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I used to be a regular subscriber to a British magazine called SFX. Rather annoyingly, the front page was always designed so that the 'F' was slightly obscured, giving everyone the impression that you were buying a magazine called SEX, but that's by the by.
The best feature was always right at the end, where considerable space was given to reviewing recent SF and Fantasy fiction. The reviews were often uncompromising. I remember one comment to the effect that any writer who uses the phrase 'in actual fact' should be hung, drawn and quartered.
That was over the top. But on the whole these reviews proved to be a reliable guide to the pitfalls a budding writer can blunder into. Which brings me - at last! - to the point of this blog.
What mistakes do authors* commonly make that you think should be avoided? What kinds of things make you stop reading and look for something better?
*Feel free to criticise anything you've read on this or other similar sites. But please don't refer to non-professional authors or their works either by name or implication. If they've made money out of their fiction, they're there to be shot at. If not, consider them untouchable.
Comments
So, in summary...
When in doubt, hit enter twice.
very educational
lot of the items brought up so far, are things that to me can ruin a good story, or at least break the 4th wall for me. The "let me introduce myself" one is a very sore point.
letting the writing introduce and flesh out the character can be tough also.
Going from, "My name is Bob, I'm 6' 4" and full of Muscles, and I am a milkman"
To Bob, "Bob the tall, heavily muscled milkman" or, "Bob ducked under the roof of his delivery truck, effortlessly carrying the heavy racks of milk bottles". both of the last two work, but the second one builds a more "tasty" mental image for me.
I have a story I have been working on for, oh, a long time now. I have the outline in my head, and about one chapter on paper. I've never had a formal writing class so pointers like these, and the copious examples of what not to do are improving my writing one painful keystroke at a time.
And as much as I loved Robert Jordan's story, sometimes wading through his writing was agony. As for Robert Heinlein, one of my favorite stories of all time is "Starship troopers" the story felt like it was written by someone who actually lived it, influenced no doubt by his time in the Navy. his later works, not so much. Jim Butcher is an author I much admire, his characterizations are clean and well defined, and his stories engrossing.
very interesting discussion here for a new author struggling with producing something he can live with!
Pet peeves, eh?
I will ignore my BIGGEST peeves, only because they reflect my personal taste in reading matter... however!
I have seen really GOOD stories utterly ruined by spelling and grammar errors... as in typing in internetese. IE: u for you, c u for see you, ad infinitum, ad nauseam. I have also seen stories in which the writer seems to have forgotten what the story was supposed to be about, getting hopelessly lost in a subplot.
If one is going to use colloquialisms, learn them and use them properly. Accents take an awful beating as well. I don't ask for perfection... it's more that I expect consistency.
I have waged a losing battle with the dumbing down of the average American reader. It rankles me and insults all of us. So what if I don't understand every concept or idea in a story? If I really want to know what they are about, I will LOOK THEM UP.
Assume that your reader is at least as intelligent as you are. I know that breaks, or at least bends, the old adage about assuming.
Know your audience, and write what you KNOW. It breaks my heart when a writer tries to explain some idea or concept that even they don't understand. Allow your readers their imaginations. After all, they're reading a book or a story, not watching a movie or TV show where they have everything explained to them so they don't have to think for themselves or use their imaginations.
If you don't have one, FIND OR GET A BETA READER AND AN EDITOR! Find someone to read what you wrote, before you toss it into the ring and risk ridicule or loss of your audience. There are many here who will gladly assist any writer, old or new, to improve their work. I have done so on many occasions and found it very rewarding on a personal level as well as making new friends.
Spellcheckers are NOT infallible! Just as a hammer is not the best tool for every job, it is for some jobs. Same thing with a spellchecker. It's a tool, to be used properly and with the understanding that spellcheckers do not recognize synonyms as being misspellings.
Remember that your own intelligence WILL be judged by those who read what you write. Use dictionaries and a thesaurus if you don't know the spelling or meaning of a word or sentence.
Please, please, PLEASE don't take offense at any of what I have written in this comment. None of it is intended to make anyone feel bad about themselves. If any of what I've written here has hurt anyone's feelings, please accept my sincere apologies for my words are meant to improve your craft and your life as a writer, not as a personal attack on someone's best efforts.
Top Shelf attracts and fosters the very best authors in our genre. Anyone is welcome if they try. They become more welcome, more popular, as they progress in their craft. Those of us who treasure this "fortress of solitude" that is Top Shelf, expect the best and we foster all those who honestly want to improve. All are welcome.
I guess I must include one personal observation, a pet peeve of mine. 26 paragraphs of sexual organs and their varying uses does NOT make for a good story. Unless you are writing porn, at least in my own opinion, it detracts from what might have otherwise been a good solid read.
Okay. I've said enough... maybe too much, but that remains to be seen. I hand the soapbox over to all of you. Happy writing and good reading to everyone.
