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I expect simple behaviours here. Friendship, and love. Any advice should be from the perspective of the person asking, not the person giving! We have had to make new membership moderated to combat the huge number of spammers who register
What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/68858/#msg_68858
1. A laundry list description of looks and OMG size! I'm done, turn the page.
2. Bondage, just not into not being nice.
3. Mixed Gen. The thought of an old guy with a youngster, I didn't like it when I was a kid either.
SO what trips your 'bail from a read' trigger?]]>Ricky2015-01-11T20:26:00-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/68859/#msg_68859
"Ricky wrote on Sun, 11 January 2015 20:26"
There are certain things that will make me bail from a story before I get through the first PAGE sometimes. Other things that will make me bail in the middle.
1. A laundry list description of looks and OMG size! I'm done, turn the page.
2. Bondage, just not into not being nice.
3. Mixed Gen. The thought of an old guy with a youngster, I didn't like it when I was a kid either.
SO what trips your 'bail from a read' trigger?
--
Have a look at my guide for aspiring authors! I'm with you and more!]]>timmy2015-01-11T22:33:34-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/68862/#msg_68862
"Ricky wrote on Sun, 11 January 2015 20:26"
O what trips your 'bail from a read' trigger?
--
"Educational" travelogues! They seem to be a special feature of American authors - pages and pages and pages and pages of stuff apparently culled from second-rate guidebooks, allegedly describing what their characters are experiencing on a trip somewhere.
Such authors often seem obliged to have their characters visit London, which appears to be populated solely by upper-middle-class white guys with the occasional 'loveable cockney' thrown in - which certainly bears no resemblance to the London I lived in for 30 years. Not only does it completely undermine the author's description of the everyday places they put their characters in,, but it shows a desperate lack of faith in their writing: if the story is compelling and the characters are "real", inserting several thousand words on the Tower of London, or the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, or whatever, simply gets in the way! Please "show, don't tell".
The one great advantage of reading on line is that it's easy to very rapidly scroll past these vast and indigestible tracts ... though there's always a risk of missing an important plot point concealed among the turgid verbiage.]]>NW2015-01-12T11:05:52-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/68863/#msg_68863
"NW wrote on Mon, 12 January 2015 11:05"
"Ricky wrote on Sun, 11 January 2015 20:26"
O what trips your 'bail from a read' trigger?
--
"Educational" travelogues! They seem to be a special feature of American authors - pages and pages and pages and pages of stuff apparently culled from second-rate guidebooks, allegedly describing what their characters are experiencing on a trip somewhere.
Such authors often seem obliged to have their characters visit London, which appears to be populated solely by upper-middle-class white guys with the occasional 'loveable cockney' thrown in - which certainly bears no resemblance to the London I lived in for 30 years. Not only does it completely undermine the author's description of the everyday places they put their characters in,, but it shows a desperate lack of faith in their writing: if the story is compelling and the characters are "real", inserting several thousand words on the Tower of London, or the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, or whatever, simply gets in the way! Please "show, don't tell".
The one great advantage of reading on line is that it's easy to very rapidly scroll past these vast and indigestible tracts ... though there's always a risk of missing an important plot point concealed among the turgid verbiage.
--
Sometimes, though, the travelogue is intertwined with the plot just sufficient to keep my interest, biut never, not ever, if it is just a travelogue for the sake of it.
As for the London (etc) style scenes, oh Lord! Most characters have no need of an expedition anywhere unless the expedition is the plot.]]>timmy2015-01-12T15:01:09-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/68866/#msg_68866
2. Profanity. In small doses, it's natural. But some stories drown in it.
3. Size queen-ism.
4. Too many characters -- and they're all gay. I lose track after a half dozen. There's a reason it ain't Goldilocks and the thirty-seven bears.
