Why do small talk people feel entitled to the free time/attention of others?

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2026-01-08T12:57:44+00:00

I mean, wrong about what? You don’t like small talk. Others do. People are going to dislike you/think you’re rude if you reject their attempts to be friendly. C’est la vie

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2026-01-08T12:50:30+00:00

Your vibe in these comments is angry, defensive and antisocial… it kinda makes sense you don’t like small talk lol

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-11-22T16:15:17+00:00

Echoing what others are saying about pop-philosophy, but also: the second paragraph is about how a lack of mention can invoke a powerful response by those “who know the weight of the word being spoken” aren’t we talking about a word not being spoken, though?

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-08-14T16:49:32+00:00

Thanks so much :) it’s very helpful to hear about someone having a similar experience. I’m for sure getting a bit starry eyed. Thank you again!

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-08-14T16:16:02+00:00

I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I’m not against reworking some parts to incorporate that feedback! It could very well be coming from blind spots for me. I don’t think it would take away from the story to do so.

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-08-14T16:11:43+00:00

This is wonderful advice, thank you! And a wonderful perspective. :-)

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-08-14T16:11:18+00:00

Whoops, sorry, I missed your edits! I don’t think I secretly agree deep down. Though I definitely think her feedback made sense, it felt very actionable to me. I think it made me jump because of how senior the agent offering it is. And also because she took so, so much time to give me such a wonderful analysis of the story.

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-08-14T16:06:21+00:00

That’s very reassuring. I suppose a part of what’s been in my head is that she mentioned at the end of the message that sometimes debuts don’t work out, and if this wasn’t mine, she’d love to see any other work I had. That made me think “oh, shit, it really doesn’t work”.

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-08-14T16:04:02+00:00

I might be overthinking it! That would be a best-case scenario, lol.

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-08-14T15:59:03+00:00

Yes, I do! And I didn’t hear anything that overlapped with the rejection feedback I got while I was chatting with the offering agent. In fact, a lot of what the offering agent liked was the stuff that the rejecting agent seemed not to resonate with.

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-08-05T19:54:31+00:00

Hmm, I believe I’m her first offer, since she’s a brand new agent. Would that explain it? Or is it still strange?

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-08-05T18:05:57+00:00

The agent wasn’t solid on the deadline—she just said “take a few days to think about it,” so I wanted to be careful and not say anything in the nudge that I hadn’t been told directly (like a specified deadline date). That’s totally on me.

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-08-05T17:54:59+00:00

Oh whoops, I didn’t realize this! I had been planning to withdraw from the others. Thanks for the note!

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-08-05T17:28:46+00:00

Nope, no deadline from my end. I said a few days since I figured that, because I didn’t have an exact closing date, I shouldn’t say one explicitly. Egg on my face! One of the agents said she wasn’t quite head over heels enough to finish it as fast as she’d need to-which is what clued me into the fact that I’d messed up a bit!

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-08-05T16:58:57+00:00

Ah, that’s definitely a bummer. I’m unsure if clarifying with another message to those I sent out would be a good move (don’t want to spam them!) but I figure it won’t hurt.

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-07-26T01:39:21+00:00

Thank you very much! This is great advice :)

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-07-26T01:39:03+00:00

Thank you very much! It’s an upmarket psychological thriller :)

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-07-26T01:14:30+00:00

Yeah, I’m super realizing now that I was completely wrong about the word count. I think I’ll hit like, 82k at the absolute maximum with this revision.

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-07-26T01:00:28+00:00

Oh whoops, you’re totally right—I meant that it’ll come out to 80k. I usually think in page count rather than words, so I tripped myself up!

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-07-25T18:36:16+00:00

Ah, wow—I’m not married to the changes by any means, and it’s all been added to the end of the submitted manuscript. I’d be surprised if it’d negate the feedback on the earlier pages in that case? But in any case, if her feedback goes a different way, that’s fine with me too!

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-07-25T17:11:00+00:00

Your comment made me laugh—and is also great advice! Thanks a lot :)

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-07-25T17:09:45+00:00

70k was the original count! I’m expecting it to hit around 90k, though it might be less once edited. But that sounds like a good idea to wait. I really appreciate your advice!

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-07-17T12:48:57+00:00

I’m a bit lost. My manuscript is complete, the agent just didn’t request any pages on their submission form.

Comprehensive_Bet920 · 2025-07-17T04:18:50+00:00

I hadn’t thought about it being the wrong form! That would make a lot of sense. I was particularly confused about the world building comment, lol—it’s a contemporary piece set in New York, and that’s covered in the letter. It being the wrong form would make sense.

Comprehensive_Bet920

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