Thread: Decreasing Quality

Hi everyone,

Glad to be here!

Okay, what do you think, as a reader, reduces a story's quality? What was the main factor that made THAT story boring, or tedious to you?


Some say, too fast paced, or some say the characters weren't real; they didn't make realistic decisions. Others say the writing was to sloppy.

What do you think?

Thanks!

I think that anything that makes us realize we are sitting in our favorite chair, reading a story, and that there are a lot of pages remaining. In other words, tons of factors:

- Pacing: too fast and it tire out the readers, too slow and they will be taping their foot and counting pages.

- Characters: if they are unbelievable it will break the willing suspension of disbelief. Too believable and the reader will be wondering why he's reading the book in the first place.

- Plot: something has to be happening. But I guess it depends on the taste of the reader, consistency is crucial though.

- Writing: take twilight, for example. Maybe for a girl on her teens it might be easy to identify with the writing style, but any male would be having trouble reading how beautiful and gorgeous the male protagonists are. There are other examples, 1984 might be a bit too strong in flavor for some people, while Harry Potter is something most casual readers will enjoy because the writing is pretty neutral. It's like your accent, some people will love it, some will hate it. Make sure that the right kind of people like it, though. Grammar is a given, don't let mistakes slip through your editing.

I think the most crucial factor is writing. I've read stories that are very stereotypical, yet become my favorites because the way they are told makes them masterpieces. Never be shy about your style, on the contrary, perfect it and make it unique.

Well gee Elite, thanks for that nice reply. Most switched on of you.
Do you have more such analytical examples you could share with me?

Thanks!

Don't mention it! I don't have more such examples because I just recently began reading western literature. I've been reading obscure japanese authors until a while back (still do, but translations come few and far between). I can tell you this, though. Good writing is more important than anything else, it's the eyes that will witness the story. We all know how a good or bad photographer affects the picture, same applies here. If you want to challenge yourself, try to write something good about a bunch of nonsense, if your writing's good it should still be enjoyable.

Well, three things immediately popped into mind when I read your post. First, if there are multiple glaring spelling mistakes, typoes, or just plain awful grammar (and I mean AWFUL without purpose), it will annoy me greatly and take me right out of the story. Unfortunately, I think this is partially out of the author's control in traditional publishing. Second, a seriously hackneyed or cliche expression or description will make me roll my eyes, feel irritated and again I'm out of the story. Thirdly - and this IMO is the worst - drastically unbelievable actions by the characters. Now I love a good romantic comedy, so I'm one who's generally willing to suspend disbelief to a larger degree than many. So if even I start rolling my eyes and thinking, "Yeah right, like that makes sense" or "Come on! This is stupid. Why would that character do that?" you know you've made a doozy of a mistake. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I can't figure out why in the world Character A would be attracted to Character B. They can't just be attracted "because the author says so" or "it's in the script." There has to be a REASON, something actually ATTRACTIVE about the other person. Ideally, there should be something about that other person that makes them a uniquely perfect match. And that's not to say there can't be unhealthy bad matches, but those need to have explanation, motivation. It needs to make sense. I'm someone who can't stand not finishing something, but there have been a couple of movies that I have actually shut off and returned without finishing because they were so terrible in this department. The same with books.
Sorry about my rant. You did ask.

Originally Posted by afat

Okay, what do you think, as a reader, reduces a story's quality? What was the main factor that made THAT story boring, or tedious to you?

For myself:

1. Too much exposition. I absolutely hate when there are pages of exposition and a couple lines of dialogue in between. It drives me insane!
2. Not enough conflict. If the characters are having a great time. I'm not.

And I find that the more I read the more I'm disappointed. Anyone else struggle with this?

Personally speaking, I get really distracted when there's a flashback, or sidestory that runs on for too long. I recognize it's necessary, but when it takes up most of the chapter, I can't seem to get back on track when the writer does.

Realistic decisions are another factor particularly for non-fiction. I've read some stories where the author was embellishing the true story with conversations between the people that he couldn't possibly have known to take place. Although, that's not boring, just infuriating.

1. Too much exposition. I absolutely hate when there are pages of exposition and a couple lines of dialogue in between. It drives me insane!

Not with non-fiction. If there was too much dialogue I'd think it unrealistic. With fiction, I think the opposite.

Originally Posted by CFFTB

Not with non-fiction. If there was too much dialogue I'd think it unrealistic. With fiction, I think the opposite.

Doesn't it depend on the story? I suppose you may be right. I haven't read anything non-fiction related in quite some time so I wouldn't know. I would still hate it though. It feels like someone is interrupting a conversation I'm trying to have with someone.

Copping out of making a scene logical because it would be difficult. Totally breaks the immersion for me. An example is how, in this one book, the main character who is a detective is on a call with a parter cop who hates him. Previous to this, the partner cop had taken every opportunity to ride the MC over his slightest breach in protocol or mistake, and once they reach the scene, the MC makes a very questionable "shortcut," as in a easy-but-wrong bit of police work, and the partner basically ignores it. I strongly got the impression this was because it would have been a difficult scene otherwise and the writer wanted to move on.