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

people_alt 109 followers

@HighPockets group

  • Villains with no true motives (I'm a bit guilty of this myself, honestly, but ya know)
  • Love Interests that would be in prison for harassment and/or abuse if they were real
  • Love Interests who do horrible things but it's a-okay because he (and it's 99% of the time a he in this situation) is totes in luv even though it's really lust with her

@Althalosian-is-the-father book

Though I think there is value in a "I am evil" villian. But not as a character. More like and obstacle. (Big Brother, Sauron.) Not to discount what you said. All villain characters need to be better than that.
Yes.
Argh! Yes! Why can't people learn the difference!

@soupnana group

More things I hate

  • Cliffhangers
  • When literally everything seems to be forcing the main ship apart ;-;
  • When characters die

Of course, these are things that make a book good, but I hate them anyways.

@Becfromthedead group

I have a question though. So y’all are over here talking about how resurrecting characters is bad (sorry I’m late by a page or two), and I totally agree.
However, in one of my stories, one of the main catalysts to all of the events is that someone gets brought back to life. This is within the first three chapters, and the rest of the story is brutal. It is made clear that his resurrection was a one-time thing (result of using a magic object that was the only of its kind and breaks after one use), and there’s a pretty clear why.
I’m just curious as to what you all think about resurrection as a plot catalyst as opposed to plot armor. Is it different? Still terrible?

@Althalosian-is-the-father book

No, it's fine then. What we were talking about is "Oh no they're dead!" then anywhere from a chapter to a couple sequels down "I didn't actually die!" or another such thing. Hazel Levesque was an example of a good brought back to life. The reason behind the death-ressurrection trope is mostly so the author can get the punch from someone dying, without any negative consequences (Except no one understands death and grieving in writing apparently.) plus a spurt of joy for them,
or because there needs to be a sacrifice but the protagonist can't go on without them. Such as a certain person in KotLC.

@Relsey-TheElder

I hate it when an author mentions a fact that is completely irrelevant to the plot like no I don't want to know how the soup tastes I want to know how the Main Character is going to sneak out of the kitchen not how the soup tastes, this is not to be confused with cool fun facts. Also throwing around terms and phrases and plot points and not giving an explanation, like, Oh ya this character can shape shift now, moving on, NO, If this character can shape shift, then why didn't they use it to escape the prison cell two chapters ago!

Deleted user

I hate it when an author mentions a fact that is completely irrelevant to the plot like no I don't want to know how the soup tastes I want to know how the Main Character is going to sneak out of the kitchen not how the soup tastes, this is not to be confused with cool fun facts. Also throwing around terms and phrases and plot points and not giving an explanation, like, Oh ya this character can shape shift now, moving on, NO, If this character can shape shift, then why didn't they use it to escape the prison cell two chapters ago!

Well, writers do this to connect the read to the world, making the reader feel like they’re apart of the world… having details like that just adds to the scenery, making it more realistic in some situations…

@Becfromthedead group

It really depends on the situation. Like Relsey said, not to be confused with fun facts. Sometimes extraneous and boring details are introduced and waste space. One or two here and there are good, but too much? It gets annoying. Would a realistic narrator notice everything about a scene? Probably not, unless they're omniscient. Even then, when sharing cool details becomes info dumping, it can become a mess.

Deleted user

You’re right, but having some is great. It’s better then having nothing, then it’s very boring… I should know, I used to have no details, and I would even get tired of writing it,

@Becfromthedead group

Yup, 100% agree. If I can't see, hear, feel, and smell where the character is, I'm likely to get bored. That's something I'm still working on as a writer, though.

Deleted user

Same, I’m not good at it what so ever, but at least I try…

@HighPockets group

Okay I remembered something!
I don't know the name of it, but it's something my dad does a lot when talking to me about a school project, grades, etc. where he'll say something and I'll understand and tell him I get it, but he just keeps going and asking me again/telling me unnecessary details.
So like when an author needs to point out every little detail about something.

@The-N-U-T-Cracker

I hate it when people dumb things down excessively for children. I get that most children are dumb, but you don’t have to explain the meaning of every single word to them. If my 11-year-old self could figure out how to use Krita, an 8-year-old should know the definition of the word “assist”, it’s not that difficult

Deleted user

I hate it when people dumb things down excessively for children. I get that most children are dumb, but you don’t have to explain the meaning of every single word to them. If my 11-year-old self could figure out how to use Krita, an 8-year-old should know the definition of the word “assist”, it’s not that difficult

"Little Timmy played with a ball. A round object that you come on and slam onto the ground, similar to how your father would beat you."

Deleted user

I hate it when people dumb things down excessively for children. I get that most children are dumb, but you don’t have to explain the meaning of every single word to them. If my 11-year-old self could figure out how to use Krita, an 8-year-old should know the definition of the word “assist”, it’s not that difficult

"Little Timmy played with a ball. A round object that you come on and slam onto the ground, similar to how your father would beat you."

What the actually fuck? I’m so confused…

@Story_Siren group

  • MC = Mary Sue
  • Edgy bad boys, with a heart of gold
  • MC's romantic relationship with her childhood friend/crush from school/guy she's never seen before, who comes out of nowhere
  • Over explaining everything that's happening with the five senses- I agree with ppl above, if it's important to the plot, that's okay. If it isn't, don't do it.
  • Mental illness = character. 'Hi, my name is [Generic Character], and I have [mental illness]! This is the only thing that defines me from [Other Generic Character]!'
  • 'The [Important Thing] happens only on [celestial event]. Oh what a coincidence! That's tonight!'
  • Token diversity, with their race being the only thing important about them.
  • Sex coming out of nowhere. Sex without a point to move the plot forward. I don't like sex scenes, but if it moves the story forward or establishes something about a character, okay. If it's just filler, then stop.

@Knight-Shives group

  • Sex coming out of nowhere. Sex without a point to move the plot forward. I don't like sex scenes, but if it moves the story forward or establishes something about a character, okay. If it's just filler, then stop.

Ok so I have to add to this part because of fanfictions. I have read multiple fanfictions in my past time. And well there could be a character that was just raped then like 5 minutes later they are having sex with the other character. It just annoys me.

@HighPockets group

Or when a character goes through something very traumatic (usually sex related in this case) but has no symptoms of PTSD and 3 pages later is banging the Perfect Love Interest TM. Bonus DoneTM points if he's the one who did it to them.