forum Things You Want MORE Of In Books
Started by @HighPockets group
tune

people_alt 109 followers

Deleted user

I want more realistic body representation in post-apocalyptic novels. All females are flat-chested boy bodied badasses. I wanna see a curvy badass group leader or a cute makeup-loving zombie-slaughtering petite bodied girl as a recon soldier.

@HighPockets group

Yes!

  • I'd love to see more plus-sized characters who are confident in their body type.
  • Especially plus-sized guys, I don't think I've ever read a book with a plus-sized guy who was portrayed positively.
  • Characters who aren't athletic/play sports for school
  • Traditionally masculine guys in theatre, kill the idea that theatre is girly.
  • Girls who like fashion and make up and aren't made fun of
  • Girls who aren't super smart but work really hard anyways without being seen as dumb

@actual-fandom-trash

Representation of minorities such as
Gender (Like NB genders)
Sexuality
Aro/Ace pleeeaaassseee (that kinda goes into sexuality but putting it there anyway)
People of color
Deaf/blind
Religion
Body positivity !!!!!
Autistic characters (I've not read many books with an autistic character)
Dyslexic, anxious, depressed
Any mental disorder actually
Physically disabled

There's so many but like here's a small list

@andrew health_and_safety flash_onAdmin

I've been reading a lot of older classics lately, and I've noticed a huge paradigm shift in the amount of showing vs telling compared to modern books.

Whereas a lot of current books (especially in YA) will go on for pages and pages about what the main character (and sometimes other characters) is thinking and feeling, a lot of older books (or, at least the ones I've been reading) have focused on a simpler narration of just what the characters are doing, which leaves how they're feeling and what they're thinking up to the reader's interpretation.

Honestly, it's pretty refreshing (and weird) to not have every little detail about what characters are thinking detailed out – I'd love to see more books that focus more on moving external plots forward. Not to say having internal struggles also is out of the question, but seeing how a character reacts to that struggle as they deal with it rather than following along their thought process as they deal with it is a super-interesting approach to plot.

I don't think all books should take this approach, but the variety is nice.

TL;DR: More "show, don't tell" when it comes to character's thoughts/emotions.

@HighPockets group

I've been reading a lot of older classics lately, and I've noticed a huge paradigm shift in the amount of showing vs telling compared to modern books.

Whereas a lot of current books (especially in YA) will go on for pages and pages about what the main character (and sometimes other characters) is thinking and feeling, a lot of older books (or, at least the ones I've been reading) have focused on a simpler narration of just what the characters are doing, which leaves how they're feeling and what they're thinking up to the reader's interpretation.

Honestly, it's pretty refreshing (and weird) to not have every little detail about what characters are thinking detailed out – I'd love to see more books that focus more on moving external plots forward. Not to say having internal struggles also is out of the question, but seeing how a character reacts to that struggle as they deal with it rather than following along their thought process as they deal with it is a super-interesting approach to plot.

I don't think all books should take this approach, but the variety is nice.

TL;DR: More "show, don't tell" when it comes to character's thoughts/emotions.

I agree!!
My favorite classic, however, does go on for pages and pages on what the protag is feeling, but that's because the protag is very self-centered and he focuses mainly on himself, which leads to him misinterpeting things. Which leads to his wife being murdered and his eventual death.

@andrew health_and_safety flash_onAdmin

My favorite classic, however, does go on for pages and pages on what the protag is feeling, but that's because the protag is very self-centered and he focuses mainly on himself, which leads to him misinterpeting things. Which leads to his wife being murdered and his eventual death.

That sounds like a delightful read. :) What's the book?

@HighPockets group

My favorite classic, however, does go on for pages and pages on what the protag is feeling, but that's because the protag is very self-centered and he focuses mainly on himself, which leads to him misinterpeting things. Which leads to his wife being murdered and his eventual death.

That sounds like a delightful read. :) What's the book?

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley! It's one of my favorites!

Deleted user

  • Female villains with awesome and complex backstories
  • More nonzombie post-apocalypse books
  • Guys who cook
  • Normal f*cking relationships
  • Novels that aren't afraid to break the boundaries
  • Genre mixing!!
  • Multi pov books
  • Characters f*cking up, seriously, stop with the M/Gary Sues!
  • Romance that furthers the plot
  • Modern fantasy
  • Books that blur the lines between good and evil, showing human nature in the characters/plot
  • Pre-plotted books that know what they want to be (Unlike Divergent… no hate, it was just really messy.)
  • More male representation in dystopian books! Girls don't need to rule the whole genre!
  • R e p e r s e n t a t i o n (Color, race, gender, sexuality…)
  • Mental illnesses correctly portrayed!
  • Sacrifices
  • Magic systems that make sense!
  • Para -f*cking- doxes
  • Originality! The animation industry is really going downhill! Writers are employed as scriptwriters for animations and cartoons, we need to stop rebooting old stuff and move on!

