When an author of a multi-POV story has a scene/chapter change and then doesn’t immediately reveal whose POV we’re in. Even a couple of sentences lacking any indication bugs me, let alone a paragraph or more. A few seem to be withholding that information for effect. Well, I’m affected. 🤨 Fun one!
This is solid here. If you’re switching POVs, I need to have the name of the POV character in fancy writing above the change and preferably a picture if possible ;)
Vaughn, I really appreciate when the book doesn't have chapter titles, so they make the POV character's name go where the title would be. Then I can start it in their voice. And talk about making things tough for the adaptation to audiobook...the secret will be ruined by the narrator anyway. ;)
Disagree if it's done well. I like to actively guess who it might be based on context clues from the first sentence or even the first few words. If the author is good at distinguishing characters, it's doable. Also, it's good when it's a new character. It's like meeting a stranger; you form your impression of them based on the first few details given.
@@raswartz For me, it's less if it's well done and more if there is actually a super valid point or purpose to keeping the POV ambiguous. (Meeting a new character counts though!) Otherwise, [I think ]you better signal tha feckk outta that POV change, plz! _Lol_ 🤣🤣
I actually really like "blinked" because it's such a clear visual in my head. I read it as the "show don't tell" of "took a second to process", and it works for me so it's interesting to hear it doesn't for you. Books at different sizes is super annoying, I bought the stormlight box set and my grandma bought me the hardcover of book 4 which is more than double the size.
Yeah the difference sizes is so annoying especially when there is NO other option - like the greenbone saga's third book is randomly slightly smaller than the others? WHY?
I actually like the blinking one. I always take it to mean a quick pause where the character is taking in what you just said, or to mean they stare an extra second at you because they're like "what??" or "okaaaayyyyy" I think "She blinked" is a great way to convey that. At least it works for me. 😄 I saw this in a comment already, but definitely when you don't know who's perspective you're in within the first 2-3 sentences. I read with the characters personality affecting how I read so that super annoying. I think Robert Jordan did this really well!
Reading something and thinking it's from someone else's perspective is like when you go to drink orange juice and then you take a swig and realize you picked up a glass of Pepsi instead. It's like shocking and somehow tastes awful even if you love Pepsi
One thing that’s in so many fantasy books that bothers me is when a character effortlessly rips some of their shirt/robe etc. off in strips to make bandages. Cloth is very hard to rip with hands! You’ll probably stretch the fabric and could rip it at another place.
I guess if they have a sword or dagger or something at hand, we can assume they used it to get it started, then tore it? We don't really need bandage minutiae if the scene is about something else. It does bother me when this happens in movies and shows however, then we're clearly seeing something that is wrong.
That depends _ENTIRELY_ on exactly *what **_type_* of fabric you're talking about. (Also, where exactly you start ripping it. And what someone's physical strength level is or isn't, exactly.) Buut... Still, valid. Lol 🤭 😆
My favorite part of your videos: Your willingness to put your opinion out there. Too many people are guarded about this stuff for fear someone may disagree.
I feel like this one is pretty safe since it's actually petty and if anyone was super mad that I didn't like blinking, I think they are the problem more than myself 😂
@@Fortylat I never suggested that you were talking about social awkwardness? I was just saying, to me there's a difference between being afraid that people will disagree and being afraid that people will actually retaliate or harass. One thing has to do with worrying about opinions or worrying that opinions won't align[ and typically because humans tend to feel as if others agreeing somehow validates a person or opinion &/or invalidates certain other opinions/persons OR it's because of worrying about being "weird" or "unusual" and just wanting to fit in with everyone instead of making waves or drawing attention], while the other thing doesn't so much care if opinions differ or not as it just doesn't want to be not treated rightly. Worrying about differences in opinion is stupid-people are entitled to their own opinions, and other people agreeing or disagreeing with it has very little if even anything to do with actually rubber-stamp validating that opinion or that person. But worrying about being treated poorly, however, is perfectly legit-no one should have to deal with being insulted or otherwise harassed, and not everyone has to believe that every little opinion they might have about everything is worth that. (Especially since it is entirely possible for people to disagree without either person treating the other person terribly because of it.) But that's just my way of thinking of it. And I'm not here to tell you if you agree that there is a distinction or not. I'm just pointing out that, in my opinion, there is a slight distinction; and, to me, that distinction kind of matters-because, although I personally believe that people shouldn't be seeking the opinions of others simply to boost their own ego and self-righteousness or simply to reinforce their own viewpoints and indignation towards others' nor be more concerned with not ruffling or contrasting the opinions or perceptions of others' than with just being honest about their own views, I also believe that people do have a right to want to protect themselves from mistreatment[ even if they don't actually care about the opinions or perceptions that other people have about them or theirs at all]. So, I personally think being afraid of being treated badly can be looked a lot more favorably toward than just not being able to handle others disagreeing can be. But, again, that's just me. 🙂 Lol
@@jaginaiaelectrizs6341 tl:dr… my point was *I* never said what the fear was, as ANY fear was the point. Regardless of WHAT the fear was. You going on and on about specific fears are a waste of time. I said “fear someone may disagree,” I never said specifically HOW they will disagree… why are you so obsessed with the specific fear? ANY fear involved. It could be the fear an old wizard will read it and turn you into a newt… idc what the fear is.
