What Makes You Stop?

[Guest]

My search for information and my curiousity about what makes other writers tick brings up questions all the time.

Situation -- you are going through the story lists and picking something to read, just on a whim. You open a file and start reading...and you slam up against something that makes you stop reading.

What is it that stops you? What can a writer do to make you just close the file and look elsewhere? Will you skip a story because of its title or description? Are there words, phrases, or typical sorts of writing that will make you shrug and move on? Do you boggle on typos, wince at poor grammar, or throw up your hands at cliches and repetitive phrases?

Or are you the hardy soul that will persevere through to the end, reading every word no matter how much it hurts? Is it ever worth it? Are you ever pleasantly surprised, or does a story's end usually match up with its beginning?

 

[Colleen Thomas]

My search for information and my curiousity about what makes other writers tick brings up questions all the time.

Situation -- you are going through the story lists and picking something to read, just on a whim. You open a file and start reading...and you slam up against something that makes you stop reading.

What is it that stops you? What can a writer do to make you just close the file and look elsewhere? Will you skip a story because of its title or description? Are there words, phrases, or typical sorts of writing that will make you shrug and move on? Do you boggle on typos, wince at poor grammar, or throw up your hands at cliches and repetitive phrases?

Or are you the hardy soul that will persevere through to the end, reading every word no matter how much it hurts? Is it ever worth it? Are you ever pleasantly surprised, or does a story's end usually match up with its beginning?

Instant Backclickers for me:

1. 2nd person.
2. An abundance of simple sentences.
3. Anyone who uses pop culture references in metaphor and simile. Simply beacuse I have no idea what they are talking about for comparrison.

 

[Belegon]

measurements and laundry lists mostly...

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Will you skip a story because of its title or description? Are there words, phrases, or typical sorts of writing that will make you shrug and move on? Do you boggle on typos, wince at poor grammar, or throw up your hands at cliches and repetitive phrases?

Yes. Arrogant as I may be, I want to read fiction; meaning something with some sort of quality to it. I'm willing to read some stories that sound like creative writing class assignments, so long as they're written by a student who's actually trying to write well, and not just stuffing words down on the page for a grade.

What is it that stops you? What can a writer do to make you just close the file and look elsewhere?

Truth be told, nothing stops me at all. It's not that something stops me from reading, but I don't just trudge forward through the murky swamp when I've no reason to believe there's something waiting on the other side of the thick fog hanging above the water. When I read, I rely on the writer to convince me to continue forward most times. Catch my eye, make me wonder why such-and-such is the case, or who so-and-so might be, etc. Open with some interesting occurrence, or create a question that I wish to acquire the answer to, and if it's written even remotely well, no typos and with the grammar close enough to good that it doesn't look like a foreigner still learning English put the sentences on paper, then I'll keep reading.

Or are you the hardy soul that will persevere through to the end, reading every word no matter how much it hurts? Is it ever worth it? Are you ever pleasantly surprised, or does a story's end usually match up with its beginning?

Again, I'm not pacing through the swamps for nothing. Here on Lit, most times I will just hit the "back" button and move on to a different story. Many times, I've given up the search after doing so 10 or so times, hoping to find something written by someone who wants to write (and not for Penthouse Letters... Yeah, yeah, you never thought it would happen to you ).

Q_C

 

[rgraham666]

The most simple description for me is the story lacks emotion.

I don't go near some categories because I simply don't share the interest, Gay Male or Incest for example.

Otherwise, the story is dull. The characters don't catch my interest, the plot is either too simple or too complicated and most often the writing itself is bad. Poorly delineated characters, I can't catch any sense of the setting, the emotions are lacking. Any of these and back I go.

 

[Andreina]

lack of passion and romance

 

[CharleyH]

My search for information and my curiousity about what makes other writers tick brings up questions all the time.

Situation -- you are going through the story lists and picking something to read, just on a whim. You open a file and start reading...and you slam up against something that makes you stop reading.

What is it that stops you?

I really don't read but a handful of authors on Lit for the simple reason that there is so much bad writing on Lit. Spelling mistakes in the first paragraph turn me off because it indicates that the author does not care to spell check, so why would he or she care about their narrative or the sex, and therefore why should I? This is one example, but I liken it to going to a restaurant. Do you want to eat in a bistro or cafe' with clean windows or dirty ones?