5. Lack of character/story development. "We met and went to bed. The end." Nuts.
6. Repetition of the mundane. We don't need a news flash for each and every meal.
7. The 5,000-word single-paragraph tale. NEXT!
8. Baby talk. After a kid is about 5, he really can understand and use big words.
Fact is, however, that most stories don't show these faults, so there's still plenty of enjoyable reading to do.]]>ChrisR2015-01-12T21:28:00-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/68867/#msg_68867
There is one I just read, where there were sentence fragments, set off, with commas, as if that makes it more readable, or makes that, important phrase, supposedly stand out more, with a pair of commas. Again, and again, the author used commas, to separate phrases, for no good reason, which really made it hard to read, and he tied complete sentences together, into run-on paragraphs, so I gave up.
The only thing worse: is when someone uses a semi-colon or colon in completely the wrong way; or when they aren't needed at all.
And then there's the repetition of 'he said' to the point of making me want to scream.
"What?" Tom said.
"Nothing." Brad said.
"Why say anything then?" Tom said.
"He didn't say anything." Mary said.
"Yes he did." Tom said.
And on and on. UGH. And learn to use a comma at the end of such sentences, along with some other attributive phrases.
And a huge one! When someone asks something, they didn't 'say', they asked.
And finally, using a word the author obviously doesn't know. Like "I sauntered the onions in butter," or "I admonished his behavior by thanking him for his hard work."
]]>Smokr2015-01-13T06:40:02-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/68876/#msg_68876
I confess that punctuation is not a huge deal to me unless it is so misused that it screws up my screen reader software. I'm dyslexic enough that it usually goes unnoticed. My writing I'm sure irritates some for that reason. Sorry about that.
This has been some great input, thanks. I hope to hear more as time goes by and other's find the thread. And Tim I'll be checking that link out shortly. I think I read it once before but I'm making the trip again. As I recall it had some great words of wisdom. Thanks
Cheers]]>Ricky2015-01-14T10:03:31-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/68883/#msg_68883
Add to that "Editor's notes" - get real, we do not care what the editor thinks, especially if he is congratulating the author like a sycophant. I have taken a policy decision here. That shit gets removed and has been for ages. Some slipped though once. That was my fault.
Then there is the "Should I continue? Email me if I should!" - Fuck right off! No, I'm not emailing you except to say "Hang up your keyboard!" Go fish for compliments elsewhere. I don't care!
"This is my first story, please make allowances." - NO. Make allowances for me by getting it right.
I'm sure you get the drift]]>timmy2015-01-14T22:52:59-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/68884/#msg_68884
"Ricky wrote on Wed, 14 January 2015 10:03"
All great ones. I agree especially with Chris R on number 8, baby talk. I want to puke when a 14 year old is constantly called "daddy". Verbiage that does not fit the age just guts me. I can tolerate language far older if it fits the character's profile but the other way around is just unpleasant.
I confess that punctuation is not a huge deal to me unless it is so misused that it screws up my screen reader software. I'm dyslexic enough that it usually goes unnoticed. My writing I'm sure irritates some for that reason. Sorry about that.
This has been some great input, thanks. I hope to hear more as time goes by and other's find the thread. And Tim I'll be checking that link out shortly. I think I read it once before but I'm making the trip again. As I recall it had some great words of wisdom. Thanks
Cheers
--
I have just updated the guide. There were a few more things that piss me off that I had left out ]]>timmy2015-01-14T23:11:49-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/68904/#msg_68904
Very poor writing interferes with picture painting. Simple stumbles do not.
I've just been down the current High School and Young Friends categories on Nifty. There are a couple I half like, but not quite enough. I mean apart from anything I've offered to publish already! One major issue is poor openings, not just of chapter 1, but of chapter N as well. Chapters have to start well, too.
I also leave serials to run a while before judging them. Some start very well and then peter out into nothingness and blandness. When I was writing C&N I got to a point where I knew I was writing crap. It wasn't a writing block, it was just unmitigated crap and not worth reading. I stopped. Probably a few chapters too late, but I stopped anyway. I'd like some authors to learn when they are writing crap, too.]]>timmy2015-01-17T20:25:32-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/68989/#msg_68989
Something that bugs me is when paragraphing get out of whack, such that character Y answering something something character X or Z said is put in the same paragraph instead of the next.
Example:
"What are you doing here?" Ryan asked. "Just hanging around."
"Why?" Ryan continued.
