The Readers Bottom Line

[NOIRTRASH]

Yesterday I deleted a Lee Child book from my Kindle. It wasnt the first Lee Child book I threw away.

There's nuthin wrong with his writing, his books are interesting.

My problem is romance and amazons. I like when Jack Reacher fucks girls, I don't like when he brings them roses. I don't like five foot nuthin gals who can kick his 6 foot five ass. My 6 foot four daddy wasn't dum enough to mess with my five foot two mammy, but she knew better than to mess with him. The first time one of my sisters sunk her claws into me I cut her claws off. Homey don't play that game, bitch. I don't do flowers. My wife's birthday is coming up, she gets a fist fulla fifties and dinner wherever she wants. But no flowers. And I don't wanna read about sentimental numnutz who kiss girlie ass. I stipulate I invented misogynist asshole. Guilty as charged.

So what turns you off in a story?

 

[Kantarii]

A story that doesn't flow well turns me off pretty quick. I'm more inclined to read the New York phone directory cover to cover than to try and read a story that doesn't flow well. I can deal with punctuation and grammatical errors to a degree, but when they are excessive, I stop reading. And my last pet peev is little or no character development and "static" in their dialogue. I mean, come on, are they just standing there talking and nothing more? Paint the picture with words.

 

[_Lynn_]

A story that doesn't flow well turns me off pretty quick. I'm more inclined to read the New York phone directory cover to cover than to try and read a story that doesn't flow well. I can deal with punctuation and grammatical errors to a degree, but when they are excessive, I stop reading. And my last pet peev is little or no character development and "static" in their dialogue. I mean, come on, are they just standing there talking and nothing more? Paint the picture with words.

I stop reading when a story bounces all over the place. Leaving a character to move on to others is fine, as long as the initial character has a purpose for being in the story. There are days I want to strap my inner editor to a chair and leave it there forever.

 

[joelafayette]

.....

 

[sr71plt]

The valid reason is that best-selling thriller authors made it the current trend. It sells. It also serves the purpose of pulling readers right in and getting them invested in the read. Background expostulation to start with is one dividing interest after the other (male or female; blonde or brunette; thin or buxom, city or country) right off the top in the reader's mind--thus immediate division of the reader's interest. Starting with action isn't as dividing (although it too can be).

 

[legerdemer]

The valid reason is that best-selling thriller authors made it the current trend. It sells. It also serves the purpose of pulling readers right in and getting them invested in the read. Background expostulation to start with is one dividing interest after the other (male or female; blonde or brunette; thin or buxom, city or country) right off the top in the reader's mind--thus immediate division of the reader's interest. Starting with action isn't as dividing (although it too can be).

Interesting point, the division one - hadn't thought about it before, but it makes sense.

I also think that the obvious - action draws people in more easily than exposition - also holds. "We" as a group are less patient these days.

 

[someoneyouknow]

Lee Child turns me off. Five or six words to a sentence? What is he, eight?

 

[sr71plt]

Lee Child turns me off. Five or six words to a sentence? What is he, eight?

He talks that way in person too, punching every other word.

 

[BJwriter]

Yesterday I deleted a Lee Child book from my Kindle. It wasnt the first Lee Child book I threw away.

...

So what turns you off in a story?

Grammatical errors, misused words, dull writing. If a story does not grab my interest in the first several paragraphs, I'm off to something else. I like a story that grabs me, even if it grabs me by the gonads. I also like one that is believable. I get a little tired of guys that can screw every ten minutes and shoot a wad as if they hadn't had sex for a year. Sure, I'm an old foggie, but not that old, and my equipment has always needed time to recharge, time measured more in days or at least hours than minutes.

 

[Kantarii]

Grammatical errors, misused words, dull writing. If a story does not grab my interest in the first several paragraphs, I'm off to something else. I like a story that grabs me, even if it grabs me by the gonads. I also like one that is believable. I get a little tired of guys that can screw every ten minutes and shoot a wad as if they hadn't had sex for a year. Sure, I'm an old foggie, but not that old, and my equipment has always needed time to recharge, time measured more in days or at least hours than minutes.

I avoid reading stories that center on the unbelievability you just described about needing time to recharge. Stories like that just don't interest me as much as the ones that have some sort of storyline between the first fucking and the next. Life isn't all about sex and fucking, not in my eyes; especially if I'm reading the story.