 

[Stella_Omega]

Poor grammer, mixed-up tenses, really bad spelling.
No style- or purple prose.
Didactic, preaching, or explaning- one can use fiction to propogandise or teach, but it had better be readable first. There are terrific novels that are textbooks for one thing or another, but the first concern of fiction has to be the story.
Another thing that will make me lose interest is when the author shows a lack of respect for his characters. If he doesn't understand them, or care about them, why should I try to?

 

[English Lady]

Lack of passion, lack of a spark that just catches my interest in the first paragraph or so and one of my biggest pet hates:

"She was 5"11 with perfect 36DD breasts." and "I took my massive 18 inch cock in my hand (I can barely touch my fingers around it, it's that wide..."

And sentances of that ilk. I don't like stats at all, and no matter how good a story has been, if I see them, I cant' read on any further.

I'm picky, aren't I?

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Instant Backclickers for me:

1. 2nd person.

*stands and applaudes*

Where do people get the idea that this is somehow effective writing?

Q_C

 

[zeb1094]

Shoping lists
to do lists

 

[Colleen Thomas]

*stands and applaudes*

Where do people get the idea that this is somehow effective writing?

Q_C

i think alot of begining authors think it's more personal. That it draws a reaer in more.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

If I'm reading for pleasure and start noticing the writing instead of the story, a backclick usually follows. Other aspects are important, such as second person (I hate second person), but if the writing is atrocious, the opening better be strong as lye soap for me to go beyond two or three paragraphs.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[zeb1094]

If I'm reading for pleasure and start noticing the writing instead of the story, a backclick usually follows. Other aspects are important, such as second person (I hate second person), but if the writing is atrocious, the opening better be strong as lye soap for me to go beyond two or three paragraphs.

Rumple Foreskin

So I guess my stories are out of the question then, huh?

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Well, let me see.....themes of hatred against men or contempt toward men are a big "No-No" to me.

2nd Person is usually bad news (except in a Letter).

Extremely long paragraphs (I can take spelling and grammar errors more than I can take long paragraphs that are daunting to read).

Lack of dialogue.

If all of the men in the story are wimps or pansies, I will probably not read further.

Cock and ball torture makes me flinch and backclick too.

Advocating a double standard against either sex is a no-no, too.

Just a few examples.

Oh, and in Incest, the whole "Mom catches son jacking off" or "Mom and son turn Dad into a cuckold" theme is not my style.

And I generally don't read cuckold stories at all. (An exception being one written by
Hallowed Eve where the hubby is impotent, so the sex denial wasn't an issue.)

I can handle cheating stories, up to a point. Cruelty toward the hubby or wife, or denial of sex are themes that annoy me and cause me to backclick. I generally don't like it when the husband is deceived (or forced) into raising another man's child, either. If he unselfishly chooses to, that's good.

Humiliation of men is usually a no-no.

And Celeb stories involving Celebs that I don't like anyway won't stand much of a chance. (E.g., if anyone were to write a Diane Keaton Celeb story, since I can't stand Diane Keaton.)

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

So I guess my stories are out of the question then, huh?

Nah. certain really gifted authors get cut a little slack. So far Tolstoy, Tollop, and you are exceptions.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I usually give a story 4-5 paragraphs to engage me, no matter what. Even if the mechanics are atrocious, there might be something really interesting in there.

On the other hand, I get very antsy when I start seeing cliches. "to die for" will almost always make me run, or "the most gorgeous {whatever} I'd ever seen." Don't even mention "Wake up, sleepyhead!"

Just from looking at a story, I have some instant backclick triggers:

Multiple exclamation points will do it. I start shouting to myself as I'm reading and I dont like that.

Same for too many ellipses or dashes.

Monolithic blocks of text with no white space. I just can't read that stuff.

Lack of commas. That's a bad sign.

 

[CharleyH]

*stands and applaudes*

Where do people get the idea that this is somehow effective writing?

Q_C

Because it is when done well?

Letters from Pohjola by Lauren Hynde. Albeit not pure. Black Shanglan also wrote a letter ... Camlann ... - and I think letters are 2nd person for the most part. It's a trick to write to a lover and make it appealing to everyone, to be sure, yet it is effectively sexy and erotic when done well like these two examples.

 

[Norajane]

Boredom with characters, plot, or erotic theme is what usually has me back-clicking.

