Fic Talk > General Discussion
Fanfic pet peeves
RokofAges75:
I know we had another thread like this back in the day, but I had to do a search to find it, and no one had posted in it in two years, so I thought maybe it was better just to start fresh with a new one!
This is to vent about all our writing, reading, and fanfic-related pet peeves - general annoyances, not criticisms of any specific writer or story.
I have three to start with:
1. Using obscure colors or comparisons to food, gemstones, or objects in nature to describe a character's eyes, hair, or skin. Think Edward Cullen, with his "ochre" eyes. WTF.
2. Song lyrics in the middle of stories, for no apparent reason other than to set the tone of the scene.
3. Writing in the passive voice. ("A hand was offered to him" instead of "She offered him her hand." The first sentence makes me think of a severed hand on a plate - awkward!)
I'm totally guilty of two out of three of these in my older work, and reading over some of my older stories recently reminded me of how much they make me cringe now!
MadisonAve:
This totally reminded me of this. http://www.whodamaninc.com/new/frames.html
One of my pet peeves:
Writing about every tiny moment in the characters life
Ex. "...Nick walked down the hallway and went the bathroom, after five minutes with his new issue Good Housekeeping he got off the toilet. He walked out and started back to the living room before thinking to himself, Oh, I should maybe wash my hands"
I just want to get to the drama. I know there needs a little monotony to be realistic, but I want it to have a purpose in furthering the plot or character development, etc.
Rose:
I'm so guilty of the lyrics in the middle of random stories to set the tone LMAO. I did that once a few years ago.
Now if I do it, it's either because it's a song fic, or cause someone's singing it. I give the song a purpose lol.
Fanfic pet peeves...the author's name being the lead of the main character! At least TRY to be subtle! If you put your name as the main character, you're basically waving a banner announcing "THIS STORY IS NOTHING BUT MY FANTASY. ENTER MARY SUE FIC AT YOUR OWN RISK!" <-- I mean I did that at one point, when I was 15 LOL. No excuse when you're an adult.
Another pet peeve, self inserts into the banner. It's a more shameless example of the previous one. I mean for the love of all that is holy, to me, I feel like shaking the person. I don't want to read your fantasy, so thank you for making it VERY clear that this is what that is.
Dialogue being too wordy. And by this, I mean dialogue that doesn't flow. For each bit spoken, there's a paragraph of backstory or description attached. Now, this isn't a sign of bad writing. Hell, I've seen very well written stories guilty of this. It's just for my own personal liking, dialogue should flow quickly, it's supposed to move everything along. Personal pet peeve, cause it makes me skim things lol.
Descriptions of a character every single scene, down to the change of clothing. No. We don't need to know. We just don't. It's not that important. Vividness in description is awesome, but it goes overboard.
Overly flowery writing, this goes with one of Julies. Over the top descriptions that are written with obscure colors or synonyms for common words. Just for the purpose of sounding pretty but actually describing very little.
Convenient plot twists. If you write yourself into a corner, don't try the easy way. (I'm looking at you HP script writers and your "Horcrux sensing Harry!". If you'd stuck some backstory in, you wouldn't have had that issue!) Work your way out. Don't just toss something in, research every option and realistically write your way out of that corner.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: MadisonAve on July 22, 2011, 01:00:18 AM ---This totally reminded me of this. http://www.whodamaninc.com/new/frames.html
One of my pet peeves:
Writing about every tiny moment in the characters life
Ex. "...Nick walked down the hallway and went the bathroom, after five minutes with his new issue Good Housekeeping he got off the toilet. He walked out and started back to the living room before thinking to himself, Oh, I should maybe wash my hands"
I just want to get to the drama. I know there needs a little monotony to be realistic, but I want it to have a purpose in furthering the plot or character development, etc.
--- End quote ---
LMFAO at that example! Oh Whodaman.. I loved that site back in the day. That is so true, though. Show, don't tell... but no need to show us OR tell us EVERYTHING.
RokofAges75:
LOL at "Horcrux Sensing Harry," Rose - so true!
I agree with all of yours too. I know I am wordy, and I like to be descriptive, but if there's no point to the description - if it's not helping to set the scene or reveal something about the characters to make it clearer for the readers - it shouldn't be there.
With the dialogue, I just don't like unrealistic dialogue - dialogue that is too formal for the character, so that it sounds awkward (for example, never using contractions or slang), or dialogue that is too witty to sound like it was made up on the spot. I like dialogue that sounds like real people talking. Real people aren't always eloquent. They don't always speak in complete sentences; they don't always use proper grammar. They don't have a witty one-liner quip or comeback for everything the other person says. Dialogue shouldn't be boring either; it needs to have a point and move the story along, but in a way that is believable.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version