Adam Bolander's Blog - Posts Tagged "annoy"
Author Pet Peeves
As an author, I am also an avid reader. It kinda comes with the territory, you know? You should already know this because of the list of my favorite authors I provided a couple of weeks ago. Today’s blog deals with a similar topic, but not one that is quite as cheerful. There are a ton of things writers will do, be they amateurs, self-published, or successful big name authors, that just drive me up the freaking wall. Being the nice guy that I am, I’ve decided to share my misery with all of you fine folks on Goodreads. Please keep in mind that these are my opinions, and I’m not trying to offend anybody. That means if you get offended, it’s your own dadgum fault, got it? And without further ado, heeeeeere we go!
Bad Boy Romance: Let’s start off the list with something I bet a lot of us can identify with. The number of books out there starring some innocent young lady falling in love with the absolute biggest douche bag on planet earth are INNUMERABLE. Twilight is only the tip of the iceberg, ladies and gentlemen. This is a pet peeve that goes beyond my taste in books. Stories like these tell the teenage girls who read them that it’s perfectly okay for your boyfriend to be an abusive [bleepity bleep]. As long as he says he loves you afterwards and can make pretty googoo eyes, all is well, right? Wrong! You may be thinking that that’s way too farfetched. Women, even girls, are smart. While I won’t disagree with that, I have to point out that if they weren’t accepting this idea, they wouldn’t actually think these stories are so romantic. We wouldn’t have hordes of Edward vs Jacob cults, and the like. But enough about that. Let’s talk about…
Wrapping Up Too Quickly: I’ve found this to be a problem in several books I’ve read lately. Now, let’s be clear that just because this is my pet peeve, that doesn’t mean I didn’t still enjoy the book. A story being told in a series is what’s popular now, and it’s also profitable for the publishing companies. They’re able to leave the reader hanging, and then tease them with the next book until they’re prepared to sign over any children and/or future children in order to get it. There’s nothing wrong with this, per se (publishing in series, I mean- not selling your children), but some stories just weren’t made to have to be more than one book. This creates a jarring ending to the book, where the author is forced to wrap up an incomplete story in an unsatisfying way so that it can be continued in book 2. This also happens when the author begins to wonder if the story is getting too long. Take Brandon Sanderson’s book “Warbreaker” for instance. Like I said in my review, I loved the book. It’s what got me hooked on Sanderson in the first place. But it’s like the ending sneaked up on him without him realizing, and he had to wrap up EVERYTHING within a couple scant chapters. There were some legitimately awesome twists in there, but they didn’t get the attention they deserved because the author had to hurry through everything to keep it from getting longer. Was the book awesome? Yes. Would it have been even better if he’d taken his time to explore these new ideas and plot twists? Definitely.
“Because I’m the Author” Logic: Admittedly, this is something I see more often in new writers and self-published authors than in the big name publishers. It’s when something strange happens, ranging from improbable to outright ridiculous, and the only explanation you can find is that the one who wrote is said, “I’m the author, I can write the story however I want.” I once had a lengthy discussion with a friend who wanted to be an author about a story he showed me. In it, a superhuman and two normal humans went out into a blizzard on an alien world, a blizzard that they knew full well would kill anybody but a superhuman. I asked him why they had decided to go with him, since they didn’t offer any help or guidance- they just went with him and then got killed. After beating around the bush for a while about them being tired of being helpless and wanting to die doing something meaningful, he finally admitted that they didn’t really have a reason to do this. They walked straight into an icy grave for the sole purpose of creating unwarranted drama in the storyline, like the Red Shirts in Star Trek. Or, in other words, “because I’m the author, and it’s my story.” Drama and suspense can be great tools in a story- heck, some people would even say they’re ESSENTIAL. But there has to a reason the characters’ actions. Otherwise, you don’t have a cast of characters, you’ve got a swarm of lemmings fighting to see who gets to run over the cliff first.
Bad YA fiction: Oh, this is a big one. After years of reading Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, I began to take it for granted how hard it must be for an adult to write fiction for a generation they didn’t grow up in. Then I came across books like Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror. Even books like Maximum Ride, which I used to love, became nauseating when I tried to reread them years later. The deciding factor for a YA novel is whether or not it accurately depicts the life and mindset of a modern day teenager. The sign of a good book is that you’ll never once stop to wonder how old the author is because you’re too busy enjoying the story. The bad ones, however, are filled with slang teens don’t actually use (and too much of it, at that), and teens doing things the author THINKS teens do, but they really don’t. These characters are cardboard cutouts of how the author views a generation they’re not a part of, and at best they’re annoying. At worst, they’re insulting, and even embarrassing. I’ve developed a lot of respect for those adult authors who write good young adult books, because they’re the ones who can actually get into the mindset they weren’t born and raised to have.
Self-Insertion: Here it is, dear readers. The one thing that bothers me more than anything else in the literary realm. When the author decides that they, themselves, need to be the star of their own story. Or if not the star, then one of the major supporting characters. Why is this such a bad thing? Well, for one, it’s nothing but a major ego trip for the author. They couldn’t make up imaginary people to do all these cool things, they had to do it themselves! The real problem is that by putting themselves in the lead role, the author comes to think they no longer need a fleshed out cast. That one character is good for everything. It’s natural, right? Just like when you’re playing pretend, you want to be the one doing all the cool things, saying all the cool lines, etc. Same with writing stories. Your backup characters, if you even have any, will practically be talking wallpaper, only there to tell you how awesome you are and to feel sorry for you when something bad happens. Action hero? That’s you. Comic relief? That’s you too. Strategic mastermind? That’s probably you. Inhumanly beautiful and romantic? Oh heck yeah, that’s DEFINITELY you. Do you see what I mean? Once you throw yourself into the story, the story is all about you. Trust me, nobody’s going to be impressed by the way a character you based on yourself did all this crazy awesome stuff. They just won’t… please don’t do this.
