Actually, it is kinda' what I meant. :redface: Yes, I agree that any extreme is unrepresentative. I would find it a bit obvious if a sci-fi story were purposely... United Colours of Benetton-ized, but there should be a happy and representative medium, n'est pas?
I still believe that it depends on the situation. I recall after 911 the firemen wanted to put up a monument to the firemen killed. They were criticized for having all white males in the statue and it was suggested that a black and Asian be added. It turned out that all the firemen who died were white and that's it. In fact few blacks or Asians are firemen in NYC. Why that is I don't know. Perhaps the job doesn't appeal to minorities simply by chance, or there's some block in their way. Knowing what I know about world culture, which is a lot, I can believe that certain types of people are going to gravitate towards certain jobs, the military, and so forth. It may not be best, but it's realistic. I could argue, but I won't, that it's wrong to misrepresent people in fiction towards the politically correct just as it would to write an overly fascist story. However, creativity is awesome and anything goes, so I would never say a document "should" be written in a certain way---and no one else should either. Attitude: Well, I'm going to bet that most cheerleaders have similar personalities. So would Dragon Hunters. Of course they'd have differences, but likely the same core philosophy.
Now, now. Let's not make me out to be Lieutenant Fuentes of the PC Police Dept. I would never turn the hand of any writer. I merely expressed my answer to the OP, to which I am as entitled as any other responder.
Well then at this point I would like to add that characters with the exact same personalities put me off from reading books.
I agree, but go to the bank and talk to the loan officers and you'll find a type. Then go to the local Anarchist headquarters (there really is one in Philly) and you'll find another. Certainly, there'll be subtle differences but not major ones, and that's my point. It would be stupid if both groups clashed and they had the same personalities and motives. On second thought, it could be a great story if they were exactly the same.
Terrible dialogue puts me off almost immediately, and predictability that becomes so not funny after the fourth prediction makes me appear almost psychic. I remember watching Fringe last night on Fox and my 9 year old brother high-fived me about five times for guessing what happens next. I expect that out of television shows. When it happens in novels, it's more of a letdown.
That made me LOL so hard! Not sure why. I have a weird sense of humor but really, I'm still giggling. This thread makes me terrified to even write a book. lol It seems almost everything will piss someone off. I guess you can't please everyone. For me, I really hate long slow description. If I can't get past the description, I will stop reading. It just bores me to death. I have a very active imagination and description hinders that. I probably don't describe anything enough in my book because I hate it so much, but I'd rather under describe than over describe. The only things I really describe physically have some sort of point. I mean, you don't need to know the color of the walls in every single building the MC ever goes in, or how the weather is, or the exact color of every character's hair/skin/clothing, etc. UNLESS it's somehow relevant to the story.
People who say everything about their character and his b**** in the first paragraph. It just annoys me how they ruin the introduction in their attempts to map out the main character's family tree. If you want their ancestry to be obvious, give them a patronymic, damn it
I'm VERY picky with what I read. If I don't like the first page, I might skip a few just to check another random couple of paragraphs, like a second chance. But generally first pages are pretty good (provided I get past the blurb on the back or sleeve ) One thing that will close the book and put it back on the shelf is an opening like: "The cold wind blew... blah blah blah" I just hate descriptions of weather and.. stuff. I've noticed my favourite books go straight to the point. Either with an attention grabbing situation or quirky dialogue, or something equally good that makes you realise a second later that you've suddenly reached page 4.
Ermm... first and foremost anything that is written in first person puts me off of the book. I don't know why, I can't explain it, but I HATE first person. Maybe I simply haven't read enough of it to appreciate it, but for the life of me, I just can't read it. Secondly I also hate when someone writes a line such as " little did he know, a hour later he would be dead" WTF is up with that. Of course he wouldn't of knew.
1. It's boring 2. It's about something violent/fantasy/teen romance 3. The character's 'voice' (if it's in 1st person) is at all unconvincing/pretentious..actually, the 1st person itself usually puts me off Hmm I suppose it depends from reader-to-reader. Like I rarely read fantasy books, I just find them dull. I'm very fussy. If I'm not interested within a couple of lines, I may turn the page to check I'm not missing anything, but I usually just put it straight back on the shelf.
A sex scene in the first chapter. If that's what it takes to get your book to sell, there's no way it's going to be good.
lousy formatting. when all i see is a jumble of words with no line breaks. that stops me dead most times.
Any book which starts with three solid pages of moronic dialogue. Any book which has three pages of dense nonsensical text with no paragraphs, with loads of invented names along the lines of: "It was the Eve of Rishnar on the Tide of Bolnivar, and the young heir, Goath nid Bred, sat his prancing charger heavily as he rode into the citadel of Moupanathassa under the gaze of the three green moons."
What turns me off and causes me to stop reading is writing that doesn't flow naturally or captivate interest. Robert Eisenman's "New Testament Code" is one such book. The crammed pages of tiny font and small margins are packed with run-on sentences and nested parenthesis. His critics generally focus on his theories. I have no problem with his theories. It's his writing that I have a problem with. I find the real indecipherable code is his book itself.
OH God. Anything like that and *slam* No no no. Unless it's a parody, that crap stuff just doesn't interest me. (Anyone read Muddle Earth?)
When authors try to shove their ample vocabularies down my throat. In other words, an abundance of needlessly complex words. That's the only single thing that will make me shelve a book on the spot.
I couldn't disagree more. A good sex scene in the first chapter and there's no way I'm putting the book down!
i hate it when the interesting openingturns out to be a dream or daydream. Annnoys the hell out of me. I also hate starting with a situation then jumping back to explain how it happened. I hate this on TV and in Movies too.
