Post by Hollowgo on Feb 21, 2011 8:44:07 GMT
Third topic, third bit of research.
So yeah. Self-explanatory title. What bores you in a story? What do you not like to read when you're reading? This isn't so much a "what turns you off" as it is a "what makes you fall asleep or put the book down" kind of question.
I can list a few things.
Boring conversations. Nothing bores me more than sitting through conversations that hold no emotion, no interesting information and/or no character development. If two (or more) characters can converse and you feel like you're there with them or you find yourself smiling at what's being said, then that is a good conversation. It doesn't need to be too informative. Sometimes informative chapters can be bland, sure, especially if there's a lot in one sitting. Spacing it out evenly and making it interesting, like showing a character's reaction, throwing in random interruptions, etc, that spices it up. Humor helps too. But if it's simple monotone stuff that's talk after talk after talk, then it gets fairly dull and repetitive. If it has some emotion in it, then it's generally good.
Bland characters. Characters with no depth bore me. Bella in Twilight bored the crap out of me. Just about everything she ever did either bored me or annoyed me. That's just one example, I'm sure there are numerous characters that make you want to read something else because you just don't care about them. In my opinion, a character has to have some defining aspect. Maybe they're really dumb and that sports humor. Maybe they're sarcastic. Maybe they're super intelligent. Maybe they're arrogant. Something that makes the character a character makes them interesting and, to me, not bland. Similar to what I said in that other topic about what I like.
Having no action. This doesn't have to be an all out beat down with fists flying and blood dropping everywhere, that's not what I mean when I say action. When I say action, I mean something happening period. If a character gets up to scratch their rear end, then that is action (somewhat humorous, somewhat t.m.i., but action no less). If a character sits around and yaks without their being a purpose, that is not action. Sure, I enjoy seeing battle scenes, especially ones that get you into it because they're fun to read and you can imagine it all in your head. Those are good and a very nice addition to a story. But it doesn't need fighting to be a good story so long as the characters don't spend twenty chapters sitting around on their asses doing nothing.
That's just my two cents. I'm not saying how I write is perfect, but I try to keep people interested in what's going on at all times whether it's the character cussing their head off, humorous situations, random situations or fun little character development parts, I try to have that at all times, even during the downtime. I know that there are times when you need to slow things down and let time pass by and fill that part in with stuff. That's important too, don't get me wrong.
So what do the rest of y'all think?
So yeah. Self-explanatory title. What bores you in a story? What do you not like to read when you're reading? This isn't so much a "what turns you off" as it is a "what makes you fall asleep or put the book down" kind of question.
I can list a few things.
Boring conversations. Nothing bores me more than sitting through conversations that hold no emotion, no interesting information and/or no character development. If two (or more) characters can converse and you feel like you're there with them or you find yourself smiling at what's being said, then that is a good conversation. It doesn't need to be too informative. Sometimes informative chapters can be bland, sure, especially if there's a lot in one sitting. Spacing it out evenly and making it interesting, like showing a character's reaction, throwing in random interruptions, etc, that spices it up. Humor helps too. But if it's simple monotone stuff that's talk after talk after talk, then it gets fairly dull and repetitive. If it has some emotion in it, then it's generally good.
Bland characters. Characters with no depth bore me. Bella in Twilight bored the crap out of me. Just about everything she ever did either bored me or annoyed me. That's just one example, I'm sure there are numerous characters that make you want to read something else because you just don't care about them. In my opinion, a character has to have some defining aspect. Maybe they're really dumb and that sports humor. Maybe they're sarcastic. Maybe they're super intelligent. Maybe they're arrogant. Something that makes the character a character makes them interesting and, to me, not bland. Similar to what I said in that other topic about what I like.
Having no action. This doesn't have to be an all out beat down with fists flying and blood dropping everywhere, that's not what I mean when I say action. When I say action, I mean something happening period. If a character gets up to scratch their rear end, then that is action (somewhat humorous, somewhat t.m.i., but action no less). If a character sits around and yaks without their being a purpose, that is not action. Sure, I enjoy seeing battle scenes, especially ones that get you into it because they're fun to read and you can imagine it all in your head. Those are good and a very nice addition to a story. But it doesn't need fighting to be a good story so long as the characters don't spend twenty chapters sitting around on their asses doing nothing.
That's just my two cents. I'm not saying how I write is perfect, but I try to keep people interested in what's going on at all times whether it's the character cussing their head off, humorous situations, random situations or fun little character development parts, I try to have that at all times, even during the downtime. I know that there are times when you need to slow things down and let time pass by and fill that part in with stuff. That's important too, don't get me wrong.
So what do the rest of y'all think?
