In Real Time
Viewing comments for Chapter 6 "Habits"Stories of the Here and Now
16 total reviews
Comment from Ulla
Estory, I really liked this story. It's well written and it entertained me a great deal. Yes, we all have some habits, but I'm happy to break them whenever something else is on the agenda.
I can't identify with this guy, at all, neither would my friends and family be able to.
In my opinion, the poor guy is becoming a complete nutcase and a liability to his every day life.
You do write these stories so very well. Ulla:)))
reply by the author on 21-Nov-2022
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Estory, I really liked this story. It's well written and it entertained me a great deal. Yes, we all have some habits, but I'm happy to break them whenever something else is on the agenda.
I can't identify with this guy, at all, neither would my friends and family be able to.
In my opinion, the poor guy is becoming a complete nutcase and a liability to his every day life.
You do write these stories so very well. Ulla:)))
Comment Written 19-Nov-2022
reply by the author on 21-Nov-2022
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Thanks for the excellent review and your perspective on the story. It proved to be pretty popular, beyond my expectations. estory
Comment from Carol Hillebrenner
This is an interesting story about a rather pathetic human being. He has no creativity or hope in his life. He leads such a regimented life that he has no room for another person. There are two things you might wish to correct: para 2 line 5 I think you mean lines and near the end: What is (she) wants to move?
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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This is an interesting story about a rather pathetic human being. He has no creativity or hope in his life. He leads such a regimented life that he has no room for another person. There are two things you might wish to correct: para 2 line 5 I think you mean lines and near the end: What is (she) wants to move?
Comment Written 19-Nov-2022
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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Thanks for the excellent review, I would hope the readers would see this character as a tragic kind of figure, someone in need of a lifeline. I'll take a look at it and do some editing. I want to get people thinking about their personal choices and how much they can effect their quality of life. estory
Comment from Mary Shifman
Wow! I guess it seems more like a tragedy than a dark comedy to me. I found myself getting more and more depressed as I read this post. I do like a certain amount of routine and of course I have my own habits, thank God I don't have to strictly enforce them. I like to put my silverware in a certain order in the drainer. While it might make me uncomfortable if some one helping changes the order, I don't have to change it back. I have to admit that when I put cream in my coffee, I have to stir it. It's a bit of a thing I have. Without thinking, I once stirred someone else's coffee because they didn't. I guess there's a little Monk in all of us.
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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Wow! I guess it seems more like a tragedy than a dark comedy to me. I found myself getting more and more depressed as I read this post. I do like a certain amount of routine and of course I have my own habits, thank God I don't have to strictly enforce them. I like to put my silverware in a certain order in the drainer. While it might make me uncomfortable if some one helping changes the order, I don't have to change it back. I have to admit that when I put cream in my coffee, I have to stir it. It's a bit of a thing I have. Without thinking, I once stirred someone else's coffee because they didn't. I guess there's a little Monk in all of us.
Comment Written 18-Nov-2022
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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Thanks for the excellent review, this is proving more popular than I had hoped, but readers can and often do surprise me that way. I am glad the character came off and situation proved tragic. Parts of it are a bit comic, in a dark sort of way. You did make that connection to personal habits and that was something I wanted to draw attention to: Many times, it's a thin line between common habits and true psychosis. And it can become debilitating. As in this case. estory
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You are welcome. I was married to a man suffering with OCD for twenty five years. Your story clearly shows out this disorder can take over a person's life. Thanks again for sharing.
Comment from Sally Law
A compulsive disorder according to my psychologist husband. It reminds of the man in As Good As It Gets. I manifests in different ways and to those in their orbit it can be a real challenge. They have to cross that barrier of what is acceptable like the coffee or dealing with tardiness. Human imperfections or different tastes.
On improvement for your consideration. Be consistent in the way you write time:
9 AM or 9 a.m. My copy editor, WalkerMan, prefers I use this: Did you see the 5:00 p.m. bulletin? I hope this is helpful and adds to your fine work.
Sending you my best today as always,
Sal XOs
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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A compulsive disorder according to my psychologist husband. It reminds of the man in As Good As It Gets. I manifests in different ways and to those in their orbit it can be a real challenge. They have to cross that barrier of what is acceptable like the coffee or dealing with tardiness. Human imperfections or different tastes.
On improvement for your consideration. Be consistent in the way you write time:
9 AM or 9 a.m. My copy editor, WalkerMan, prefers I use this: Did you see the 5:00 p.m. bulletin? I hope this is helpful and adds to your fine work.