"Maybe I just like being here," responded Tristan. "You're not welcome, not after that scene you messed up in the play, deliberately jumping from scene one to scene three, and tipping off things WAY too early...."
Also I really get ticked off by (as a previous responder commented) of, John said, Mike said, Herb said, Joe said, Mavis said, Shelly said, etc, instead of maybe John commented, Mike responded, Herb angrily snarled, Joe questioned, Mavis squeaked out, Shelly jumped in, and so on. (I notice in your 'A Guide to Successful Writing' you seem to prefer the word 'said' all the time, or am I reading that with an overly literal view?)
Last, do prefer to be referred to as 'Tim' or as 'Timmy?'
Thanks for letting me blow off steam and also ask questions.]]>bisexualguy2015-02-01T21:09:43-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/68991/#msg_68991
Quote:
bisexualguy wrote on Sun, 01 February 2015 21:09I agree with at least 95%, probably more, of what has been mentioned so far.
Something that bugs me is when paragraphing get out of whack, such that character Y answering something something character X or Z said is put in the same paragraph instead of the next.
Example:
"What are you doing here?" Ryan asked. "Just hanging around."
"Why?" Ryan continued.
"Maybe I just like being here," responded Tristan. "You're not welcome, not after that scene you messed up in the play, deliberately jumping from scene one to scene three, and tipping off things WAY too early...."
Also I really get ticked off by (as a previous responder commented) of, John said, Mike said, Herb said, Joe said, Mavis said, Shelly said, etc, instead of maybe John commented, Mike responded, Herb angrily snarled, Joe questioned, Mavis squeaked out, Shelly jumped in, and so on. (I notice in your 'A Guide to Successful Writing' you seem to prefer the word 'said' all the time, or am I reading that with an overly literal view?)
Last, do prefer to be referred to as 'Tim' or as 'Timmy?'
Thanks for letting me blow off steam and also ask questions.
--
timmy
The reason almost every publisher, mainstream publisher, prefers 'said' is because writers often struggle for alternatives and end up raiding the thesaurus for them. And it all goes wrong for the reader at that point, because they can see that this is an inexperienced author trying too hard.
Good dialogue needs the 'said' word very rarely. It's done by correct 'paragraphination' which probably isn't a word, and omits the names of the speakers inside and outside the quotes. For me, the major variant is 'asked' in place of 'said'.
"You coming?" Jim asked Fred.
"Yes. In a minute."
"You always say that."
"That's because it takes me a week to put these ice skates on!"
"That's right. Try to slide out of it!"
"Don't laugh at me. I can't do the laces since I had my hands amputated."
"And I thought you were 'armless!"
See, we know who is speaking. We can hear the change of speaker. Jim started it and asked Fred something. And we don;t mention them by name again.
Paragraphing can sometimes be affected by converting material to HTML as well as author cockup. I don't check every line, but I put right what I spot. Authors can also transpose characters by accident.
]]>timmy2015-02-01T23:10:44-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/68992/#msg_68992
Perpetual Present Tense
There are occasions when it works. Conversations invariably use the 'I am' form. Sometimes a short story, or a short period of time such as a dream state, can make great use of it. But in multiple chapter tales, even shorts covering a span of time, it makes more sense to me to use past, present, and future tenses. I make allowance only for so long; then I am off to another story.
I am through now.]]>ChrisR2015-02-02T00:14:25-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/69058/#msg_69058
I really don't care and it doesn't add realism. I hate your taste in cars and thus reject your story at this point.]]>timmy2015-02-14T00:30:47-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/69217/#msg_69217
I also dislike frequent detailed descriptions of sexual activity. It should be enough to describe the first time a couple do something or other. Repetitions could simply be mentioned. I also like characters to develop a relationship before starting sex. ]]>ancient_richard2015-03-07T17:42:25-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/69223/#msg_69223
1) Virgin boys who uses terms like "Breed me" or "Fuck me harder" when it's their first time.
2) The characters meeting and falling in love and fucking when they have only known each other a few hours and despite being virgins somehow know exxactly what they are doing and go at it like pro's (i get that instinct can take over but i doubt many peoples first times went perfectly lol)
3) Giant cocks, seriously even if i am enjoying a story, as soon as the 10+ inch dicks get mentioned and the virgin somehow takes it first time with only a few moments of pain and is crying out to get fucked harder, the story is a goner for me.
