Fic Talk > General Discussion
Fanfic pet peeves
Rose:
OH! Here's another one!
Those who do flashbacks in an irritatingly obvious way. How so?
Like this...
*FLASHBACK*
Rose mused on how much she hates people doing this.
*END FLASHBACK*
Wtf man. Just...wtf. Stick a date in there, italicize. Anything, but THAT. It's lazy, cheesy and annoying.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: Rose on July 22, 2011, 01:31:26 AM ---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.
--- End quote ---
Oh god, so many otherwise good chapters of Broken and BMS were RUINED by the lyrics, and I didn't see it that way at the time, because the songs were so inspiring and meaningful to me. Years later, I just cringe at the cheesiness! Oh well... live and learn!
I think it's different if the characters are actually singing the song, so it's part of the story, not just something stuck randomly in the middle to distract from it LOL.
Rose:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on July 22, 2011, 01:43:19 AM ---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.
--- End quote ---
It was one of the only things that bugged me lol. Way too freaking convenient, especially since that result could've been avoided. Description is awesome. There's times I've been wordy. But it needs to serve a purpose. It's when there's like a full paragraph describing how pretty Nick is. No lol. He's pretty, but no.
And you're right about dialogue. It's not easy to do. Actually what I recommend for people having the issue of pointless dialogue is writing a short story with nothing BUT dialogue. Just a short one shot. Mare made that a challenge once, and it was far from easy. But it helps, you get careful about what you have them say, how they say it so readers can tell who's talking without tags... it helped me a lot.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on July 22, 2011, 01:46:34 AM ---Oh god, so many otherwise good chapters of Broken and BMS were RUINED by the lyrics, and I didn't see it that way at the time, because the songs were so inspiring and meaningful to me. Years later, I just cringe at the cheesiness! Oh well... live and learn!
I think it's different if the characters are actually singing the song, so it's part of the story, not just something stuck randomly in the middle to distract from it LOL.
--- End quote ---
LOL been there. But we learned!
I agree, it's one thing if someone's singing (and part of the song, not the entire thing lol). But sticking the full song tends to make everything drag. Guilty of that too.
Carter-Orange:
I'm probably not wordy enough with descriptions and when it comes to dialogue, I try to make it seem like something people would actually say, rather than too formal, but it might not always come out like that. I need to pay more attention to American slang :)
I hate bad spelling. I know spell check might not pick everything up, but at least run it! I can forgive the odd mistake as I know that I'm far from perfect, but when a story is full of them it's off putting.
mare:
"You have all made my usually periwinke orbs, turn a bright magenta!" Mare said while making a giant banner of herself with Nick Carter.
LOL
A far as song lyrics of any kind. I look at them as filler when people use them. You know, like back in the day when you had to write a book report and tried to make it longer by inserting nonsense? LOL I picture people who put in lyrics doing just that. It makes my reading easier because to me it suddenly becomes a game of Chutes and Ladders. I see the lyric and my eyes automatically fall to the next real sentence.
I agree with everything else that was said. I HATE wordy stories. They do not hold my interest just like people who don't know how to shut up do not hold my attention when they talk. LOL I am always thinking, I could have said in one sentence what took you three hours/pages to say!
I'm not a fan of overly descriptive stories either. Leave some things up to my imagination.
Another one just for this BSB fandom, is when the author bothers to go into a detailed description of what the boys look like. We ALL know! Yes if this wasn't a BSB fanfic site and you were putting it out there for the general public, maybe? But by now we all know what the guys look like so save your breath. LOL
I'll add two more: Please edit your stories!
and..... wait for it.....
BANNERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm sure i'll think of more.
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