forum Writing Pet Peeves?

Started February 28, 2018 by @Celestial-B

tune

What is one thing you absolutely hate when reading someone's writing, looking at someones characters, plots, etc?

The character being absolutely perfect with no flaws and no humanity to them.

The sassy black best friend who has no personality besides "black" and is just there to make it seem like representation. Black people aren't all sassy, gum chewing, no nonsense supporting roles. Some books just don't get it!

Another huge pet peeve of mine is a wake up scene to start the entire book. I've done it, looked back, and hated it. Basically, if your book starts out with "I wake up to my alarm clock" or some variation thereof, and in the scene you immediately get some sort of description of the main character while they peer into a mirror, then it's cliché and soooo boring.

The sassy black best friend who has no personality besides "black" and is just there to make it seem like representation. Black people aren't all sassy, gum chewing, no nonsense supporting roles. Some books just don't get it!
Going off of this, the gay friend who has no other personality than "oh they are gay and proud"

Yessss!!!! That one is so toxic.

ALSO, this is less obnoxious because most authors flesh it out and give them at least something more, but the best friend that is absolutely loyal to the protagonist is getting kind of old

Boring openings, cliche characters for sure
I agree with both @writelikeyourerunningoutoftime and @Paperok on that one.
But one thing that turns me off to a story instantly is bad dialog. If I can't read it and imagine someone saying it, I'm done. Both in a novel and a script (especially a script).
Overly long, flowing descriptions of random things is also high up there on the peeve list.
Don't even get me started on a long boring description IN dialog–gross.