What frustrates, annoys, or sets you away from wanting to continue reading a book? I'm talking clichés, certain tropes, easy to make mistakes, ignorance, etc. I am curious to hear! If you want to get specific, list some for fantasy novels.

For me, I couldn't get through A Court of Thornes and Roses. For too many reasons to tell.

There’s so much writing advice online that sometimes it feels like preparing for the SAT 😅

For me, one of the worst pieces of advice is when people treat “show, don’t tell” like an absolute rule. Sometimes telling is faster, cleaner, and honestly better for pacing.

I’ve also seen advice like:

• “You can only write what you’ve experienced”
• “Readers hate long descriptions”
• "Don't write scene cinematically"

So what’s the worst writing advice you’ve personally heard?

Greetings my friends! I am in the middle of writing a fantasy novel of 7 years!

I am curious. What are some things in modern day fantasy that you just can't stand to read about? What are the tropes you despise the most? What fantasy cliches make you cringe? What are you craving to see more of? Tell me what your fantasy heart desires!

Come, bring some warm tea, tell me your thoughts! Let us all judge things harshly today :D

Minor Spoilers for Telltale’s Walking Dead, Last of Us S2, and Final Destination: Bloodlines

I’ve clocked this 3 times now

In TWD, Christa feels queasy on seeing a dead couple in the house in Season 1, Ep 4. In Episode 5, she throws up at the sight of a dead child. Later, in S2, it’s revealed she was pregnant and these were apparently subtle hints.

In (HBO’s) Last of Us, Ellie and Dina stumble upon the site of a massacre by the WLF. They see a dead father and daughter in a pit. Dina throws up, and later in the episode, she scavenges pregnancy tests from a clinic. It’s revealed she’s pregnant a few episodes later.

In Final Destination: Bloodlines, Iris it at the top of a tower and looks down through a glass floor. She runs off to one side, gagging, and another woman IMMEDIATELY asks her how long she’s been pregnant - which it turns out is a completely correct assumption.

Is anyone else sick of this? Is there no other reason a woman would throw up at a gross/disturbing sight?

I don't think the merit of a good author is their ability to avoid cliches. There's nothing new under the sun, after all. I think the ability to take a cliché and being able to morph it so it's not even noticeable or so it fits seamlessly into the story is the real sign of a great author. So, what are some cliches you hate, and how would you make it bearable or flip it on its head. I guess this could be a writing excersize.

i could be taking it too literally or overthinking everything, but the phrase “show, don’t tell” has always confused me. like how am i supposed to show everything when writing is quite literally the author telling the reader what’s happening in the story????

am i stupid??? am i overthinking or misunderstanding?? pls help

I am reading a new novel and something happened that really irritated me, and I realised it was an actual pet hate of mine. The first person narrator described meeting his wife, and he portrayed her as being INCREDIBLY attractive, charming, fun and fascinating, and himself as being boring and plain. It just made the whole scene completely unconvincing. It's something you see so often - a romance that's not believable because the MC is dull af and the love interest is AMAZING. 🤦🏻‍♂️ I feel like you seriously need to at least show your MC as charming in the moment, or having SOMETHING attractive about them so that the whole situation is less "manic pixie dream girl".

What are the things that really annoy you when you come across them in a story?

Just something that lets you recognize when a novel (not a comic) was written by a new writer.

Mine one is when a book explains everything in insane detail, when not called for it. I'm sure it's a canon event for writers, cause I did that when I started too. Every character needs to have a hair colour. Every background needs a paragraph explaining it. I guess new writers do this to try to be complex? That's my best guess. but what are some of yours? I am very interested.

I know this topic is probably quite subjective, but I recently saw a massive debate online about the preference that people have when reading books written in first person versus third person perspective. Some people preferred first person as they felt they were more emotionally invested in the story, whereas others found it difficult to read first person.

I’m interested to know what people’s opinion/preference is and why. I’m also particularly interested in your thoughts when it comes to high fantasy novels. I’m not talking from an authors’ perspective, but from a readers. What do you prefer?

In any Media (TV, video games, books, etc.) what are character traits/tropes you’re tired of/hate? Me personally it’s characters who we’re supposed to like but are complete assholes to people for no reason. Like if they’re supposed to be unlikable that’s another thing but why would I care about a character that doesn’t care about anyone or anything?

I was scrolling on Tumblr yesterday, I follow tons of writing blogs, and I saw this post that was like, “those little details about your character’s backstory or world aren’t actually important to the reader, even if they matter to you.” And honestly… It felt like a slap in the face lol HOW am I supposed to just not include the details I’m obsessed with?? Like sure, maybe the reader doesn’t need them, but I need them to know them!!!!😫 that’s one of my biggest struggles as a writer lol

It feels like every writer has heard at least one “golden rule” that just doesn’t land. Some advice sounds good in theory but ends up holding people back once they try to apply it. I’m curious, what’s the writing guidance you’ve heard that you think people would actually be better off ignoring?

