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Petty Pet Peeves

My biggest pet peeve these days is a story that doesn’t get going until halfway into the book. I’m reading one of my favorite authors right now, and nothing is happening, at least nothing that inspires me turn the page. This book is turning into a solution to my usually sleepless nights. I feel betrayed.

Not only are there external characters I couldn’t care less about, but the two main characters who have kept me riveted over eighteen previous books don’t have an interesting enough story to give them anything to do. My favorite of the two characters is nothing more than an afterthought, and the interaction that made the duo famous is non-existent.

Another gripe, and yes, I know it’s a matter of writing style, but when the character has a thought and then dialogue, I find it confusing when they're in two different paragraphs. It seems like padding, and when it happens throughout the book, it is padding. This book is padded. Previous books might have been, but the story kept me from noticing it or being annoyed by it.

Many successful authors can't judge when their series is becoming stale, but their readers sure do. It’s hard to keep a series fresh, and when you're publishing the twentieth or thirtieth book in the series, and there's an eager readership waiting, guaranteeing bestselling status, how can you quit? I'm having trouble keeping the fifth book in my series fresh, so how can I be so judgmental when an author reaches his twentieth book in the series? After reading the reviews of this book, many readers were as disappointed as I was. Instead, the story becomes repetitious in dialogue and devices. In this particular book, a homeless person becomes a witness to a murder. That would be fine, but this author has used that same device in a previous book. I know because I read it.  

All genres have their own set of tropes or formulas, if you will. The books that leave an impression on me are ones where the author breaks the formula. Maybe the bad guy isn't the bad guy after all, or maybe the hero turns out to be a jerk. The high school sweethearts that meet again years later DON'T fall in love again. Yes, those things have happened, but I want a denouement I don't expect. A few more pet peeves are when a book is filled with unlikable characters I couldn't care less about; a book, even a serious book, with not one bit of humor; or a book that stretched credibility that's not in a genre that's supposed to stretch credibility.

I'm sure there are plenty more picky things that bother me, but those are enough pet peeves for today, folks. Tell me yours.


 



Polly Iyer is the author of ten novels: standalones Hooked, InSight, Murder Déjà Vu, Threads, Indiscretion, and her newest, We Are But WARRIORS; a novella, The Last Heist; and four books in the Diana Racine Psychic Suspense series, Mind Games, Goddess of the Moon, Backlash and The Scent of Murder, with a fifth book on the way. A Massachusetts native, she makes her home in the beautiful Piedmont region of South Carolina. You can visit Polly on her Amazon page and on Facebook.


Comments

  1. I would never wait to get halfway through a book to be hooked on the story. It had better happen in the first few chapters, or it's destined to languish on the shelf and gather dust. I recently picked up a book by Donald Maass that I'd purchased some time ago and then forgotten about. (Shame on me!) Entitled "The Emotional Craft of Fiction", it is loaded with incredible examples and an "Emotional Mastery Checklist" that can perk up almost any story and inspire a host of new perspectives on previously used and newly debuting characters and storylines. Available on Amazon for $12.69 in paperback and $13.99 on KIndle, it's worth its weight in gold, as the saying goes. For me, it's been a wonderful incentive to get writing and keep writing. I have no intention of becoming a little old lady looking for a porch and a rocking chair. Great post, Polly!

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    1. Thanks for the book recommendation, Linda. I did notice, however, that the Kindle copy costs more than the paperback. That could turn into a pet peeve for me.

      I gave this book extra time because I just knew something exciting would happen. It didn't, and I was disappointed. Will I read the next book in the series? Yes, but if it's as dull as this one, it'll be the last.

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    2. Linda, just wanted to clarify that my response posted as Anonymous.

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  2. Such a challenge in today's world too. We simply don't have the patience to read good writing that... doesn't go anywhere. Kill somebody in the first chapter or else! LOL.

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    1. Good point, Dani. If the writing is exceptional, I will read longer — definitely well past the first chapter. :-)

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  3. Like Linda, I admire your loyalty to the series Polly to read so far into the book without giving up. I will give a book maybe a third of the way before stopping if there are as many disappointments as you mention.

    And I share your dismay with the same ol' same ol' Like you, "I want a denouement I don't expect."

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    1. Are writers getting lazy, Maryann? I know it's hard to keep a series fresh, but some of them are phoning in the stories.

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  4. Good post. I share this pet peeve. :-)

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  5. Yes, I remember you read this book as the author is a favorite of ours. Glad to know it's not just me.

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  6. Ah yes! Great peeves, Polly! I definitely appreciate an ending that has me saying, "Whoa! I didn't see that coming!" (But only if it "makes sense" in retrospect, of course!)

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    1. There are so many things that go into making a great read. The ending is one of them. I think that's why so many of us who watched the Ozark series felt so disappointed in the ending. Ruined the whole series.

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  7. I just started a mystery that introduced 12 or so characters in the first chapter. Bad idea. My aging brain does not like this.

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