The exercise:
For Christmas my sister Nicky got me a Schott’s Miscellany 2009 page a day calendar and I’m already loving it just 5 days into the year.
Today it mentions an online survey conducted to determine the most unpleasant sound… ever. Number one was vomiting, microphone feedback took second place and wailing babies finished third. While I’m intrigued by the tenth place finish of ‘a Tasmanian devil’s scream’, I think I shall resist the temptation to hear it for myself.
So the writing prompt for today is: what do you consider to be the most unpleasant sound?
Mine:
Perhaps it wasn’t among the options to vote on, but I don’t know how the sound of nails on a chalkboard didn’t make the top ten. Honestly though, even if it wasn’t on the list there should have been enough write in ballots for it to screech into the top five.
I suspect a conspiracy.
A close second for me would be the sound of ice being scraped off a car windshield. But only when someone else is doing it - I’m totally not bothered when I do it myself. Don’t ask - I don’t understand it either.
6 comments:
My least favorite sound in the entire world is the sound of nails scratching on certain types of fabric, like the cloth interior cars sometimes have. It drives me bananas!
Something interesting about the whole nails on chalkboard thing -- Diane Ackerman wrote in A Natural History of the Senses (at least, I think that's what the title is), that perhaps the reason we hate that sound as humans stems from primordial times, when that sound signaled a warning that a lion or tiger-like creature was nearby. Its claws striking rock would make a similar sound, so I think she's on to something.
I hadn't heard of that theory before but it seems reasonable.
I love random bits of trivia like that :)
A metal fork being scraped on teeth. Oh, makes me cringe. My sister used to do it on purpose. I punched her once at the dinner table, knocked her out of her chair. My dad said, "Maybe you should stop doing that."
And she did.
The worst sound ever is someone telling me, no it's not possible. However, it's also a good sound as it makes me want to prove them wrong.
Elaine Saunders
Author - Fiction Writing Exercises
Books For Writers Blog
It’s A Book About….blog
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I absolutely loathe the sound of wet shoes on linoleum. Or any related squeaking sound. It sends unpleasant shivers down my spine and makes me want to scream. Seriously, sometimes I feel like I need to leave the room to handle it!
@Laura Jayne: *shudder*, yeah that's a nasty one as well.
@Laura Essendine: funny, I'm the same way. Thank you for dropping by!
@Yuri: I should ask Kat, but I imagine with all the rain today, the halls of her school were filled with that one.
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