Booktok 📚 discussion

For example in their writing, what do you wish authors would do less of? Maybe it’s a word they use or some kind of punctuation? Personally, I don’t love epilogues

I wish the author wouldn't publish epilogues or prologues, as they shift the way I think about the book over from being able to use my imagination to think up what happened before or after a certain book event. I would personally not highly review a book if it had an epilogue outside of a series, as it feels unnecessary and frustrating to people like me, who like to interpret books with my own thoughts, rather than being told what to think of an ending, or to people that avoid epilogues due to this issue.

I wish authors didn't directly describe a character out to you, other than physical description, as it feels the same as the last statement, unnecessary indeed. I love to figure out their type of personality as the book/series goes on, how they react to certain situations, how they deal with complications etc, ;Although thankfully I don't see this as often as epilogues.

I wish authors wouldn't make so much sm ut. Another thing is calling a book enemies to lovers when they get at most disgruntled with each other.

I wish authors would stop using unnecessary prologues or epilogues. Also all the "denying your feelings" or ignorance of how the mcs feel in romances needs to stop. It's rarely done right, and when it doesn't, it gets to a point🙃

I also wish authors would stop writing smut and making it seem like it’s a cute ya love story when they’re doing the deed every time they see each other. It’s disgusting and erases the whole aspect of what love really is. It’s just an excuse to write porn.

Third-act breakups. I hate this trope and it's SO overused!!!

I wish authors would stop writing unnecessary smut and have it take up more space than the actual story.

Smut is cool but I usually just skip through all of it and back to the actual plot..
I wish that not all annoying FMC were annoying, immature girls. For the characters who have gone through so much you think some would have a more realistic look on life.

The brattiness in adult books makes me think I’m reading some fan fiction as a 16 year old with all this crazy smut. lol. I’m 34 like no please. I can only handle so much toxicity lol I’ve had enough of that in my ripe old life lol

Sometimes authors really should go back to the drawing board. There is so much less “showing” and just “telling, if you know what I mean. Readers aren’t dumb, we can actually interpret meaning and symbolism!

Also especially when it comes to any sort of romance I’d wish there were something other than “oh he was mean once and now I don’t like them”. Can’t the first meeting be anything other than negative?!

I don't know who started it, but it needs to die! In romance/smut books, I've seen a lot of writers write, "Thank fuck" -- where did this come from and how do we make it stop??

Tay wrote: "I wish authors wouldn't make so much sm ut. Another thing is calling a book enemies to lovers when they get at most disgruntled with each other."

I completely agree on the enemies to lovers one! It needs to have real hatred that evolves or improves over time (I hesitate to say "realistically" since I think true hatred becoming love is a rather rare feat...)

I wish authors would stop making the characters so young - especially the FMC's. It's like characters turn 22 and they no longer exist in almost any environment; fiction, romance, horror, etc.... MMC's can be any age, but FMC's must be young, it's infuriating.

I wish authors would stop making FMCs so small
like people are trying to have varied body types but never seen to do a tall FMC and they are always small and weak
why can't a tall person be weak?
as a girl who is over 6ft it really annoys me that I feel like I have never read a book (mainly fantasy when I say that) that has a tall FMC and it really impacts how easy it is so connect with the character (obviously we should not purely relate to a character because of their appearance but it helps) and it just makes me even more insecure of my height

I wish authors at least attempted to insert proper language in fantasy books, ok yes it’s fiction but imagine a 1000-year-old male character riding a warhorse in armor, holding a sword and saying “…the fuck?” Or “fuckboy”

I feel like I can relate to everybody's comments.

Kristina wrote: "I wish authors at least attempted to insert proper language in fantasy books, ok yes it’s fiction but imagine a 1000-year-old male character riding a warhorse in armor, holding a sword and saying “..."

That's one of my pet peeves too! I get making the mistake, but editing it to make sure there's no language slip-ups feels like a pretty important step.

It's cliffhangers for me. I just can't stand them when the next book isn't out yet. They can ruin my love of a good book a little bit

It’s the third act break up for me. Please release us from this bs. There are better ways to move the plot/cause conflict.

on and off (except kazi and jace)

Third act break up.

Dialogue

I don't like any curse words in a book, but I guess that's my personal preference. I can handle a couple, but it's a turn-off for me when I find them all through. I don't really like them in tv shows or movies either.

