forum Things You Want MORE Of In Books

Started January 21, 2019 by @evastardust groupRRAAAARRL

tune

"That really fries my cheesecake." - Eris Woods, 2019, when something mildly inconveniences her.

The Wisconsin State Fair has entered the chat

wheezes

Maybe it's because I have Henry V (and Montjoy in particular) on the brain, but I'd love to see more break-the-haughty arcs. They're a favorite of mine (looks at Samuel and Darius) and I feel like they're underused.

Characters that are impulsive and buy/do random stuff and they're only explanation is "I dunno I just felt like it"
But like, not using that as an excuse for why someone has something important because a lot of times that's just lazy, but like, a person that has a bunch of useless crap like I don't know, a gnome lamp or something
Idk

Yes, as someone who knows real people like that

Yes, as someone who does that.
Glares at the tiny crocheted frog I got for no reason

I definitely do random stuff all the time because I have a feeling.

I definitely don't have that problem…

_{stares at the odd corner of my room with all my dumb trinkets and knick-knacks I'll never have a use for}

HAPPY DRUNKS

Do you mean people with a problem being happy even though? Or simply not make every drunk person have a tragic life story that got them there.

Or like happy/party drunk as opposed to angry/depressed drunk?

I mean people that are happy when they're drunk. And also people that drink but aren't straight up alcoholics. Don't get me wrong, I love Haymitch but we don't need one in every book

^^^^ too true (I have someone who’s kind of an alcoholic in my story but let’s not worry about that)

Cute, pure flirting.
"An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like an angel!"

Awwwwsfijajwik;rf yesss

One thing I'd really love more of? Myopic characters. As in, GlAsSeS. And not just on the token nerdy dude™

In two of my stories, only 1 or 2 MCs of the group don't have either glasses or contacts.

Something I recently realized I enjoy is when a character will nonchalantly mention something like "there was some blood on the floor, but nothing that can't be hidden by a nice throw rug!" or "I woke up in police custody for the second time that year"
Victor does this a lot and it's part of why I love writing for him.
Also because he's my emotional support disaster chemist and he has possibly the most similar traits/quirks to me, but that's a story for another time

Okay, why is it that it's always "ugly" girls that are desperate for a boyfriend? I have friends that are hekka gorgeous that are totally desperate (love em but it's true) and I don't ever see it in books
I also want more of characters having a mean thought and then thinking no no that's mean I can't say that or oops no they can do whatever they want. Because i know I'm not alone in doing that and it makes me feel like even more of a crappy person when characters dont do that

I feel like some of it stems from the whole "'ugly' means insecure means wants to prove something by getting a bf" thing but still.
Also yeah that's a huge mood.

Characters who live in the Midwest
Or y'know, anywhere besides Florida, New York, California, and Texas. Those aren't the only states, y'all, and the US and UK aren't the only countries.

I can vouch for washington it's pretty cool

Washington has Twilight though

As a Missourian, I can clearly see why most stories aren’t written here

BUT SEATTLE IS BETTER

_{fuck twilight}

_{I agree. I tried to read it as a bet and didn't get past the first 120 pages.}

Those aren't the only states, y'all, and the US and UK aren't the only countries.

All I can think of is that picture that's like "How aliens in movies see the world" and then it's just a map of the US.

For real though, I've been saying this for years. I can kinda understand why people writing something that takes place in modern times would want it in a setting that's familiar to them. But like why is it that every dystopian novel that I've read takes place in the US (Except for 1984 which takes place in the UK)?

A Brave New World (just finished, full of feels, 10/10 recommend) is set in England as well.

Something I'd like to see more of (which is also sort of related to the country thing) are books that weren't originally written in English that ended up being translated. They often have really interesting POVs and characters simply because the culture the author is trying to reach is not American or English, which makes these books especially cool to read. Also, representation of other countries, languages, cultures is usually really well done, even if it's only a specific, but very different group of people being written about. The one condition is that the translation has to be high quality, though.

Journey to the West! Les Miserables!