What makes you enjoy a story in spite of its flaws?

[AG31]

There are a lot of threads here about what can go wrong with a story. I've found myself lately diagnosing flaws in my current main stream fiction reading and then wondering why I'm enjoying the story anyway. I'm quite capable of putting a book down for good after 15 (sometimes 2) pages if the flaws are too much.

Here are some qualities that can make me overlook, or at least tolerate flaws. Might your list be different?

Authenticity - I can overlook a lot of frankly bad writing if a story has this quality. I wish I could define it better. A while ago here was a whole thread about it (2, actually), but no really satisfactory conclusion, for me, at least. I think this quality applies only to erotica, at least as far as my reading goes. You'd think I would enjoy biography, but I almost never read it, and I don't think I would find it "authentic," perhaps because it is obviously authentic in the simplest interpretation of the word.

Pushes my erotic buttons - This obviously applies to erotica. The prime example, Enslaving Eli, by billierosie, is no longer available anywhere. There aren't a lot.

Vivid characters - A primary reason for me to read mainstream fiction is to spend time with interesting people. I can tolerate thin plots if the people are engaging. As those of you who have gotten to know me in AH will understand, vivid characterization in erotica is a distraction as far as I'm concerned.

A compelling puzzle - What got me started on this post was that I was reading a story where the MC is a defense attorney and she has a bad history with her client that contributes to her thinking her client is guilty. How will the author get us out of this pickle, with his almost cardboard characters and uninspired conversation and description?

Good discursive writing - By this I mean spending time talking about stuff in little mini-essays. Often it's how a character views a situation. I haven't settled on a good description of this, but three authors illustrate it: Elizabeth George, P. D. James and Ruth Rendell. They all, to my mind, have vivid characters and captivating plots, and maybe I wouldn't like their discursiveness if they didn't. Bears more thinking.

Page turner - If done well, I do enjoy a book with frequent surprises and twists and turns that keep me up, looking for the next resolution. Too much action, usually, for other good things like character development.

A way with words - Some authors just have a way of putting things in writing that is delightful in and of itself. I was recently reading a book like this but can't remember what it was. Will edit this post if it comes to me. Suffice it to say that this can't be allowed to get in the way of the narrative.

 

[caleb35]

It probably doesn't speak well of me, but if we're being specific to stories on Literotica, then the fact is I'm willing to overlook a lot if the story turns me on. It also helps if the story includes the themes or tropes that I'm most interested in and excited by. If it does, I'm willing to overlook lesser qualities in the story, such as occasional grammar errors or drifting perspective. Please note though: it's a balancing act. A reader will put up with a few things if the pleasure they take from reading it outweigh the errors. If the writing quality is so bad, or the errors so egregious and numerous, that they prevent the reader from enjoying it, then no amount of good qualities will make up for the reader losing interest.

 

[NotWise]

For stories on Lit, pace is probably the biggest factor for me. The discursive writing @AG31 describes is probably a killer. If the important ideas aren't communicated in the events of the story then I'd probably click away from a flawed story as soon as the story line breaks so the characters can contemplate their situation.

 

[crookedletter]

Characters and writing quality would be the big two. If a book/story is a little slow, maybe a little light on plot, but it's well written and I'm engaged with the characters, I'll keep at it. If both those factors are high enough quality I'll read on indefinitely about people drinking tea or staring into space or whatever you want to have them doing.

For fantasy/sci fi, sufficiently intriguing and creative world building will keep me engaged, for a while at least. If the characters are drips and it goes on for too long you still might lose me eventually.

I am also an avid and unrepentant book quitter. Life's too short, and there are too many books I want to read, to keep slogging through a book that isn't doing it for me. The exceptions -- within reason -- are gifts and emphatic recommendations by people I like. I'll power through in those cases, to a point.

 

[Hipshot1554]

If I can easily visualize the scenes, I can overlook the flaws.

 

[StillStunned]

There are a lot of threads here about what can go wrong with a story. I've found myself lately diagnosing flaws in my current main stream fiction reading and then wondering why I'm enjoying the story anyway. I'm quite capable of putting a book down for good after 15 (sometimes 2) pages if the flaws are too much.

Here are some qualities that can make me overlook, or at least tolerate flaws. Might your list be different?

I'm pretty intolerant of bad writing/poor editing/indulgent writing/anything that doesn't appeal to me immediately. But:

Pushes my erotic buttons - This obviously applies to erotica.

Yup, I might read and reread a story that does it for me. But even then the writing has to be at least decent.

A compelling puzzle

I've stuck with books that had an intriguing concept or mystery despite their flaws. But if it turns out that the questions I want answered aren't what the story is about, then I won't hesitate to give up.

Overall, though, I read to enjoy the writing. If the style, or quality, or tone or whatever annoys me, then I won't enjoy it. As @crookedletter said, life's too short.

 

[AG31]

I am also an avid and unrepentant book quitter.

Yes, I take pleasure in observing how I've honed this skill over time. I've put book down after one page, contrary to what I said in the OP, of a minimum of 2 pages.

 

[YmaOHyd]

The only answer I can give is that it's like pornography: I know a book I'm going to quit when I see it. The one emotion no relationship can withstand is boredom, and that's also true of stories. If the book is boring, whether for style reasons or content, I'm not going to finish it.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I don't really look for flaws. If something I read online is delivering what I want, then there would need to be real bad for me to stop reading.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

A solid concept while carry me through another wise so so book. The 1632/Ring of Fire Series starts with an interesting premise, but the book itself is pretty uneven. The characters aren't well developed, they feel like cardboard cutouts. The author had only intended to write it as standalone.
I stuck with it because I enjoyed the concept, gave book 2 a chance for the same reason, and it got much better. The author realized he was in for the long haul and really started to develop the characters.

Ringworld is another example of that. The characters are uneven, but the concept is solid, so it works.

 

[Off_base]

If your steamy sex scene is finally reaching the point where the characters are going to climax and in the back of my mind I'm thinking you'd better wait for me, then I'm all in!

 

[alexgriffin74]

Believable dialog. The pacing or setting or circumstances may all suck but if it has believable dialog, as in "how people actually speak" that often saves it for me

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Believable dialog. The pacing or setting or circumstances may all suck but if it has believable dialog, as in "how people actually speak" that often saves it for me

And the reverse is also true, bad dialogue and I'm out.... If I keep thinking, "no one talks like that!" I'm done.

 

[kreemi_pi]

Wild, engaging sex scenes. Draw me in. Make me FEEL it.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

It's more about the delivery system than the writing itself to me. I don't mind slow burns, but I rather have them on paper instead of a screen that burns my eyes, or drags me away with notifications.

If a story is fast paced and really entertaining, I am going to devour it, erotica or not. It's what drew me into pulp fiction in the first place.

Also I'm going to echo something similar to @YmaOHyd about boring books: if you're going through really high on the story, and you keep scaling up, but then you suddenly stop and send the story into a boring hell, I am throwing the book away, and wherever it lands, I'll leave it there to be eaten by the worms and the mice, or destroyed by the elements. No joking; I did that once.