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Yesterday Jennifer wrote about getting her best ideas just as she’s falling asleep. Today I’m looking at the other side of this – the kind of things that cause readers to fall asleep!
1. Too much backstory at the beginning.
2. Too much description of places and/or narrative and/or researched detail which is not necessary to the story.
3. Slow pacing, with nothing much happening for several pages.
4. No emotion, or feelings stated rather than shown.
5. Too much description of characters doing ‘ordinary’ things like cooking or gardening i.e. scenes which don’t advance the plot or give an insight into the character(s)
To this list, I would add the following – which might not send readers to sleep, but which could irritate them and stop them reading, even when they’re not sleepy:
1. Unnatural/stilted dialogue or characters who talk like they’re in a 1940s slushy movie.
2. Too many characters introduced too quickly in the story (especially at the beginning).
3. Hero/heroine not very likeable – selfish, petty, ‘too stupid to live’.
4. Author intrusion – telling us things the characters don’t know or see.
5. Plot holes or loose ends not tied up at the end of the story.
What would you add to these lists?
These are great things to watch out for.
ReplyDeleteI think I've been guilty of them all at one time or another!
DeleteHmmm, loose ends not tied up at the end of the story. I wonder who does things like that? :)
ReplyDeleteCan't think of anyone, Carol ;-) This was a list I actually made a couple of years ago, so it's just coincidence that I've posted it today!
DeleteLoose ends not tied up, or loose ends tied up too conveniently, make me mad, and then I can't go to sleep.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very good point about the loose ends being tied up too conveniently.
DeleteThis is a great list.
ReplyDeleteI'd say something that might make a reader put a book down is too much coincidence. Things happening because the authors needs them to happen rather than them stemming from logical or emotional situations.
Good point, Debra. Coincidences do happen in real life, of course, but 'convenient' coincidences have to be avoided in novels.
DeleteGreat list, Paula. I cannot think of anything else to add to it at the moment. Bad writing is one of my pet hates. I wonder how many people who read a book that is not well written buy again from the same author.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Margaret, but I wonder how you would define bad writing? And whether we all have different ideas about what is good and what isn't? Interesting comment that has got me thinking now!
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