ring. Some of them still have rotary dials. Long distance calls are a rarity.
I'm not saying cellphones don't exist. I've been using one since 2005. But in my head, cellphones aren't what I think of when I see the word "phone."
The news comes on at 5, 5:30, 6 and 10. Round the clock news channels are not actually part of my mental landscape, despite having had one as long as I've had a computer.
Stores are small, often mom & pop places, but they always have exactly what the characters need (unless they don't, for plot reasons). Big box stores are a rarity in my fiction.
When people go on vacation, they drive. Most people in my mental reality don't fly. That's a big luxury, used by movie-star and rich people.
Sometimes I even forget air conditioning.
Examples:
In Chain-male, Chad gets a late night call. He picks up the receiver, wondering who is calling after the news on a Saturday.
With that, I have just revealed I am 40+.
I rewrote it for the final. He checks the screen, sees it's his boyfriend and all is cool.
In Shell-Shocked, the boys have 2 land lines. One for the house, one for Gabe's work. Neither of them has a cellphone, although Sean should, and David probably would have gotten one for Gabe.
I wonder how much of it is age, how much is upbringing, and how much changes with the times.
Go read it. I'll wait.
We don't all use tech well.
Some do. And I wonder if it's a function of age and mental landscape.
Everyone has a mental landscape that's a little different from everyone else's.
In my mental world, telephones hang on walls or sit on desks. They have cords (I never owned a cordless until 2001). They ring. Some of them still have rotary dials. Long distance calls are a rarity.
I'm not saying cellphones don't exist. I've been using one since 2005. But in my head, cellphones aren't what I think of when I see the word "phone."
The news comes on at 5, 5:30, 6 and 10. Round the clock news channels are not actually part of my mental landscape, despite having had one as long as I've had a computer.
Stores are small, often mom & pop places, but they always have exactly what the characters need (unless they don't, for plot reasons). Big box stores are a rarity in my fiction.
When people go on vacation, they drive. Most people in my mental reality don't fly. That's a big luxury, used by movie-star and rich people.
Sometimes I even forget air conditioning.
Examples:
In Chain-male, Chad gets a late night call. He picks up the receiver, wondering who is calling after the news on a Saturday.
With that, I have just revealed I am 40+.
I rewrote it for the final. He checks the screen, sees it's his boyfriend and all is cool.
In Shell-Shocked, the boys have 2 land lines. One for the house, one for Gabe's work. Neither of them has a cellphone, although Sean should, and David probably would have gotten one for Gabe.
I wonder how much of it is age, how much is upbringing, and how much changes with the times.
