What details of an author's style annoy you?

[SimonDoom]

Here's another one I'm kind of fussy about: overly creative substitutes for "said" and "asked" in dialogue tags. I agree, for the most part, with Elmore Leonard's dictum that you should use just "said" and "asked" almost all the time.

There are a few reasons for this. IMO the dialogue itself--what's between the quote marks--should do the heavy lifting, and the tag is there purely to let you know who is speaking. Too-cute tags can often be redundant if the dialogue itself is handled in the right way. They tell rather than show. A cute dialogue tag is like an overly instrusive movie score that is telling me how to react emotionally to a scene rather than trusting me to respond to the content on the screen.

This isn't a hard and fast rule, but when I notice that an author is actively trying to avoid the use of "said" and "asked" it annoys me.

 

[TheLobster]

Here's another one I'm kind of fussy about: overly creative substitutes for "said" and "asked" in dialogue tags. I agree, for the most part, with Elmore Leonard's dictum that you should use just "said" and "asked" almost all the time.

There are a few reasons for this. IMO the dialogue itself--what's between the quote marks--should do the heavy lifting, and the tag is there purely to let you know who is speaking. Too-cute tags can often be redundant if the dialogue itself is handled in the right way. They tell rather than show. A cute dialogue tag is like an overly instrusive movie score that is telling me how to react emotionally to a scene rather than trusting me to respond to the content on the screen.

This isn't a hard and fast rule, but when I notice that an author is actively trying to avoid the use of "said" and "asked" it annoys me.

“Why are you always such a bitch?!” he inquired.
“And why don’t you just fuck off and die!” she proposed.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Less Paul guitar

As a guitar teacher I want to Cast him straight to the Stratosphere, if you catch my drift.

Probably.

But even when I've played D&D, I've never really paid much attention to those things.

Me: "I slap him in the face for his impertinence!"
DM: "He's 6ft 4 and you're a halfling."
Me: "Er... is there a chair nearby? A table? Stepladder?"

Wizard: I cast Enlarge/Reduce on the Halfling because you don't need to be pedantic about it, DM.

 

[THBGato]

“Why are you always such a bitch?!” he inquired.
“And why don’t you just fuck off and die!” she proposed.

The other day I was in a meeting and I used the verb "opine" to try to be funny.

My colleagues looked at me as if I just done a cheese fart.

Fair.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

This isn't a hard and fast rule, but when I notice that an author is actively trying to avoid the use of "said" and "asked" it annoys me.

I will often use descriptive tags, but not to vary the vocabulary. I do it for immersion and to define the tone of the speech. Just as often when we type words online the reader will assume a tone that we did not intend, so we put smileys on the end. If a character says something where the tone of it could be ambiguous, a descriptive speech tag can set that straight. I don't do it on every line, hardly. Only here and there where it is most effective.

 

[TheLobster]

There is a fair bit of discussion about this trope here, complete with a rather long list of very amusing examples.

 

[SimonDoom]

There is a fair bit of discussion about this trope here, complete with a rather long list of very amusing examples.

That's a very good short summary of the issue. I agree with everything in it.

 

[SouthByWest]

OK, it may be a little more nuanced than I stated in my post, but for all practical purposes it's correct, and Lit authors would write more realistically if they conformed their word choice.

In the erotic(a) context, a woman is almost always going to be wearing a blouse, and not an otherwise buttoned shirt.

Yoga pants today are a niche product for the purpose of doing yoga. They are somewhat looser fitting and less overtly sexy. If you did a survey, in the US at least, you'll find that the vast majority of women, from high school girls to grandmothers, will call their activewear leggings. And for sure, if a woman is intending to showcase every crease and contour of her ass (and, increasingly, her mound), she's wearing leggings, not yoga pants.

I do have a question: what is the word to designated the zero inseam version of leggings? With an inseam of three to eight inches, I believe they are called in the trade "biker shorts." But with no (or just a minimal) inseam, I don't think that would apply. By logic and extension, they might be called "assings," but I'm not aware that term is used. And I believe "booty shorts" applies more broadly to fabrics and cuts that don't count as activewear. Any thoughts?

 

[Escierto]

Here is what annoys me. When the story is so fucking stupid, so fucking unbelievable and so fucking ridiculous that I cannot take any of it seriously. Of course this is true of 90% of the absolute bullshit that comprise Lit's stories. Needless to say they are more wildly popular the stupider they are!

 

[nice90sguy]

(soothingly) You're angry, aren't you?

 

[StillStunned]

Here is what annoys me. When the story is so fucking stupid, so fucking unbelievable and so fucking ridiculous that I cannot take any of it seriously. Of course this is true of 90% of the absolute bullshit that comprise Lit's stories. Needless to say they are more wildly popular the stupider they are!

You're not going to make many friends tossing out accusations like that on a forum specifically for Lit's writers.

Also: They're just stories. And mostly erotic stories at that. They might be serious for the author, but I doubt anyone is demanding that the readers take them seriously.

 

[Escierto]

You're not going to make many friends tossing out accusations like that on a forum specifically for Lit's writers.

Most of the people on this forum have never written anything. True, some are accomplished writers but sadly there are only a few of those.

 

[SimonDoom]

Here is what annoys me. When the story is so fucking stupid, so fucking unbelievable and so fucking ridiculous that I cannot take any of it seriously. Of course this is true of 90% of the absolute bullshit that comprise Lit's stories. Needless to say they are more wildly popular the stupider they are!

That comment sheds no light on anything whatsoever. What makes a story stupid? What makes it unbelievable? You have no published stories under your name so nobody can even look at your work to divine what you mean. You have no favorites, and you've followed no one.

