What turns you off the most in a manuscript? Marilyn Meredith Book: Kindred Spirits Buy from http://www.mundania press.com Website: http://fictionforyou.com ------------ --------- --------- --------- ------- A caveat to start: IMHO a “turn off” is a subjective judgment. It is fair to say that one person’s turn off just might be someone else’s “Oh boy, do I love that!” Having said that, here are some of my least favorite things: 1. A novel that starts with the character waking up, hung over or not, fumbling for the alarm clock (or telephone or staggering to the door or whatever) then showering, and observing self in mirror. Maybe it’s just me, but I always take this as a cheap, lazy-writing way to reveal the character’s looks and maybe a few other points. My attitude probably comes from the fact that this opening has been done to death. It’s a really good idea to figure out what those DTD things are and not do them! 2. Mysteries that resolve the plot through some “cheat the reader” devi...