How do you like reading laughter?

[FeatherDaemon1]

I've always wondered what the general consensus was on this. Do you prefer the description by phonetically writing out the laughter. The woman slid her fingers down his sides. "Haaa haaa hee hee. Don't tickle", he gritted as she tickled.

Or do you prefer the adjectival, adverbial descriptions. She screwed her eyes shut. She couldn't contain the laughter any more and erupted into giggles.

Of course you could just say use a hybrid of both, but to me the prior always just looked goofy. Seeing the word haha written twenty times or stretched across the line just seemed weird. Maybe it's just me. I do use it in my stories, but I always wondered how it was received knowing my own feelings.

I don't see it as a negative. A good story is still a good story.

Just curious.

 

[so_funny]

haha.....i like any kinda of tickling stories actually!!!

 

[woodentickler]

Either way works

 

[MistressValerie1]

I prefer descriptive language, although the occasional "haha" is OK when used for emphasis or variety.

 

[James Brown]

I agree totally with the Mistress.

When I see stories that have "hahahahhahahahahahahaha heheheheeheeeeheeheheehehehe pleehehehhehesea dohohohohnt tihihickle me" it sends me to :tired:

 

[Sablesword]

I use quoted "heeheehee haha" laughter sparingly in my stories. For some stories it's the right thing to do, but in many (most?) of my stories I don't use it at all.

It's useful as a way to show someone struggling to speak while being tickled. It's also easy to misuse. It makes it simple to deplict the character being tickled, but it does so in a dull and boring way. Often the message it sends is "I can't write well enough to produce a *good* depliction of being tickled, so I'll substitute a *long and loud* depliction instead, and hope no one notices."

I won't say "don't ever use it." In some stories, on some occasions, it is just exactly the right touch. Instead my advice is "Use it sparingly. No, more sparingly than that. And avoid applying all caps, bold, italic, or other emphasis to the heeheehee's. And for goodness sake don't ever apply the "increased size" attribute to show the 'greatness' of the tickling."

 

[nessonite1]

I agree with Missy Val for the most part as well. It is an automatic turn-off when I see long drawn out string of "hahahahahahahahhahaha". I really can't stand it. I much prefer descriptive language. Use of descriptive language is usually indicative of someone with greater writing talent, making the story better all around anyway. I've found that the "long and loud" aproach usually reads like porn.
On a side note, the same preference extends to the description of the 'ler's actions. Use of the "tk" word is actually best kept to a minimum. More descriptive terms bring the story to life.

 

[FeatherDaemon1]

OK so it would seem that my thinking was pretty much on the mark. I do think that its a good way to describe the pitch and sound of the laugh. Anything more than that then it ascends into the realm of annoyance.

It totally agree with SableSword on font changes. Those are a big no no. :laughing:

Use of the "tk" word is actually best kept to a minimum. More descriptive terms bring the story to life.

Nessie, This is a good point. I agree here too. Hmmm.... I don't think I abuse it. Need to be a little more aware here. It should be obvious to the reader that the action of the story is going to be the "tk" action. No need to be pedantic or redundant to the reader.

 

[DarthGrinn]

Yup, descriptive language... The only time I want to see "haha" is if it's apart of the dialouge for example (quick and dirty but u get the point):

Salma's body shook as the soft feather kissed her smooth, sensitive, skin. Her struggle to keep her composure was slowly faltering.

"It d-doesn't ti-hi-ckle" she stammered, cheeks flushing as she winced in agony. Her boyfriend wasn't fooled. She knew that it was only a matter of time before the floodgates opened, but she was going to delay his satisfaction as long as she could.

Salma's boyfriend quickly poked her in the rib, breaking what little remained of her defenses. "Y-you b-a-asturd haha.." Salma giggled...

 

[Master Chief]

"Y-you b-a-asturd haha.." Salma giggled...

Just wondering, did someone kill Kenny and make it so funny, Kyle couldn't help but laugh?:super_hap

 

[FeatherDaemon1]

Just wondering, did someone kill Kenny and make it so funny, Kyle couldn't help but laugh?:super_hap

LOL, haven't thought about South Park in the longest time. It fits. :happy:

 

[MacD]

me again

Why has my post vanished?
Well, another try. I don't like that laughter and it is pretty useless for me because who really reads it attentively?
Stories composed of haaahaaaa in half the text mostly are pretty weak so I don't keep reading on when I see it.
Better concentrate on writing interesting stuff, then you won't need to fill up your stories with haaahaaaa 😉

 

[Cbarton]

To me, I try to put in some of both, usually when the 'lee is trying to speak and can't without (obviously) some laughter coming out. But, I'll write out the laughter to show that the person is so overwhelmed that they can't reply, which makes logical sense to me, and since I'm the one writing it, it's my license to do so...:tounge:

 

[NoMercy4Her]

Yup, descriptive language... The only time I want to see "haha" is if it's apart of the dialouge for example (quick and dirty but u get the point):

Salma's body shook as the soft feather kissed her smooth, sensitive, skin. Her struggle to keep her composure was slowly faltering.

"It d-doesn't ti-hi-ckle" she stammered, cheeks flushing as she winced in agony. Her boyfriend wasn't fooled. She knew that it was only a matter of time before the floodgates opened, but she was going to delay his satisfaction as long as she could.

Salma's boyfriend quickly poked her in the rib, breaking what little remained of her defenses. "Y-you b-a-asturd haha.." Salma giggled...

I agree 100%; that's exactly how stories should be written. Long mindless streams of "hahahaha" is just pathetic an imediatly makes me lose interest in the story.

 

[Tickling_Anime]

Somehow I feel compeled to say this, but as it is somehow "smarter" to use more descriptive language to me, and probably a good amount it leaves us feeling kinda bored when there isn't a few bits of laughing dialoge. I don't exactly know how to really say, but it's not bad. You just as Sable sword said, need to use it sparringly. A whole thing of someone just laughing with out description is boring.

Summing all that, the way rtl said it would be the best way in my opinion to write a story. Don't write pure describtion, but don't just put a bunch of hahaha. That should be the way to get the most amount of people to not only read your story, but like it. I also wouldn't call either way pathetic, or better. It all becomes a matter of opinion, and depends on the person. Vanilla isn't better than Chocolate, and Chocolate sure isn't better than Vanilla.

That's just my opinion though.

 

[FeatherDaemon1]

That's just my opinion though.

Hey no reason to be defensive about your opinion. I threw the question out there to get opinions. The more the merrier.

There is no one correct answer here. Every reader is different.

 

[DarthGrinn]

Just wondering, did someone kill Kenny and make it so funny, Kyle couldn't help but laugh?:super_hap

ROFLMAO!

Southpark tickle fanfic... hmmm I wonder if there's a target audience for this lurking around TT >_>

 

[FeatherJedi]

i prefer the first one