It's easy to criticize from the sidelines. It's harder when you enter the ring and do your best to write a story and publish it for others' eyes, subjecting it to criticism.

 

[Escierto]

Also: They're just stories. And mostly erotic stories at that. They might be serious for the author, but I doubt anyone is demanding that the readers take them seriously.

It's fine for someone to write a preposterous story if that's the aim of the writer. However there are writers here who admit they have zero and I mean zero experience with the subject matter of the category in which they post their stories. So they make up the most ignorant and stupid bullshit which their audience then takes seriously. That is what pisses me off.

 

[StillStunned]

Most of the people on this forum have never written anything. True, some are accomplished writers but sadly there are only a few of those.

Here in the Authors' Hangout? With a few exceptions, I think you'll find that nearly everyone has multiple stories here on Lit.

 

[Escierto]

That comment sheds no light on anything whatsoever. What makes a story stupid? What makes it unbelievable? You have no published stories under your name so nobody can even look at your work to divine what you mean. You have no favorites, and you've followed no one.

It's easy to criticize from the sidelines. It's harder when you enter the ring and do your best to write a story and publish it for others' eyes, subjecting it to criticism.

I post my stories under a different name. People will shred an authors stories to get back at them for some comment they have made here on the forums. So no, I am never disclosing the name under which I post my stories.

 

[Escierto]

That comment sheds no light on anything whatsoever. What makes a story stupid? What makes it unbelievable? You have no published stories under your name so nobody can even look at your work to divine what you mean. You have no favorites, and you've followed no one.

It's easy to criticize from the sidelines. It's harder when you enter the ring and do your best to write a story and publish it for others' eyes, subjecting it to criticism.

Writing stories as a straight white man of privilege about marginalized and hated people in our society who are not straight, are not men, are not white and expecting that you are going to get a free pass because you are a fucking straight white man.

Of course people are entitled to use their imaginations and create characters who are not like them. Fine but you should not be doing it in a way that invites more hatred and is completely disrespectful to the people about whom you are writing.

 

[SimonDoom]

Writing stories as a straight white man of privilege about marginalized and hated people in our society who are not straight, are not men, are not white and expecting that you are going to get a free pass because you are a fucking straight white man.

Of course people are entitled to use their imaginations and create characters who are not like them. Fine but you should not be doing it in a way that invites more hatred and is completely disrespectful to the people about whom you are writing.

These are big sweeping accusations. Criticism is only meaningful and useful if it is specific and fact-based.

I'm surprised at the degree of anger you seem to feel in what most people regard as a fun fantasy space.

People disagree about this, but I think it's a big stretch to think that anything people write here at Literotica "invites more hatred" against anyone in the real world. Maybe, it happens a little bit. But even that's speculative.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I post my stories under a different name. People will shred an authors stories to get back at them for some comment they have made here on the forums. So no, I am never disclosing the name under which I post my stories.

We all take that risk here. It happens sometimes but not really that often. Still, we shouldn't resort to alts in order to be able to express our opinions on this forum at least. Instead of sheltering yourself behind an alt, maybe you should find a way to express your opinion in a non-inflammable way, without as much anger as can be seen in your posts. Just a suggestion.

 

[StillStunned]

It's fine for someone to write a preposterous story if that's the aim of the writer. However there are writers here who admit they have zero and I mean zero experience with the subject matter of the category in which they post their stories. So they make up the most ignorant and stupid bullshit which their audience then takes seriously. That is what pisses me off.

How seriously the readers take the stories is determined largely by the writer's skill, I'd think, and not by whether it's made up. I have zero experience with incest, or space vampires, or demonic swords, or even exhibitionist girlfriends, and I doubt anyone takes my stories as factual. Yet they seem to entertain, and that's what I want as the author, and presumably what my readers want.

I post my stories under a different name. People will shred an authors stories to get back at them for some comment they have made here on the forums. So no, I am never disclosing the name under which I post my stories.

Bollocks. If you're going to sneer at other writers, show us how it's done. People here disagree all the time, and by and largely it stays in the AH. Even if it spills over, what's one vote more or less? If you're that worried about how a single negative opinion might harm your ratings, you shouldn't be publishing.

 

[CyranoJ]

Here is what annoys me. When the story is so fucking stupid, so fucking unbelievable and so fucking ridiculous that I cannot take any of it seriously. Of course this is true of 90% of the absolute bullshit that comprise Lit's stories. Needless to say they are more wildly popular the stupider they are!

Wow, a place where erotic stories are all like unserious and stuff? You don't say. That is WILD.

 

[Escierto]

Wow, a place where erotic stories are all like unserious and stuff? You don't say. That is WILD.

View attachment 2519953

So you agree that most of the stories are absolute bullshit with no redeeming value whatsoever? As long as they are not hurting anyone, fine.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I post my stories under a different name. People will shred an authors stories to get back at them for some comment they have made here on the forums. So no, I am never disclosing the name under which I post my stories.

Myself, on the other hand, am not such a pussy. : P

 

[CyranoJ]

So you agree that most of the stories are absolute bullshit with no redeeming value whatsoever?

I think if your opinion was as valuable as your mouth is loud, you wouldn't need me to explain that post to you.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Writing stories as a straight white man of privilege about marginalized and hated people in our society who are not straight, are not men, are not white and expecting that you are going to get a free pass because you are a fucking straight white man.

Of course people are entitled to use their imaginations and create characters who are not like them. Fine but you should not be doing it in a way that invites more hatred and is completely disrespectful to the people about whom you are writing.

You are only marginalizing yourself here. You're aware of that, aren't you?