Sending you my best today as always,
Sal XOs
Comment Written 18-Nov-2022
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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Thanks for the excellent review and the suggestions. I'll take a look at it at some point and do some editing. I see what you mean. But it has gotten people thinking and as always, that's my goal. estory
Comment from Sandra Stoner-Mitchell
This is such a sad, tragic story, which many people suffer from. Compulsive disorder works in many ways, and each is hard to break. Your man went from one thing onto another until his whole life was ruled by compulsion. Even to deciding he couldn't have a girlfriend or get married. So sad. This was really well written, Estory, and covered an area that not many people realise is an illness. I enjoyed your story, well done, my friend. :) Sandra xx
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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This is such a sad, tragic story, which many people suffer from. Compulsive disorder works in many ways, and each is hard to break. Your man went from one thing onto another until his whole life was ruled by compulsion. Even to deciding he couldn't have a girlfriend or get married. So sad. This was really well written, Estory, and covered an area that not many people realise is an illness. I enjoyed your story, well done, my friend. :) Sandra xx
Comment Written 18-Nov-2022
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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Thanks for the excellent review and I am glad you thought it well written. I tried to create that minimal, spartan atmosphere to convey the caged feel of the situation this guy creates for himself. I'm glad that seemed to have worked. Everybody has elements of this in their life; maybe it's a thinner line than most people would like to think between a simple habit and a true obsessive compulsive disorder. estory
Comment from Jasmine Girl
You are right that we all have habit. Some are more into it than others. My husband likes to order the same thing in restaurants he visited before because he doesn't want to take chance to order something that he doesn't like. But he is not disciplined in other things. I'm the opposite. One of reasons I take a few vacations every year is to break the habit.
Well done.
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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You are right that we all have habit. Some are more into it than others. My husband likes to order the same thing in restaurants he visited before because he doesn't want to take chance to order something that he doesn't like. But he is not disciplined in other things. I'm the opposite. One of reasons I take a few vacations every year is to break the habit.
Well done.
Comment Written 17-Nov-2022
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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Thanks for the excellent review and the perspective on the subject matter of this strange little piece. I'm a bit surprised at how popular it has become, but maybe that's because it's a bit shorter than most of my short fiction work. estory
Comment from GWHARGIS
It was spot on with the obsessive/compulsive traits. There is such a sense of security and control with the repeat pattern. It often outweighs the fun factor of life but it is sacred to someone who suffers from this. I liked the style of your writing. I liked how you leaked a few clues about what triggered this in him. Very well written. Gretchen
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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It was spot on with the obsessive/compulsive traits. There is such a sense of security and control with the repeat pattern. It often outweighs the fun factor of life but it is sacred to someone who suffers from this. I liked the style of your writing. I liked how you leaked a few clues about what triggered this in him. Very well written. Gretchen
Comment Written 17-Nov-2022
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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Thanks for the excellent review and I am really happy about the comments about the style here. I tried to create this minimal, spartan atmosphere to get across the sense of a caged experience of life, an experience without windows or doors. I leaned heavily on the writing styles of Raymond Carver and Jack Anderson to get there. estory
Comment from Zue65
Oh my God, I can't live in a box the way your main character does. What a boring life, doing the same thing again and again for the rest of his dull, annoying life. Humans need spontaneity and exciting asides sometimes.
To be silly and to have fun once in a while. By being silly, I mean of course, in a good way. But I enjoyed reading this. Keep writing.
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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Oh my God, I can't live in a box the way your main character does. What a boring life, doing the same thing again and again for the rest of his dull, annoying life. Humans need spontaneity and exciting asides sometimes.
To be silly and to have fun once in a while. By being silly, I mean of course, in a good way. But I enjoyed reading this. Keep writing.
Comment Written 17-Nov-2022
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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Thanks for the excellent review and your comments and perspective on the subject matter of this strange little piece. Of course, freedom and expansiveness of experience is an aspiration; but I wanted to point out that for some people, it's impossible to get there, for whatever reason, often self inflicted. Also that it's a thin line between simple habits and a true debilitating obsessive compulsion. estory
Comment from Jesse James Doty
This is a dark comedy of errors. Errors keep growing and growing until they become second nature. This tells the story of someone close to me, my best friend really and he means the world to me but he lives in a boxed-up world so completely that he can't find his way out! Thanks for sharing this satire of how some people truly live!
Jesse
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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This is a dark comedy of errors. Errors keep growing and growing until they become second nature. This tells the story of someone close to me, my best friend really and he means the world to me but he lives in a boxed-up world so completely that he can't find his way out! Thanks for sharing this satire of how some people truly live!
Jesse
Comment Written 17-Nov-2022
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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Thanks for the excellent review and the personal perspective on the piece. I am glad I seemed to be successful and creating a real life situation, and I hope more people can make the connection that some people really do live like this. I saw a show on TV about it and along with a self examination of some of my own habits, I came up with this story. estory
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You are welcome. Self examination and self-awareness are the keys to unlocking our way out of the boxed-in world we do not want to live in.
Jesse
Comment from royowen
My own physician is a self confessed obsessive compulsive, but a most caring doctor, who divorced his wife because she was a person who lived in a shambolic existence, he's much like your extreme character in your amusing, but yet tragic character, who hasn't got a clue what faith is. Well done with this. Mind you I played competitive team sport years ago and my compatriots had similar obsessions, beautifully written, blessings Roy
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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My own physician is a self confessed obsessive compulsive, but a most caring doctor, who divorced his wife because she was a person who lived in a shambolic existence, he's much like your extreme character in your amusing, but yet tragic character, who hasn't got a clue what faith is. Well done with this. Mind you I played competitive team sport years ago and my compatriots had similar obsessions, beautifully written, blessings Roy
Comment Written 17-Nov-2022
reply by the author on 19-Nov-2022
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Thanks for the excellent review and the comments supporting my piece and the subject matter here. I think we all have elements of these compulsions, to varying degrees in our lives, and I'd like to get people thinking of the tight rope we walk in life. Hopefully, people turn to God to open those doors out of things like this. estory
