Writing, Eye Contact, and Laughing

[Poison Okra]

Just a few questions and points of discussion (if you have nothing better to do)...
How many of you enjoy creative writing? I enjoy it, but if I have to complete a creative writing assignment, I have to wait 'til an inspiration comes. Once I have the inspiration, writing the story is so easy, it hardly seems I'm doing it. Often the story is very humorous and I can't help laughing every time I read it ( :D ). On to the next two topics: eye contact ( :ph34r: ) and laughing ( :D )! Do you make eye contact when speaking or listening? A friend pointed out to me that I do neither... :nerd:
Hehe...in an INTP profile, it said "if you find someone laughing or snickering to himself, he's probably an INTP." I know this happens to me all the time, am I the only one?
:rofl:

[Salad]

i always make eye contact. and i'm always laughing to myself. i think it's disconcerting for others.

i had a girlfriend who thought i was always laughing at her. i was, but i wasn't. i couldn't explain it to her very well. she broke up with me.

creative writing? thought about it, never done it. i'd want it to be perfect, but that takes too much time.

[antireconciler]

I enjoy creating worlds, but I don't write very much because I think creative writing, being art, should communicate something deeper than a story. I don't currently have anything to communicate to the world, so I don't do it.

I make it a point to make eye contact when I talk with people. When people make eye contact with me, I perceive them as honest and open, which I consider to be very positive traits.

I think I laugh a lot. I'm not loud and obnoxious about it, though. Occasionally I laugh to myself if I have a funny thought or something I've been thinking about for some time suddenly comes together and is (naturally) remarkably simple.

[KentOhio]

Yeah, I like creative writing, and I'm good at it. I'm taking an elective in it this semester. I never make eye contact; there's something uncomfortable about it. It's easier with women though. I laugh to myself, but usually it's to get people to ask me what I'm laughing at. Then I can tell them. I'm too shy to bring it up on my own.

[flan2dave]

I'm not into creative writing, too much work, it goes against my concise nature, but on the other hand I do enjoy using my imagination.

I try to make eye contact, unless I really need to think, then I won't. I'm sure my conversational partner doesn't mind, as they would see it as thoughtfulness.

I do laugh to myself, I guess to compensate for a lack of laughs that would otherwise be attained in social exchanges. I noticed a sharp juxtaposition in theaters, when only I seem to be laughing at miscellanious things about the movie that weren't necessarily jokes.

[Flip]

I try to make eye contact, unless I really need to think, then I won't. I'm sure my conversational partner doesn't mind, as they would see it as thoughtfulness.

I do laugh to myself, I guess to compensate for a lack of laughs that would otherwise be attained in social exchanges.

I'm exactly the same,

Except I enjoy creative writing...

[Witticism]

I don't mind making eye contact with people I'm already acquainted with. But with people I don't know, like ones passing me on the street, I avoid eye contact. It makes me nervy.
I laugh to myself a lot of the time. I'll be sitting there on a bus or in somewhere public, and I'll remember something funny I read or saw and begin to laugh to myself. That's when the looks start.
I enjoy creating universes and characters and plots, but I can rarely find the enthusiasm to actually write it out.

[Crazy]

Creative writing is something I like, I'm good at, and I need to be forced to do it. I make eye contact, but it is usually quick, and most of the time I am looking all over the place, noticing things. Some people are creeped out by it. I always laugh to/at myself.



I noticed a sharp juxtaposition in theaters, when only I seem to be laughing at miscellanious things about the movie that weren't necessarily jokes.

I know exactly what you mean. I also get the opposite, everyone else will laugh, and I'll be thinking, it wasn't that funny.

[SensEye]

1) Creative writing - like it, I think I have the ability to come up with interesting stories, but I have no talent for writing. Years ago I decided I would write a novel. I wrote the first chapter, read it back to myself and thought - this sucks. What was on paper was nothing like what was in my mind. I concluded that learning to write descriptively would take a lot of work and abandoned the project.

2) Eye contact - only briefly. When talking to a person I generally focus on their nose or mouth with brief glances at their eyes periodically. This makes it look like I am generally focused on them without the discomfort direct eye contact causes me to feel.

3) Laughing - yeah, I chuckle to myself all the time.

[cloakable]

1) Creative writing. I suck at creative writing.

2) Eye contact. No. It makes me uncomfortable, and if someone thinks I'm unhonest because of it, fuck them.

3) Laughing. Yeah, I laugh all the time, generally for no reason *I* can discern.

[file cabinet]

eye contact..
I was being recorded on video for something and I was supposed to look someone in the eyes but apparently I look someone in the eyes for a short period of time then look away.. so they had difficulties in filming me and all that. it's was an 'interview' setting.

[int]

I like writing, in general, mostly because I garble most of my sentences when I speak. Writing makes it easier to sya what it is I'm trying to say. I wish I could spend more time doing it more often - writing research papers and tech stuff.