Holiday hugs,
Catherine Linda Michel
As a T-woman, I do have a Y chromosome... it's just in cursive, pink script.
in the interest of saving space
We should adopt the same standard in use regarding the use of a single space at the end of the sentence; after all, they serve much the same purpose, don't they? As a simple demarcation of sentences? They did it to the Oxford comma didn't they? Just get rid of that pesky double cr/lf and be done with it. :)
/snark:off
Hugs
Diana
and ban iPads here as well
The above message really got somewhat misplaced :P it was supposed to be a reply to Erin
The Writing Of Others
You won't find me being very critical of others writing. We are all along a continuum and others sometimes think too highly of themselves, while others don't.
It is doubtful that I will ever be a star here because I write what is in my heart and do not even try to meet the "formula" that so many seem to demand. I did write one story to that formula and it did alright, so I know the skill is there. I won't write one handed fiction.
It is pleasant to find a writer that writes with a feminine "voice". There are far too few.
If I have a pet peeve it is the story that goes into great detail about the first panties, first bra, first skirt, first makeup, and all that.
It is better to be loving and kind to those we encounter. The hate and criticism is for the schlubs.
Now if you really want to know about my supreme, genuine, real, no holds barred pet peeve, it is people who get in their cars when it is cold and turn the temperature full on, and then turn the fan OFF !
If you are a schlub, you will not know that there are three knobs on your car heat. One is the dammed fan, the other is the one that re-directs the air to the windsheild or to the floor, and the other is how HOT the heat gets!
If you have at least some savvy, then you will know to keep the fan on about 2 and regulate the temperature of the air with the third knob.
I have serious Asthma, and when some schlub turns the heat full on and the fan off, the inside of the car gets hot and dry and my lungs go into an advanced state of severe necrosis, and I wish I would die!
OK, now I vented. Time to turn the nice button back on. :)
Gwendolyn
Laziness. I know of two very
Laziness. I know of two very successful professional authors that have published works that contain copy/paste sections from previous works. In one case the same chapter, yes chapter, has appeared in three different books. If you are going to do that, at least rewrite the chapter from a different point of view or something.
Copy/paste
Guilty, a bit. I have written a number of scenes from different viewpoints, and copied dialogue chunks from one to the other. My current series, Sisters, is bound to do that as it progresses.
Maybe A Matter Of Taste
I have never been able to understand the critical adulation of John le Carre against Len Deighton. LeCarre's books take 300 pages to set the scene and delineate the character before anything actually happens, whereas Deighton has action in 20 or so pages, yet has his character well-drawn within the same time-frame. I am talking about similar spy stories, so what is it that the "literary" critics see that I don't?
Joanne
Le Carre vs Deighton and others
IMHO, Le Carre is what you call a slow burner.
Deighton is made for Hollywood. All action and wham bang thank you mamm.
Both have their places in literature.
Le Carre talls a tale and goes into gory on often painstaking detail to get there. When reading him I feel for a few characters, almost part of the story. I don't have that with writers like Deighton, Maclean and others. There I feel an observer looking in on the events rather than feeling what the character feels.
Some writers click with me and some don't.
I Think If You Add It Up
More of LeCarre's stories have ended up as movies or TV series than Deighton's. I suggest that if you want subtlety and depth of characters that Game, Set, Match or the Winter stories give as much, if not more than LeCarre.
However, I did say it might be a matter of taste,
Joanne
This is certainly a YMMV situation ...
... as in "Your Mileage May Vary." I've written and posted a lot of things here that seem to use some of the pet peeves of a number of the folks who commented on this blog, but the only one I was ever called on was writing the Bishop stories in the present tense. Now you've got me half-wondering if I should re-examine my writing style, with the other half of my mind protesting. I know that if i start down that route, my productivity is going to fall even more because everything I write will fall under constant internal scrutiny. The only way I CAN write is by NOT reviewing everything as I write it, because otherwise my own internal demons will insist it's not worth the time I'm spending, regardless of whether it is or not. *sigh*
Besides, I let my characters do most of the work getting through the plot, and if I try to restrain them in any way, they'll only resent it. *grin*
I think I'm happy with what I do, and I'll keep doing it. But blogs like these could certainly cause people who want to try writing to tie themselves up in knots inside before getting through the first few paragraphs. I guess my advice to those people is, take what's written here with a grain of salt. As one of my favorite novelists, Lawrence Block once said, "I can't teach you how to write. I can only tell you what works for me and for other writers. You have to find your own path, just like every other writer does."
To me, writing is not a science, or even a craft (although learning how to use the tools can help). I've always felt that writing is an art, and everyone uses the paints and brushes of the mind in their own way to achieve what they set out to accomplish.
So everyone who wants to write, don't let this blog stop you. Read it, and think about it, but always remember to pick and choose the techniques you think will work for you, and never lose sight of WHY you write.
*hugs*
Randa
What gets me
are authors that misuse:
to, too, two
their, there, they're
where, wear, we're
seem, seam
end their ayre manny moor.
Caren
I am a real world editor ...
So mistakes not so much in grammar but in spelling drive me nuts. Some examples:
Meat v. Meet
Organism v. Orgasm
Red v. Read
Collage v. College
They're v. There v. Their
If the author doesn't care enough about what they write I'm not going to either
But i try to give authors the benefit of the doubt and forgive them a few transgressions as I'm an editor but i couldn't Write fiction.
Dayna
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