Stories written by authors who don't know much about sex, bodies, relationships or people are not stories that will draw me in.

Stories written by wannabe studs turn me off.

Stories where she takes one look at his unimaginably amazing dick and immediately wants it NOW are too improbable for me to read.

Group sex turns me off a lot of time when it's repetitive.

And then he did this and she did that and he touched there and she licked there - those kinds of stories are also boring. There's no story telling in it, and the scene doesn't come alive.

 

[Guest]

Because it is when done well?

Letters from Pohjola by Lauren Hynde. Albeit not pure. Black Shanglan also wrote a letter ... Camlann ... - and I think letters are 2nd person for the most part. It's a trick to write to a lover and make it appealing to everyone, to be sure, yet it is effectively sexy and erotic when done well like these two examples.

I suspect that's the point -- epistolary writing is a difficult form and it takes a great deal of skill to pull it off. Like any difficult form of writing, it requires more from the author than the more basic 3rd person narrative.

There are some VERY good examples of such writing, but there are not MANY.

 

[oggbashan]

Most 2nd person stories. There are a few that work but most don't.

Any measurements - 36DDs

Some categories I find difficult - Interracial means nothing to me. Loving Wives is such a mixture that it is difficult to find readable stories. Incest, although I have written a couple, doesn't excite me. I'm not a fan of BDSM although there are many good stories in that category.

I prefer stories with plots to sexual scenes but some scenes have worked.

The quality of the writing is important. I don't mind a variety of styles but mistakes in verb agreement annoys I. My bugbear is continually misplaced apostrophes e.g. a bunch of banana's; womens'; its for it is and it's for belonging to it.

I don't give up easily. I will read at least one Lit page of most stories before back-clicking. I need a good reason to go beyond that page.

Og

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Because it is when done well?

Letters from Pohjola by Lauren Hynde. Albeit not pure. Black Shanglan also wrote a letter ... Camlann ... - and I think letters are 2nd person for the most part. It's a trick to write to a lover and make it appealing to everyone, to be sure, yet it is effectively sexy and erotic when done well like these two examples.

That's funny. I tend to write letters in the first person, merely siting a second person in the process. And letter-form has a different appeal than prose written involving a second-person character. If someone writes a story in basic first or second person, the "you" is a reference to the reader. But a letter is addressed to a specific person, a character unseen in the writing, but characterized as an individual separate from the reader by the references made by the author. In short, letter-form involves us reading a person's words to another, not their words to us.

Q_C

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Boredom with characters, plot, or erotic theme is what usually has me back-clicking.

Stories written by authors who don't know much about sex, bodies, relationships or people are not stories that will draw me in.

Stories written by wannabe studs turn me off.

Stories where she takes one look at his unimaginably amazing dick and immediately wants it NOW are too improbable for me to read.

Group sex turns me off a lot of time when it's repetitive.

And then he did this and she did that and he touched there and she licked there - those kinds of stories are also boring. There's no story telling in it, and the scene doesn't come alive.

2 questions: what if the woman in question doesn't do anything about the guy at first, but it comes back to her mind and lingers for a while, until she finally decides to do something about it- after a failed marriage has ended? And how do you decide who is a wannabe stud?

Just curious. I had a story where a girl keeps that image of the cock in her mind for years. And another where she wants to do it with the guy, but not necessarily on the spot. Of course, both of these women were more on the sub side than the Dom, and were more libidinous than the average girl. Not exactly nymphos, but not prudish or sentimental by nature.

 

[Guest]

I suppose I should add in that "I just don't like it" is a valid reason not to read a story. It might not be something you bother to analyze (the narrator's voice, word choice, sentence style, etc.) but you know it all the same.

A book I read recently called "The Little Guide To Your Well-Read Life" states that we should give ourselves permission not to read what doesn't appeal to us quickly, because there is so much GOOD writing (good being subjective) that we waste time reading what doesn't appeal to us just because we started it -- that readers should not feel forced to belong to the "clean plate" club.

 

[zeb1094]

Nah. certain really gifted authors get cut a little slack. So far Tolstoy, Tollop, and you are exceptions.

Rumple Foreskin

Gee, I'm embarrassed to place in such company! I mean they wrote in a foreign language and everything, poor little ole me just writes in English!

Thanks Rumpy!