Using brands can be confusing sometimes - I remember when I used to read American-written books and they would talk about 'Dr Pepper', and I had no idea what it was. I think for a while I was convinced it was a pepper-flavoured soft drink.
Sometimes, like with band-aids, Coke or eskies, using the non-brand name is just silly. Other times it isn't.
Be not afraid...
Shadowed Philosopher
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
...eskies?
What is an "eskie"?
arachnidsGrip
an esky is a generic term for a cooler in australia. same deal as band-aids or kleenex.
which proves your point, really. what's common knowledge in one country is complete babble in another.
bluh bluh
Fantasy titles are stuck in a rut.
Fuzzy Orange Doomsayer
^ As in Mad-Lib Fantasy Title?
edited 25th Feb '12 1:16:30 AM by feotakahari
That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful
I once had someone joking about my story "containing product placement" because I mentioned brands when it would be realistic for the character to do so. No, you moron, I'm not going to say "car" when the character is thinking "Volvo".
Diagonalizing The Matrix
English isn't my first language, and I had to pick up things like this on my own. I didn't figure out most of capitalization until I was 17, and I still struggle with picking the right preposition every now and then. So I try to help where it seems appropriate, because that's what I wish someone would have done for me.
Clearly I misread this situation, and I apologize.
edited 25th Feb '12 5:59:57 AM by TripleElation
Pretentious quote || In-joke from fandom you've never heard of || Shameless self-promotion || Something weird you'll habituate to
Since I work with a fantasy setting, I make up my own brand names. I never have a character order "a beer." I don't care if the detail is completely irrelevant to the plot. That kind of stuff just bothers me.
On the other hand, I have a " love-or-hate" realationship with fake brand names. iPear, anyone?
Apparition in the Woods
On the matter of pet peeves, I must repeat what I said in this thread
, regarding writing advice, specifically the question of what writing advice I most resent:
Well yeah, making your fake brand names similar to real brand names simply to avoid copyright trouble is fucking annoying, and I see it in so many kids' shows it makes me want to punch a hole in a wall.
So long as you're original about it and don't take a real brand name and change one or two words, I have no problem, though. But things like Pear Pad, Shme-bay, Pintendo GS, etc, just make me gnash my teeth.
edited 25th Feb '12 10:05:41 AM by Lennik
arachnidsGrip
the apology is all mine. i'm sorry for being hostile at first, my bad. i'm just used to grammar nazis haughtily picking on my preference. clearly though, you only wanted to help. no hard feelings, yeah?
as for fake brand names...i understand their purpose, but that doesn't i have to like them. or even tolerate them. ugh.
edited 25th Feb '12 4:22:58 PM by IBLiS
bluh bluh
My biggest peeves (that I can think of right now) are misused quotation marks, "could of," abused apostrophes, and less/fewer being used incorrectly.
Awesome Lightning Mantra
I hate excessive unnecessary commas.
edited 29th Feb '12 8:14:25 PM by Teraus
"You cannot judge a system if your judgement is determined by the system."
Apparition in the Woods
Another one, far milder, that I noticed recently: Unnecessary colloquialisms in an otherwise formal narration.
I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
Ooh, that's a good one. Yeah, those can be really distracting.
It's easy, mmkay?
First person perspective that doesn't add anything. If you're not going to give us any extra insight into the protagonist's thought processes, then stick with third person perspective.
At first I didn't realize I needed all this stuff...
As a comedian writer, I hate the "Newborn Dinosaurs": using word by word a joke that everyone knows as if it were something new.
I also hate the easy target Take That!: I've got to admit, I've done it from time to time, but making jokes about how much Twilight or Justin Bieber sucks aren't really that smart. It's not impossible to pull a good Take That! joke, but I try to avoid easy targets for two reasons:
- It will date your work really fast.
- We all already make fun of that, in Real Life or in Internet discussions. Nobody needs to read it in a book.
Ahr river
elaborate on the newborn dinosaur thing? I don't understand.
Read my stories!
Shadowed Philosopher
Making fun of, say, Twilight or Justin Bieber in a humorous work. I agree, it's not a particularly good idea.
Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)
Truth be told, I'd be happy if I never had to see those jokes online, either.
Diagonalizing The Matrix
But you know what you would be even more glad to never see again? JUSTIN BIEBER! AMIRITE?
Pretentious quote || In-joke from fandom you've never heard of || Shameless self-promotion || Something weird you'll habituate to
If they at least aim their Take That! at something not absolutely everyone makes fun of (like the aforementioned Twilight and Bieber), it's a bit better. And Take That Us is also fine.
On the brand thing: I consistently refer to orange soda as orange soda, lime soda as lime soda, etc. unless the same place sells two of the same thing.
As in, I do that in real life, not just in my writing.
It's probably something to complain about if every character does that, but if just one talks that way, it can be a harmless quirk, or even a hint at a deeper trait of that character.
That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful