forum Things You Want LESS Of In Books

Started January 21, 2019 by @evastardust groupRRAAAARRL

tune

That is oddly specific.

It's pretty common in YA.
I do have one character who does that, but it's because she's mute and one character keeps asking her questions like "how did it happen? Did he cut your throat? Cut out your tongue? Can you just not talk or not make any noises?" and she gets annoyed and sticks her tongue out at him to show him she has one.

Well I would do that if I thought of it. Direct and sends the proper message.

It's even better with the context that at the time the guy asking the questions is blind and can't see her so her gf is like "you know that won't accomplish anything" and she just signs back "I know. But I wanted to anyways."

That's a little odd.

It's even better with the context that at the time the guy asking the questions is blind and can't see her so her gf is like "you know that won't accomplish anything" and she just signs back "I know. But I wanted to anyways."

that's hilarious

One thing that absolutely ruins stories for me is the moment they start bringing up sexualities out of the blue.
Like,i was reading this absolutely amazing story - it was well written, the feels were strong, it was great overall - and then suddenly boom, i get a scene where the MC says he's pan and anothet dude admits he's gay (another dude turns full homophobe on the gay guy). Now dont get me wrong, i have nothing against lgbt ppl, but bringing up the subject out of the blue and then forgetting about it just crashed the whole story and it just left me like "did i really need to know that? there is absolutely no romance hints in here whatsoever, why did u bring it up? Why did u throw it in if u were never going to do anything with it".
The timing was awful, the setting was awful, it was a one time discussion that was never brought up again (except the moments with the homophobe dude) not to mention it had absolutely nothing to do with the story plot or genre.
This is what i found most annoying in a story. It might be dumb, but that one scene alone was enough to have 14 beautiful chapters flushed down the toilet for me.

Feels. But that has to do with anything. Anyone just get really sick of romance.

One thing that absolutely ruins stories for me is the moment they start bringing up sexualities out of the blue.
Like,i was reading this absolutely amazing story - it was well written, the feels were strong, it was great overall - and then suddenly boom, i get a scene where the MC says he's pan and anothet dude admits he's gay (another dude turns full homophobe on the gay guy). Now dont get me wrong, i have nothing against lgbt ppl, but bringing up the subject out of the blue and then forgetting about it just crashed the whole story and it just left me like "did i really need to know that? there is absolutely no romance hints in here whatsoever, why did u bring it up? Why did u throw it in if u were never going to do anything with it".
The timing was awful, the setting was awful, it was a one time discussion that was never brought up again (except the moments with the homophobe dude) not to mention it had absolutely nothing to do with the story plot or genre.
This is what i found most annoying in a story. It might be dumb, but that one scene alone was enough to have 14 beautiful chapters flushed down the toilet for me.

they did that because they just wanted Representation PointsTM, nobody who actually cares abt the subject would do that

Anyone just get really sick of romance.

Meeeee
I don't know what I hate more - when I can see the bad romance plot coming from miles away and dread it as it arrives or when I can't and it slaps me out of absolutely nowhere
It's fine in measures, in context and if it's written well! But anything else is a nope from me

Same. I love a good romance. I can be a real sap for that. But when it's bad it so bad.

One thing that's minor af but bugs me anyways: characters who are in their late teens who stick their tongues out to be 'quirky', usually in response to a snarky comment.

Honestly… I do this all the time. I literally stick my tongue out at anything that inconveniences me. lol.

I am a immature teenager. Hurrah.

One thing that's minor af but bugs me anyways: characters who are in their late teens who stick their tongues out to be 'quirky', usually in response to a snarky comment.

Honestly… I do this all the time. I literally stick my tongue out at anything that inconveniences me. lol.

I am a immature teenager. Hurrah.

I do too, but mostly just to my sister and I never do it to show how badass I am (because on a scale of 1-10 I'm probably a 3)

Feels. But that has to do with anything. Anyone just get really sick of romance.

All the time. All the freaking time.

Feels. But that has to do with anything. Anyone just get really sick of romance.

I dread romance novels, i cant stand lovey dovey stuff (bonus points if they papapa, then im out of the room).
The only romance novels i've had genuine interest in are MTXT novels, but thats because the build up is super slow and you get distracted with the plot (im a sucker for asian stories, with all the spirits, demons and everything)
But anything else other than this, i cant stand them

The issue I have is that romance isn't confined to that genre. I pick up a "sci fi fantasy" or a "dystopia" or whatever, and there's still so much romance in it.
If I wanted to read romance, I would have bought a romance novel. That's the entire point.

