- I think someone already mentioned weepy male characters, but the same goes for female characters as well. Cho cries all the time in fifth year, and it's darn annoying, which is okay because it is meant to be. Don't do it to a character we are supposed to like though. Any of the characters can cry with a good enough reason, but there are too many authors who have them cry at the drop of a hat or even give them a good reason but overdo it.
- Fainting at the drop of a hat is another of my pet peeves. People don't faint every time they are a little startled.
- Excessive use of names in dialogue. In normal conversation, people tend to use the name of the person they are talking to sparingly when it is needed either for special emphasis or to make it clear who they are talking to when multiple people are present. Some authors will have two characters alone in a room and yet they will refer to each other by name in each line of dialogue.
"I don't think so, Harry."
"Why not, Draco?"
"Well, Harry, that just isn't the way it is done."
"But Draco, it could be."
"Forget it, Harry. It's just not going to work."
Grrr. It's even worse when a nickname is used instead of an actual name, except in the few instances where an author does it deliberately for comedic value and manages to pull it off.
- Writing accents or speech peculiarities. It can be okay when done well with a minor character who doesn't have much dialogue. It should never be done with a main character who talks all the time. I came across a terrible story with an OC who drops his Hs a while ago. The OC was a main character who had a ton of dialogue, and it all went like this: "'ello, 'arry. 'ow are you today? Need some 'elp with that? Come 'ere and I'll lend a 'and." How the hell is anyone supposed to read that? I think the character had a few other speech oditties depicted in the text which made it even worse, but the dropped Hs are the ones that I remember most.
- Horrible abuse and rape being used as a plot device. Harry's life was bad enough as it was. There's no need to have Vernon beating the crap out of him and raping him just to make him appear that much more wretched. And one character finding out that another hated character was raped is not going to immediately turn a practically lifelong enmity into a passionate romance.
- Characters who hate each other having a horrible fight which suddenly turns to mad sex without any warning and the next thing you know, they're in love.
- Instant reform as a result of a relationship. Draco and Harry kiss, and suddenly Draco is the champion of muggleborn rights and helps old ladies to cross the street.
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Date: 2005-04-05 12:10 am (UTC)- I think someone already mentioned weepy male characters, but the same goes for female characters as well. Cho cries all the time in fifth year, and it's darn annoying, which is okay because it is meant to be. Don't do it to a character we are supposed to like though. Any of the characters can cry with a good enough reason, but there are too many authors who have them cry at the drop of a hat or even give them a good reason but overdo it.
- Fainting at the drop of a hat is another of my pet peeves. People don't faint every time they are a little startled.
- Excessive use of names in dialogue. In normal conversation, people tend to use the name of the person they are talking to sparingly when it is needed either for special emphasis or to make it clear who they are talking to when multiple people are present. Some authors will have two characters alone in a room and yet they will refer to each other by name in each line of dialogue.
"I don't think so, Harry."
"Why not, Draco?"
"Well, Harry, that just isn't the way it is done."
"But Draco, it could be."
"Forget it, Harry. It's just not going to work."
Grrr. It's even worse when a nickname is used instead of an actual name, except in the few instances where an author does it deliberately for comedic value and manages to pull it off.
- Writing accents or speech peculiarities. It can be okay when done well with a minor character who doesn't have much dialogue. It should never be done with a main character who talks all the time. I came across a terrible story with an OC who drops his Hs a while ago. The OC was a main character who had a ton of dialogue, and it all went like this: "'ello, 'arry. 'ow are you today? Need some 'elp with that? Come 'ere and I'll lend a 'and." How the hell is anyone supposed to read that? I think the character had a few other speech oditties depicted in the text which made it even worse, but the dropped Hs are the ones that I remember most.
- Horrible abuse and rape being used as a plot device. Harry's life was bad enough as it was. There's no need to have Vernon beating the crap out of him and raping him just to make him appear that much more wretched. And one character finding out that another hated character was raped is not going to immediately turn a practically lifelong enmity into a passionate romance.
- Characters who hate each other having a horrible fight which suddenly turns to mad sex without any warning and the next thing you know, they're in love.
- Instant reform as a result of a relationship. Draco and Harry kiss, and suddenly Draco is the champion of muggleborn rights and helps old ladies to cross the street.