I often find myself writing characters who smoke cigarettes, cigars and pipes. There are three reasons, I believe: 1) Describing the actions of a character lighting and smoking breaks up dialogue, giving characters something to do in between talking. 2) Smoking, though now considered "bad" is still "cool" in many people's eyes. There's a reason why people are smoking so much in Film Noir movies. 3) When a woman is smoking a cigarette, that's "short hand" for a certain kind of woman. When a man smokes a cigar that's "short hand" for a certain kind of man. When a man smokes a pipe that's "short hand" for a certain kind of man. You don't have to explicitly say it, people "know" what you're saying when you describe characters smoking.
Dagny lighted a cigarette. "But what about the rail line?" To me personally I think it says as much about the era as it does the person. I'm doing fantasy right now, so sometimes include the classic evening pipe for the more seasoned individuals.
Hemingway smoked a pipe. My grandfather smoked a pipe. Hard to imagine that particular "shorthand" describing them both with any accuracy.
Oh boy, have you so finely classified your readers? How about, "John drew lengthily on his cig and coughed deeply; Shit! I must give this up now the doc has told me I have a mass on the lungs. He put it out on the wall he was standing next to and flicked the stub over the top.
Huh? I meant individuals as in the characters, not the readers. But now that you mention it, I'll classify anyone dropping dosh on my scripture as whatever they want.
Makes me think of Salinger. Every story of his has a detailed description of someone smoking cigarettes. My theory is that it's because he's imitating movies he grew up watching. There's something very noir about his smoking descriptions. I think Holden Caufield's smoking is supposed to represent regret, maybe a longing to be an adult and move beyond his psychoses. (Good luck, you punk! You're like a pint-size George Costanza.) My grandfather smoked a pipe too, and I think I figured out why. He was a big fan of Sherlock Holmes. I really think that Arthur Conan Doyle was a negative influence on him, haha. He probably gave it up forty years ago and lived a long while without consequence. So he managed to look indubitably cool and got away scot free.
I’d say there’s mixed points here- one I’d agree with, and one I wouldn’t. When you describe the way a woman/man smokes a cigarette then you reveal a lot. But the fact that a man/woman smokes a cigarette says nothing. I can think of the burly dinner lady that smoked outside the gates when I was a kid, the colleague I work with who smokes as we walk down to fetch a coffee and complain about our days, and the boss I once had who smoked like she was Mrs Robinson in The Graduate…the cigarette plays a different role for each.
I think that you're going to need to include more detail than just mentioning that someone is a smoker. Also, I don't feel that a woman smoking a cigarette conveys much of anything. I used to sell tobacco and we sold very little pipe tobacco. We sold maybe one pack a week or less. It's not nearly as common as it used to be. But hey its not like you decided to grow a wizard beard, buy a floppy hat and some robes and a long stemmed pipe, and sit around blowing smoke-rings just so you look like Gandalf.
In 2022, it might as well be blunts and weed-pens. Even grandma will light a spliff on her way home from church these days.
That's something people do in real life, too. Give yourself a few seconds to think on what you're going to say next as you take a draw, exhale, maybe hawk and spit on the ground. It also serves as an excuse to step outside, remove yourself from a social situation for a bit, that kind of thing. A useful device, literary or otherwise. Can be a crutch for an anxious character/person. Full disclosure, I quit during the first summer of COVID (and I still kinda miss it, not gonna lie).
I get it! And when a woman smokes a pipe that's "short hand" for a certain kind of woman. Right? What kind?
“And everything was fine, we were smoking cigarettes and all kinds of things, until the sergeant came over” ~ Arlo Guthrie, from the song Alice's Restaurant.
The Op does seem to be kind of fixated on the idea that a woman who smokes is shorthand for a certain kind...this is the seecond or third thread where ive seen it mentioned it was once true that on film a woman who smoked cigarettes the cigarettes were a psychological stand in for a penis and it telegraphed that she was 'easy' or 'cheap' or possibly a prostitute... its never been true in real life. Likewise at one time a woman smoking a pipe was used to denote that she was a lesbian - ie she doesn't smoke those 'cigarettes' she smokes in other ways... equally untrue away from a very dated kind of cinema. If you come up to date with the 2020s a female character smokes for the same reason as a male character and a cigarette really is just a cigarette
Men have never understood penis envy. The only time it occurs is when one has to go to the bathroom and circumstances favor hoses. Example: while Nordic skiing in extreme winter conditions out in the middle of nowhere.
yeah um... not be crude but this isnt about penis envy - when i say its a stand in for a penis...its not her that has the penis, its a stand in for penetration...
One of my favorite anime characters, Meme Oshino, has a cigarette in his mouth / hand in almost every scene he appears, and never smokes once in the entirety of the show (~50 episodes). The reason is never explicitly stated, but I've read theories that say it's because he's: a) a loner b) his philosophy is to "balance situations" as a "mediator"; he is always "in the middle" of something, in the same way that he's always in the middle of smoking a cigarette but never actually lighting it and smoking it—at least in the anime, the cigarette is often balancing in some precarious manner between his lips / fingertips c) in the light novel, his character says he doesn't light it because it would make an anime adaptation "difficult" (breaking the fourth wall) I believe it might be more accurate to say "the reader is likely to make inferences / wonder why the character smokes". "Don't worry man, me too." *drags slowly* *exhales* *looks wistfully at the sky* "Me too..." --- But yeah, congrats on quitting. Stay strong! Something like 8 months and counting for me.
I got that. I was just following a side thought, as folks often do on these forums. Crude isn't a problem, especially since my current side thought concerns the possibilities in the sobriquet, "big, soft moose."
also @Set2Stun it is interesting you brought up some reasons for smoking, like escaping from a social situation for a little bit. I wondered why I still smoked instead of vaped (I used to vape but then went back to smoking), and I think it mainly had to do with this. There's no reason to go outside in 10 fahrenheit weather with a windchill for a vape-break. Smoking was part of my Socializing Survival Toolkit. And it was a lot easier to moderate my habit when I had to go outside every time to do it. Need a jacket, shoes at least... it's a whole process. Alas, in the end I decided the best moderation was to abstain.
It was a great excuse to get the hell out of the office for a bit, same thing at parties. And it was mmm mmm so very pleasurable. I installed this app that tracks the quit time, money saved, years of life gained, etc. Apparently today is day 525 !