CALLING THE FMC SMALL AND FRAGILE

Stop making the fmc so young. like why can't she be above 28 or something? 🤦🏻‍♀️

Matar a los personajes secundarios carismáticos. Se los agradecería enormemente.

I wish authors didn’t include smut in so many of their books. Another thing that bugs me is how authors have started to just info dump on their readers instead of allowing their story to convey messages and information on their own.

I agree with so many of these. Espcially the enemies to lovers one. I feel like most books are like, annoyance to lovers. I want actual hatred that doesn't only last for a few chapters.
And the one where every FMC is small. I am also tall, so I want to see like, a 5'7" FMC at least. Honestly, a taller FMC sounds so much more badass than one thats like 5'

i hate when authors portrait lust as love. Give me true love that i can feel right in my bones. I am tired of MMc or FMC like that. It comes with enemies to lovers when they are lusting but enemies it’s so boring and irritating. If you truly hate each other i believe in my opini hate everything about each other, get to know each other and then fuck for all i care😭. I just hope authors stop with using enemies to lovers in another narrative.

A lot of authors definitely have the tendency to tell and not show. I find this in a lot of contemporary romances- like the main character and love interest will fight 90% of the time, and then one of them will say "I've loved you since the moment I saw you." Like no you didn't. Insant chemistry with no previous groundwork annoys me so much.

sometimes I feel like the authors just try to have almost every trope, I love a lot of tropes but sometimes they don't even fit or align with the plot. I hope authors can at least use tropes that are somewhat fitting

I wish more fantasy authors would make the FMC plus size and normal. In my head, all the characters look the same. Slim, tiny waist, brown or blonde hair, small nose, and full lips..

Also, the words they use in the smut scenes. Member, bundle of nerves, etc. It makes my face scrunch and the whole scene is ruined

I wish more authors would write good male protagonists—not perfect, just complex and worth following. I read an essay arguing that fewer men read fiction because modern stories have sidelined the classic male lead in favor of brooding, hyper-interior characters. We get plenty of alienated guys like in The Agonies, but few who actually grow or model any real virtue. I miss the Atticus Finch and Aragorn types—flawed men who struggle, learn, and lead.

1st person writing... I can't with it. It is just a personal preference but I don't like to read in 1st person, I rather have the story told to me. I feel like I enjoy it more that way.
Also, some of the "hot scenes" sometimes they add nothing to the story, I enjoy them when properly done and in accordance with the story.
They should also stop dividing the story in parts (part I part II). Some time is not necessary when the story continues as it is.

wish more authors would use narrator POV- especially unreliable ones. Seems like everyone writes character POV.

This is such a helpful thread for an author - let's hope all authors read it.

Thanks - from an author (no smut in my books, by the way) but got a prologue or two (short!) Sorry. I'm not fond of them either.

Writing in first person
Making FMC's fall into every negative stereotype about women (dramatic, baby/marriage crazy, overly emotional, feelings of less than, and/or irrational) unless there is going to be a character arc where they grow out of it. But to be strong, powerful and independent then go the other way is an automatic dnf for me.

unessesary smut/swearing and this is random but yk when a character dies during a battle scene or sm and MC won't leave them and stays with them for a good minute, sobbing before running away or attacking. I also hate insta love, like they just met and they're already kissing. and unpopular opinion: dual povs. They're confusing most of the time and i just prefer one pov

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I wish authors would stop trying to be poets. Stop all the unnecessary soliloquies and words. Especially when writing FMCs with traumatic pasts.

I wish authors would stop using so much detail when describing a room. Especially when it serves no point to the story. It just makes me lose interest in the story.

I wish authors would stop writing miscommunication tropes, they drive me bonkers.😵‍💫

i wish authors would stop writing accidental pregnancy and second chance tropes like they pmo

I wish authors would stop harming our eyeballs with weird font/formatting. Stick to the regular settings - we know you're creative.

white pages for books, these hurt my eyes so much, tiny font like can we use normal font sizes, and stop buying into this smut era. I don't mind spice in books but can we have more story telling books. I recently went back and reread some of my other favorites just to remind myself why I enjoy reading. Books Like The Darkest Power Trilogy by Kelley Armstrong, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, Beast of Extraordinary Circumstances by Ruth Emmie Lang all great fun reads.

@reece omg miscommunication T-T