There Must Be 50 Ways to Bore Your Readers

[NOIRTRASH]

Elmore Leonard said CUT OUT ALL THE BORING PARTS.

But whats boring?

1. When you make your story a soap box or bully pulpit to bring readers to Jesus or Mao or your other favorite Divine Cause.

2, Stop to smell the roses. Lotsa writers inflate word count with irrelevant digressions. I think it was Chekhov who said, IF YOU PUT A GUN IN THE STORY USE IT.

 

[Dam_Fool]

Some people love the pulpit/box, depending on the subject. Usually its good to give a foreign view or perspective of how the "bad guys" or "them" sees "us". Maybe WE are the bad guys. Intrigues and excites people.

I dont know if this could be a decent (#3.), but petty incessant-ness. "He said that she said that Billy told Bobby that Jimmy was looking at my cousin's best friend's niece's teacher's girlfriend, and the look may have been lust."
But then again alot of media that does this gets pretty popular awfully fast, so maybe it's not a borer?

4. Monotony/predictability. If 90% of people are pumping out teen love vampires, don't pump out teen love vampires. You'll just be another one in the bunch. Maybe adult vampires? Maybe gay vampires. Maybe racist genocide mummy's. Something to keep them interested.

5. Cringe. Your characters are yours and your story is yours, but thats not a excuse to make a mess. Better yourself. Cringiness is that pathetic or gushy material that is embarrassing and exhausting.