This is quite awesome, and I'm really glad you put the time into working all this out. I can appreciate, "Don't bite your lip till it bleeds, it's dumb AND it's cliche!" (especially when I have never personally bitten my lip bloody except on accident when I'm chewing), but it's really nice to see all your thoughts about it laid out so beautifully.
I think one of the reasons my characters bite their lips so much is because I do it so much; whenever I'm thinking, bored, nervous, or pretty much anything that doesn't involve talking (or during a pause in conversation when I'm contemplating a response) I'll chew on the inside of my cheek or the corners of my lips. This means that the insides of my cheeks are ragged and that I am often making funny faces, but also that my characters tend to copy me. (You may have noticed that my characters also scrub their hands through their hair quite frequently. Perhaps I should have them bite their nails or pick at scabs instead.)
But I also think you're right in that it's more than that; it's a trope, and while it's become such because it is full of meaning, it's in danger of losing that meaning and becoming simply ridiculous.
OOh thank you! I'm glad you found this insightful.
I think you're quite right, our characters use the gestures that are most familiar to ourselves. I, too, chew the insides of my cheeks, right at the corners of my mouth. In fact I have a pair of permanent scars on either side where my canines have over a lifetile created little bumps just perfect for gnawing on in moments of thought or stress of idleness. Now I wonder what other unconscious gesture of mine I should or already do tend to give my characters. No, the butt-clench isn't one of them.
Icons are interesting things, because they really can transcend cliché. But they can also swing back and become, as you say absurd. Overuse robs them of the very meaning they once had.
Semiotics and symbology is a field of study my dad wanted be to pursue at one point; I wonder what he'd think of this analysis?
Excellent, I'm so glad. I was actually surprised at the wide range of types of lip-biting I found in my brief search. You do tend to use it, but you don't use it just one way, which I think gives it a lot more power.
I think one of the reasons my characters bite their lips so much is because I do it so much; whenever I'm thinking, bored, nervous, or pretty much anything that doesn't involve talking (or during a pause in conversation when I'm contemplating a response) I'll chew on the inside of my cheek or the corners of my lips. This means that the insides of my cheeks are ragged and that I am often making funny faces, but also that my characters tend to copy me. (You may have noticed that my characters also scrub their hands through their hair quite frequently. Perhaps I should have them bite their nails or pick at scabs instead.)
But I also think you're right in that it's more than that; it's a trope, and while it's become such because it is full of meaning, it's in danger of losing that meaning and becoming simply ridiculous.
Certainly something to think about. ♥
And dude, I'm honored to be mentioned so much!
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I think you're quite right, our characters use the gestures that are most familiar to ourselves. I, too, chew the insides of my cheeks, right at the corners of my mouth. In fact I have a pair of permanent scars on either side where my canines have over a lifetile created little bumps just perfect for gnawing on in moments of thought or stress of idleness. Now I wonder what other unconscious gesture of mine I should or already do tend to give my characters. No, the butt-clench isn't one of them.
Icons are interesting things, because they really can transcend cliché. But they can also swing back and become, as you say absurd. Overuse robs them of the very meaning they once had.
Semiotics and symbology is a field of study my dad wanted be to pursue at one point; I wonder what he'd think of this analysis?
Excellent, I'm so glad. I was actually surprised at the wide range of types of lip-biting I found in my brief search. You do tend to use it, but you don't use it just one way, which I think gives it a lot more power.
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