It depends. I'll pick up a romance book if I've heard good things about it (like The Sun Is Also A Star) or if it has LGBTQA+ characters. If it's just a generic 'boy meets girl' one I'll skip it. Especially if it's a 'bad boy meets good girl'

Do girls even fall for that bad boy shit these days?
I feel like women are becoming woke af and deciding that a man with his shit together is much more desirable. (That may be the adult in me though realizing that boys are stupid.)

If I wanted to read romance, I would have bought a romance novel. That's the entire point.

Exactly! It drives me absolutely nuts when I pick up a book thinking it's going to be some epic, action packed fantasy and it turns out to be a cliched romance in a fantasy setting.

And like, especially in YA? Not everyone is going to have met their soulmate by age 16. Not everyone is going to have dated someone at 18. And yet, every other YA novel seems to end with the girl being in a relationship. There's nothing wrong with being single, but some authors are really handing out love interests to their characters like Oprah giving out free cars. Let's normalize people not being in relationships.

I can stand a lot of romance but jeez there is too much.

Out of curiosity how many romances have you personally stopped writing?

i've only ever written one romance, but it was more of a late night tired fanfiction of an on going story. Tbh, its rlly short and its not even focusing on the two characters interacting with each other, more like, what they are thinking on the inside (its a scene after a wedding, one of them wakes up in the middle of the night realizing they're sharing a bed with the other, and then they spend some time reflecting on the situation as a newly wed - that's it. Okay, i admit, both the characters are boys, so the whole wedding thing is just late night tired me, wanting to write down the emotions of a newly wed gay boi)

Out of curiosity how many romances have you personally stopped writing?

maybe….. 4 or 5? It was more a long the lines of switching it to a minor minor sub plot, if that.

Out of curiosity how many romances have you personally stopped writing?

I was originally going to put Martha and Geneva together, then Geneva and Jackson, and now Martha has a girlfriend who's a secondary character and Geneva and Jackson are both single (and aro)
Nich and Carrie were in a relationship at one point but then I realized that it seemed ooc for both of them and now Nich is aro/ace and Carrie is gay and has a gf
Leah and Jayson were originally together, but in the current story they both clearly love each other but don't act on it because there's more important things to do, same with Stephen and Izzy (who are friends with benefits that maybe go beyond friendship)

Out of curiosity how many romances have you personally stopped writing?

Hmm lets see.

• I originally had a love interest for Milo but I got rid of her because I felt like his arc was interesting enough without a cliched unrequited romance. She was really bland anyways, and didn't add much to the plot.
• Was originally going to have Crispin and Eva end up together. I think eventually they could end up together, but it probably won't happen during the course of the story.
• I think in a really early draft I had Kit paired with Audrey. Kinda didn't make sense though since he's royalty and would therefor realistically be in an arranged marriage.
• Caleb also had a love interest initially, who originally played a fairly important role in the story. The plot ended up going in a direction where I didn't need that particular character anymore. He's also like 14? He doesn't need a love interest.
• Andor originally had a girlfriend. Also played a fairly important role but the story went a different direction and her character was scrapped. Also, idk if this is like really ridiculous, but since Andor's bi I was kind of worried that people wouldn't really see him that way if he was in a relationship with a girl. Like, I don't think that dating someone of the opposite gender makes you any more/less bi but I know some people do have that mindset. Instead, he stays single throughout the story, but talks about his past girlfriends and boyfriends every now and then.
• Lu was originally meant to be Jaire's love interest, but I felt like they were kind of too different to be a believable couple. After that was scrapped, I had Jaire paired with Solque but the age difference just made it really weird. Jaire's character has also changed a lot, and that led me into deciding not to give him a love interest.

TL;DR 5 off that I can think of, and not including any that I'm not certain about adding.

I always got a Chaotic Bisexual vibe from Andor lol

Out of curiosity how many romances have you personally stopped writing?

well romance is usually at the centre of my plot in some way bc im a sappy bitch but i was gonna make Smada and Aviv date and then i was like hm what if i make Irva have a crush on her
and then i realized that means all my characters would be romantically involved w someone so i was like Nope
and now im on the fence abt whether i should make Smada and Aviv already be dating or make them slowburn throughout the book

The weird romantic subplot between Aya and Kirisano.
The even weirder romancish thing with Karoc and Pyra.
The thing I decided was wrong because they were kids with Connor and Jania.
The romance I killed along with Nathaniel and Daniella.
The brakes I put on the romance with Sarai and Sorace.
Back when Daniella was a boy she had a romance with Theresa. Now they aren't even friends really.