And there you have it, everybody! Those are the five things I can’t stand when reading books- you’re welcome. But seriously, what are your pet peeves? Let me know in the comments! In the meantime, I’ll catch you later!
Adam out!
Bad Boy Romance: Let’s start off the list with something I bet a lot of us can identify with. The number of books out there starring some innocent young lady falling in love with the absolute biggest douche bag on planet earth are INNUMERABLE. Twilight is only the tip of the iceberg, ladies and gentlemen. This is a pet peeve that goes beyond my taste in books. Stories like these tell the teenage girls who read them that it’s perfectly okay for your boyfriend to be an abusive [bleepity bleep]. As long as he says he loves you afterwards and can make pretty googoo eyes, all is well, right? Wrong! You may be thinking that that’s way too farfetched. Women, even girls, are smart. While I won’t disagree with that, I have to point out that if they weren’t accepting this idea, they wouldn’t actually think these stories are so romantic. We wouldn’t have hordes of Edward vs Jacob cults, and the like. But enough about that. Let’s talk about…
Wrapping Up Too Quickly: I’ve found this to be a problem in several books I’ve read lately. Now, let’s be clear that just because this is my pet peeve, that doesn’t mean I didn’t still enjoy the book. A story being told in a series is what’s popular now, and it’s also profitable for the publishing companies. They’re able to leave the reader hanging, and then tease them with the next book until they’re prepared to sign over any children and/or future children in order to get it. There’s nothing wrong with this, per se (publishing in series, I mean- not selling your children), but some stories just weren’t made to have to be more than one book. This creates a jarring ending to the book, where the author is forced to wrap up an incomplete story in an unsatisfying way so that it can be continued in book 2. This also happens when the author begins to wonder if the story is getting too long. Take Brandon Sanderson’s book “Warbreaker” for instance. Like I said in my review, I loved the book. It’s what got me hooked on Sanderson in the first place. But it’s like the ending sneaked up on him without him realizing, and he had to wrap up EVERYTHING within a couple scant chapters. There were some legitimately awesome twists in there, but they didn’t get the attention they deserved because the author had to hurry through everything to keep it from getting longer. Was the book awesome? Yes. Would it have been even better if he’d taken his time to explore these new ideas and plot twists? Definitely.
“Because I’m the Author” Logic: Admittedly, this is something I see more often in new writers and self-published authors than in the big name publishers. It’s when something strange happens, ranging from improbable to outright ridiculous, and the only explanation you can find is that the one who wrote is said, “I’m the author, I can write the story however I want.” I once had a lengthy discussion with a friend who wanted to be an author about a story he showed me. In it, a superhuman and two normal humans went out into a blizzard on an alien world, a blizzard that they knew full well would kill anybody but a superhuman. I asked him why they had decided to go with him, since they didn’t offer any help or guidance- they just went with him and then got killed. After beating around the bush for a while about them being tired of being helpless and wanting to die doing something meaningful, he finally admitted that they didn’t really have a reason to do this. They walked straight into an icy grave for the sole purpose of creating unwarranted drama in the storyline, like the Red Shirts in Star Trek. Or, in other words, “because I’m the author, and it’s my story.” Drama and suspense can be great tools in a story- heck, some people would even say they’re ESSENTIAL. But there has to a reason the characters’ actions. Otherwise, you don’t have a cast of characters, you’ve got a swarm of lemmings fighting to see who gets to run over the cliff first.
Bad YA fiction: Oh, this is a big one. After years of reading Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, I began to take it for granted how hard it must be for an adult to write fiction for a generation they didn’t grow up in. Then I came across books like Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror. Even books like Maximum Ride, which I used to love, became nauseating when I tried to reread them years later. The deciding factor for a YA novel is whether or not it accurately depicts the life and mindset of a modern day teenager. The sign of a good book is that you’ll never once stop to wonder how old the author is because you’re too busy enjoying the story. The bad ones, however, are filled with slang teens don’t actually use (and too much of it, at that), and teens doing things the author THINKS teens do, but they really don’t. These characters are cardboard cutouts of how the author views a generation they’re not a part of, and at best they’re annoying. At worst, they’re insulting, and even embarrassing. I’ve developed a lot of respect for those adult authors who write good young adult books, because they’re the ones who can actually get into the mindset they weren’t born and raised to have.
Self-Insertion: Here it is, dear readers. The one thing that bothers me more than anything else in the literary realm. When the author decides that they, themselves, need to be the star of their own story. Or if not the star, then one of the major supporting characters. Why is this such a bad thing? Well, for one, it’s nothing but a major ego trip for the author. They couldn’t make up imaginary people to do all these cool things, they had to do it themselves! The real problem is that by putting themselves in the lead role, the author comes to think they no longer need a fleshed out cast. That one character is good for everything. It’s natural, right? Just like when you’re playing pretend, you want to be the one doing all the cool things, saying all the cool lines, etc. Same with writing stories. Your backup characters, if you even have any, will practically be talking wallpaper, only there to tell you how awesome you are and to feel sorry for you when something bad happens. Action hero? That’s you. Comic relief? That’s you too. Strategic mastermind? That’s probably you. Inhumanly beautiful and romantic? Oh heck yeah, that’s DEFINITELY you. Do you see what I mean? Once you throw yourself into the story, the story is all about you. Trust me, nobody’s going to be impressed by the way a character you based on yourself did all this crazy awesome stuff. They just won’t… please don’t do this.
And there you have it, everybody! Those are the five things I can’t stand when reading books- you’re welcome. But seriously, what are your pet peeves? Let me know in the comments! In the meantime, I’ll catch you later!
Adam out!