4) Not really a pet peeve, but i do hate reading a story and then out of nowhere it gets a sad or just horrible ending that doesn't make much sense and i get the feeling it was literally done for some big shock factor.
Well those are a few, not all are deal breakers for me though, but i figured i would post them anyway]]>Matthew2015-03-08T12:17:03-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/69224/#msg_69224
Quote:
timmy wrote on Wed, 14 January 2015 22:52What I really detest is the idiot author writing out his fantasy as a fantasy with people saying stupid things like "Take my load!" when they just don't speak that way. I despise authors who make their alleged characters act 'wrong'.
Add to that "Editor's notes" - get real, we do not care what the editor thinks, especially if he is congratulating the author like a sycophant. I have taken a policy decision here. That shit gets removed and has been for ages. Some slipped though once. That was my fault.
Then there is the "Should I continue? Email me if I should!" - Fuck right off! No, I'm not emailing you except to say "Hang up your keyboard!" Go fish for compliments elsewhere. I don't care!
"This is my first story, please make allowances." - NO. Make allowances for me by getting it right.
I'm sure you get the drift
Lol i have to admit i am guilty of a few of these, i won't apologise for being a little insecure though, it was a big thing when i put my story on Nifty for the first time and after reading a few stories and seeing the email me if it's good thing and people stating it's their first story, i just kind of thought it was the thing to do, but i like to be realistic and i can see how some people would turn their heads at seeing it.
I am pretty easy though, if someone points something out that isn't right or needs changing and i can see their point, then i am not too proud to make changes, i even changed a characters surname because someone pointed out something that should have been really obvious to me as i was writing the story.
--]]>Matthew2015-03-08T12:29:47-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/69227/#msg_69227
It is the work that must catch us, not the writer.
That is worth repeating. It is the work that must catch us, not the writer.
J K Rowling is, because she has sold well, regarded by some as a great author. She is not. She is a decent commercial author with a decent eye for a plot. I like authors to be above Rowling standard. Dickens, because he has written "The Classics" is regarded as a great author. I suspect, today, that his work would not be published without heavy editing. The Great Curiosity Shop of The Bleak David Nickleby were excellent pot boilers for a weekly rag.
It is the "Be gentle with me, it's my first time!" or worse "Should I write more? I will if you tell me this is good!"merchants that I don't like. They trigger my barf reflex
Not making those allowances is important. When you, as a new writer, look back in a year at your work you will be pleased that allowances are not made.]]>timmy2015-03-08T17:09:37-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/69259/#msg_69259
1: As some have mentioned, spelling and grammar can be a biggie. I realize that English isn't the easiest language in the world to learn, even for those of us for whom it's our main (or even only) language (and sure, sometimes even I goof up or have to check certain things at times), but when certain glaring mistakes are made, well, it just kind messes things up for me. Maybe not enough to totally ruin a story, but it doesn't help (I had learned what the difference was between words like "your/you're" and "they're/their/there" by the time I was 10 years old).
2: The idea that anyone, particularly kids, are going to be referring to the penis as something food-related, like a "meat lollipop."
3: The never-ending boinkfest: This is where, when the story has a makeout session, the two guys can go last for hours. No matter how many times they ejaculate, they're still as hard and rearing to go as when they started. From what (admittedly little) I've read on the subject, the average adult guy is lucky to be able to ejaculate two, maybe three times at a go, and even that's pushing it a lot of the time (and that's not even counting the amount of stories I've read where some 12-year-old is having vigorous sex and is blowing loads right and left without even batting an eyelash). Once is often the norm. It sucks, but that's the way it is.
]]>Mark2015-03-11T03:07:11-00:00Re: What is your reading pet peeve?
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/8570/69272/#msg_69272
So why, oh why did the author write a sequel? Same cast of characters, but so sloppily written, first person and changes of voice every 23 seconds.
Unless you are an absolute expert, keep the same voice. If you really want to skip around, use third person.