I try yo look people in the eyes when I'm engaged in a converstation I want to be a part of, otherwise not looking at someone is a good way of letting them know I'm not interested.

Of course, I realize when this is happening and I'll laugh to myself. I started laughing hysterically the other night and all of a sudden several people were staring at me, wondering what I was laughing at. I turned very red and told them to never mind me. Which made me laugh again.

[Birdsnest]

Writing - yes
Eye contact - Harder when I was younger, I was shy so it used to be hard to look at someone directly
Laughing - comedy shows and movies make me laugh

[shaytana]

I have been thinking about eye contact lately, and why it makes me uncomfortable. It is one thing to keep on going "yeah me too, I do that too" but why? What is it about making eye contact that sets an unease. Windows to the soul, do you feel like you are peeking? invading? Do you not like what you see or is it too much to handle? Or are you afraid of revealing yourself?

[SensEye]

It just seems like an intimate act to me. As an introvert, I don't like to indulge in intimate acts frivolously. It is interesting to speculate as to whether this is an INTP thing or more broadly, an introvert thing in general.

It's funny, because a lot of "how to communicate effectively" type guides will tell you to make direct eye contact. I have disciplined myself to try this at work with various coporate mucky-mucks when I want to make a point. I always feel self conscious about it, but with out fail they always look right back at me unflinchingly. It seems second nature to them.

[antireconciler]

Years ago I decided I would write a novel. I wrote the first chapter, read it back to myself and thought - this sucks. What was on paper was nothing like what was in my mind. I concluded that learning to write descriptively would take a lot of work and abandoned the project.

That's my issue with creative writing as well. Certainly I could make what I wrote good if I edited it enough, but when I read something I wrote only days ago that I thought was good at the time, I can see my own naivety. I could change it to make it my current version of modern and days later see the same thing again. Maybe it's just that my lack of experience means I'm on a very sharp part of the learning curve, but if there's that much more to learn that I can't simply intuit, I'd rather have a more formal education in writing.

... and I still have no message for the world, so my words would be empty anyway.

[shaytana]

It just seems like an intimate act to me. As an introvert, I don't like to indulge in intimate acts frivolously. It is interesting to speculate as to whether this is an INTP thing or more broadly, an introvert thing in general.

It's funny, because a lot of "how to communicate effectively" type guides will tell you to make direct eye contact. I have disciplined myself to try this at work with various coporate mucky-mucks when I want to make a point. I always feel self conscious about it, but with out fail they always look right back at me unflinchingly. It seems second nature to them.

Interesting, do you think that maybe it might be more of an INxx thing? Would an ISxx see the same thing as the N would when looking into someone's eyes? I don't think the T/F would make a difference in this, except that maybe an F would be more open to that level of intimacy than a T would? The P/J - I am not too sure. If I am correct (and please correct me of I am wrong - I have paid little attention to the details of the MBTI theory) the P uses its sensing function over their judging function, making/allowing? them to feel the effects of direct eye contact more acutely than a J would. Just a guess, your thoughts?

[SensEye]

You hypothesis sounds reasonable Shaytana. Like you I am no expert on the details of MBTI theory so I am not the best one to comment from that perspective. All I can do is survey some friends and see if I can find some people who are comfortable with direct eye contact and ask them why. Whether or not I can accurately infer their MBTI type is another issue entirely.

[Jkrs]

Creative writing: It's fun, when I've an idea to put down. I haven't finished much that's longer than a mid-sized poem, though. It pretty much has to be done in one sitting, or I'll lose the thread. (I can't plan at all beforehand or it gets dull.)

Laughing: Often, at my own thoughts.

Eye-contact: I can either look at someone, or listen to them. If you're telling me something important, chances are that I'll be watching something visually neutral off to one side. Actually meeting someones' eyes is extremely rare for me, and I don't much like it. Sense-Eye might have something on the intimacy idea.


Would an ISxx see the same thing as the N would when looking into someone's eyes?
They'd probably notice different things, but I suspect that when the pieces add up for an S there's at least as much chance for it to be uncomfortable.

[Salad]

misconception about introversion-
introvert = shy




please continue

[int]

No, introversion is the act of directing thoughts to the "internal." This may result in shyness, but is not always the case.

[Melody]

I make eye contact. It was difficult for me before two years ago. Then I became daring and now I do not mind it. It does have a feeling of intimacy, but this is something that is nice to get over. I'm not a master or anything. I've still got a ways to go.

[Avengardh]

Writing...always have loved it and I think I have my periods of inspiration, but when I don't, I don't write because all of what I produce is crap.

Eye-contact...I have no problem with doing it, I actually think people get intimidated because I always do it, but most of them feel like they can talk to me even further and do so (which just happened to me today) I learn a lot from people.

Laughing, I can laugh loudly if the proper triggers are set off, my brother always makes me laugh like crazy. Otherwise I just giggle.

~*Aven*~