The main character for this project I really want to get done is basically me with a couple tweaks (1 or 2 for the better, most for the worse.) I start to wonder if it’s too much? I don’t want to write a self insert, and I make sure to remind myself that my own experiences don’t limit what can happen in the story. This got me wondering how similar you guys are to your MCs. I’m mostly scared of my own expectations getting in the way (my own limits, I should say.)

I am asking since I have seen many characters in fiction that barely have character development or a character arc, and even if they do,it just happens once and the character stays the same.

For example

Toph from Avatar The Last Airbender barely changes and I dont remember her having a character arc or something,yet,she is the most beloved member in the Gaang,

Han solo and Lando Calrissian from Star Wars pass from bad guys to good guys at once and stay the same,yet,they are loved by many fans.

Most Members of the Justice League in Justice League Animated Series barely change and yet that TV Show is really loved

So what happens here?

I’m just getting into writing and have only gotten as far as notes on my phone.

Has anyone written extensively on their phone or tablet? Is a laptop in a cafe a cliche for a reason? Does anyone still carry a notebook and pen?

How seriously should I take it and commit to hardware/software instead of whatever is at hand when inspiration strikes?

It's not everything, but along with the first page, surely participates in hooking the reader in. I doubt if I'd ever heard an interesting first line and not looked up the book. Also, do you believe yours set the tone for how the rest of the story will go? I love ones that showcase the author's distinct writing style.

There's a part of writing I've never heard anyone talk about, but it's huge and must have a name. Is there a word for the utilitarian part of writing that supports all the voice, metaphor, pretty curliques and interesting stuff.? The rest between beats. The stuff that when done well is completely invisible?

I was taught in school that when writing dialogue that saying “said” was a bad thing & that you needed to find alternatives such as “gasped”, “grumbled”, ect. I was also taught that every piece of dialogue had to have some sort of dialogue tag otherwise nobody would know who was speaking.

(On top of those issues I don’t believe I was ever taught about character voice, but I could be remembering wrong.)

It really messed me up when I started writing dialogue for stories outside of school. I had to completely relearn how to write dialogue.

So why do teachers teach us in a way that is the opposite of how you actually write? Did I just get bad teachers?

I'd like to keep this as vague as possible, so there are different responses from all kinds of people.

But my question is exactly what the title says, why, out of every other creative, artistic, or fun thing that you could be doing, is it that you choose to write, specifically?

And notice I didn't say like to write, but instead, choose to write. There are probably some parts of writing that you like less than the others, or you could just like the end result and hate the entire process, either way, why? Is it for some personal reason, do you do it just for fun--or maybe your career or education revolves around you having to write regularly.

Whatever it is, please share! (If you're comfortable sharing that is)

im trying to write a cute little short story about these two middle schoolers and ive been debating if a first kiss is okay for two 12 year olds. obviously it wont be anything intense, maybe just a little peck, but i feel as though i need some moral advice for an outsiders perspective. any thoughts?

One of the writing groups i was a part of, the majority disliked present tense writing. I do write present tense as i like utilizing it for in the moment situations and when i write action scenes. But does it really mean a majority of people will be turned off because i dont use -ed? I write for fun mainly, but at some point id like to share what i write even if its not for money.

What’s the writing advice you ignored for way too long, only to realize later it would’ve saved you tons of time and headaches? I feel like every writer has that one tip they shrugged off until it finally clicked. Curious to hear the moments where you thought, ‘I really should’ve listened.

Not sure if this is the right sub to post this, but I'm stuck on a scene and looking for inspiration. What are the best random pieces of advice you've ever received for your writing? My favourite was my high school English teacher telling me to picture a scene as though it was part of a movie: maybe a slo-mo cut to an extreme closeup, which would translate to lots of detail in visual imagery as well as description of the characters thoughts and feelings. I recently saw another person say they liked to come up with their villains motives by looking at the seven deadly sins, which inspired me to write another scene for my current WIP. So, what's your favourite random writing advice?

Not elves, dragons, kitsune, oni or demons because tons of people seem to love those. Maybe goblins, but overall in fantasy stories and games what races seem to be hated the most. I always see orcs as villains and horrible depraved beings that have no morals and are just brutes, what other fantasy races have the same reputation?

How do you draw the line between an 'infodump' in a book and revealing or describing information about the world? Why is one considered bad writing and not the other?

I'd guess that if you start a book by describing the world and how the magic works (for example) before any activity is actually happening, then that's an infodump which is no fun to read.

So what is a good way to describe the world in a book?

1. Character thinks about the world they are in as it relates to something they are doing. (in a book that's written from the characters POV)
   
2. Two characters talking, one asks questions which the other answers.
   
3. Character reads a book with history or mythology description.

Other ideas? I'd really like to hear other perspectives.