2. On The Rails. I remember reading the summary and thinking it wouldn't be for me, the idea of a travelling musician and a mute piano player just didn't do anything for me. But I loved her other story On Nightingale Hill and was bored one day, so I gave it a go and was hooked!
I really need to read this story sometime. I've heard nothing but amazing things about it, but I was like you - I remember reading the summary when she first started posting it, and even though I knew from reading On Nightingale Hill that it would be well-written, it just didn't interest me. I think at this point, though, I'll probably just wait to see if she finishes it and then go back and read it in its entirety. I'm still waiting for updates on On Nightingale Hill!
Speaking of which, On Nightingale Hill is one of those stories I took a chance on, when I normally wouldn't have. I'm not a big fan of sci-fi, but I'd heard good things about it, so I gave it a try and got sucked in!
Another one would be Between the Lines, which I'd seen nominated for awards and recommended all over the place, but I could never get into it until I literally forced myself to read more than the first chapter, and now it's one of my favorites! Seriously one of the best-written BSB fics I've ever read!
To answer the first part of my question, these are turn-offs for me:
- Improper conventions/formatting or spelling/grammar/punctuation errors
- Overly long summaries that reveal every part of the story and backstory
- Sci-fi/fantasy
- AU
- Crossovers
- Fictional wives/girlfriends/children
- Blatant author self-inserts (especially when the author's picture is in the banner)
- Romance as the main storyline, without interesting subplots/subgenres
- Howie- or Kevin-centered stories
That's not to say I won't read a story if it has one or even more than one of those elements. I've both read and written stories with a lot of those that I've enjoyed. There are always exceptions. In general, though, those are things that make a story seem less appealing to me.