@HighPockets group

  • Characters who aren't fully sure who exactly they are and what they want to do.
  • Characters who agonize over choices because sometimes the best/right choice isn't obvious
  • Characters who are jerks without using mental illness/'traumatic childhood!!!' as an excuse
  • Nice guys who are actually nice!
  • People (specifically girls) who have been in relationships before their endgame (and the relationships aren't made null and void because of a 'one true love' thing)
  • Characters who are confident in their identity, as well as characters who aren't
  • Characters who end up single despite being conventionally attractive, smart, etc. Some people just don't want a relationship, or are aro.

@HighPockets group

  • Break ups that are mutual and not violent
  • 13/14/15 year old protags in YA
  • Autistic characters that are well written and not stereotypes
  • Characters with chronic illnesses or terminal illnesses that aren't romanticized

@CoolBeanz

I agree!!
My favorite classic, however, does go on for pages and pages on what the protag is feeling, but that's because the protag is very self-centered and he focuses mainly on himself, which leads to him misinterpeting things. Which leads to his wife being murdered and his eventual death.

I was planning on just stalking this for writing notes, but I can't help but ask, is your favorite classic Dorian Gray?

@HighPockets group

  • Characters who aren't unearthly gods and goddesses
  • Characters in YA who have jobs, but we actually see them at work
  • This is more of a personal one, but if a character has something (say a scar across their face, or really bad social anxiety that was triggered by something) I want to know what happened to them in the first place
  • Books set in the Midwest and not in Chicago that aren't 'oh it's so boring here why can't I live in NYC or LA????'
  • Specifically books set in Door County or the Upper Peninsula
  • Fractured fairy tales

@Althalosian-is-the-father book

My favorite classic, however, does go on for pages and pages on what the protag is feeling, but that's because the protag is very self-centered and he focuses mainly on himself, which leads to him misinterpeting things. Which leads to his wife being murdered and his eventual death.

That sounds like a delightful read. :) What's the book?

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley! It's one of my favorites!

Yaaaaasss!

@Althalosian-is-the-father book

Just remember that representation is a good thing. By itself. Not as a PC goal or to boost reader numbers. Because I hate that. That is waaay worse than no representation. Lookin At you Rick. For instance, I was starting with this protag Daniella Jacobs. I started her out blank template style. That meant white and long brown hair. Then I thought “Hey! Let’s be more original!” And now she’s an American Arab which I think is great.

@HighPockets group

  • Platonic friendships with NO romance/romantic subtext. Double points if it's a male/female friendship, and triple points if they're interested in people of the gender of their friend, but not the friend themself.
  • Books with single fathers/children who are closer to their fathers (or boys closer to mom, girls closer to dad)
  • Characters with genuine flaws that are not overcome during the story
  • Characters with food allergies that aren't played for drama
  • Baseball and softball players
  • Books with sports without the whole 'bottom of the ninth inning in the championship, we're down by 4 runs, and Mary Sue's up, she's never hit the ball in her life an-GRAND SLAM! WE'VE WON!' NO! A majority of the time, games aren't like that. Yes, sometimes kids get lucky, and yes sometimes stuff like that happens, but not often.

Deleted user

I would love to see some more books with characters who constantly make references, are kinda assholes(human nature my friend.) but are still good people, people who complain about weather, mundane things, for someone to break down from stress and have their friends help them! I could go on and on.

@CoolBeanz

Just remember that representation is a good thing. By itself. Not as a PC goal or to boost reader numbers. Because I hate that. That is waaay worse than no representation. Lookin At you Rick. For instance, I was starting with this protag Daniella Jacobs. I started her out blank template style. That meant white and long brown hair. Then I thought “Hey! Let’s be more original!” And now she’s an American Arab which I think is great.

I agree with the first half, but I disagree with that last part because it inherently means that white is the default, blank template human, which always bugs me because there is no default human. It gives the idea that any sort of thing that isn't white, straight, athiest, healthy, etc. is an add on or afterthought instead of who the character inherently is, and that's where a lot of that obviously just for PC "diversity" comes from, even if the intentions are good.