I loved watching this video and now I need a part 2 please! 😂 I've never been bothered by the word smirk (it didn't jump out from the pages from me), but I've read up to 18 Hercule Poirot mystery novels to my husband and everytime Christie says that Poirot blinked I just can't help actually doing it myself and looking at my hubby humorously (like you did in that video). It never bothered me, but I guess I did find it pointless because everytime I just automatically do it myself and then move on to some more dialogues. ☺️ For character names, I've heard people who read The Faithful and The Fallen series by John Gwynne having a hard time keeping up with the characters in that first book, but it never was a problem for me (I've read Malice and Valor, and won't be continuing on). And now I'm tempted to read The Silmarillion just to see if I'd struggle with that too 😂 When you talked about children as set pieces, it reminded me of how my husband can't stand the trope of children not seeming to be under any parental authority in some TV shows and movies (it annoyed him so much when we watched Once Upon a Time because the child - Henry - would have so much power over the adults in his life and we're just meant to root for him 😂). Everytime something like that happens my hubby can't help asking: "these children never go to school or something?!". Hilarious 😂 I don't remember an instance of children being badly written in the books I've read, I just remember feeling very uncomfortable when I read The Series of Unfortunate Events years ago (I only read the two first books), but it was meant to be weird and absurd. 🤔
Also, I wonder if you feel the same when it comes to a specific storytelling style: I can't stand neverending internal monologues, or very long monologues in the form of dialogues (especially when the characters go on pointless side tangents that don't serve the story at all). I've not seen that happening in the Fantasy books I've read, I've mostly stumbled upon that while reading classics (I DNFed Crime & Punishment by Dostoyevsky because of that). I don't mind slow-paced stories, but please don't mostly rely on monologues. 😢
Your comment made me think of Dark Shadows, which I’ve slowly been warching. The kid, David, has so little supervision, at one point I realized I didn’t remember who his parents were. There’s also the matter of how he gets almost no education.
The blinking issue reminded me that I hate when characters can see a whole range or very specific emotions just by looking into another character's eyes. Either my observation skills are very poor or this isn't how eyes work. I've seen this in several fantasy books but the only example that comes to mind is Elantris by Sanderson.
My favorite observation made by newcomer audiences to Lord of the Rings film trilogy in Return of the King is when they have Eye of Sauron functioning like a lighthouse searchlight and totally miss and should have seen Frodo who manages to hide behind a rock. So much for seeing through "earth, stone and flesh." Reactions usually "Sauron. Idiot."
I have no problem with characters "blinking" in response! I just infer from context whether it's surprise, sarcasm or shock (I had to go with three S's... but hesitancy probably belongs there too) For me, it's when an author feels the need to explain and lecture. It's difficult to nail down, but I love exploring the author's ideas through theme and narrative, but the second I'm "told what to think" it takes me right out of it. The obvious culprit and absolute king of this is Terry Goodkind. I still have a soft spot for Sword of Truth (I started reading that series maybe age 12, so nostalgia goggles and a lack of wider reading for context at the time) and I'm not of Daniel Green's opinion that he's just a plagiarist (though many comparisons to Jordan and others are obvious... I'm just sorta okay with authors stealing ideas. We get some REALLY good stories that do exactly that. I can't even GET through Eregon or Shanarra, despite several friends telling me how much better they get) Nope, his TRUE crime (other than being a bit of a c word... I'm British so that word isn't QUITE as taboo :P) is when he abandons his story and characters to just outright explain his philosophy. Sorry buddy, greater minds than yours have failed to convince me of objectivism. A chosen one protagonist with superpowers isn't going to convince me that REALLY we can all just choose to be ubermensch (and deep apologies to Nietzsche on that one. His works are so often twisted for purposes he wouldn't have agreed with, much as with Marx) and neither will caricature badguys twirling their figurative moustaches while they repeat strawmen of real world philosophical arguments. Really is unfortunate, as a lot of his character work and set pieces are beautiful. And I have NO problem enjoying works that feature DEEPLY problematic themes and philosophy. I really enjoy the Gor books and I am a sucker for supernatural romance (and that can be REALLY f*cked up when you think about it. Twilight stalker-vamp is tame in comparison :P) I consider it petty just bc it's SO ambiguous that even personal bias will alter what is "acceptable" (I'll be more willing to accept a lecture I agree with) and it's never a deal breaker. One of my favourite authors, Pratchett, manages the fine balance of his opinions being quite easy to discern and his criticisms and commentary on the real world obvious... while not appearing to assume the reader is too stupid to follow. (AND you mention him moments later :D Totally agreed. Chapters are good!)
Ok so see, I HATE that too, but it's not "petty" to me. It's bad writing pure and simple and will ruin a book! None of the ones I've mentioned ruin a book for me - I just get annoyed. But the preachiness is so common now and it drives me CRAZY. Let me think! Let me explore or try to figure out how I should think. Treat your readers intelligently.
There are actually several types of blinking. I've watched a lot of videos on behavior analysis and how someone is blinking is very important. For example, rapid blinking is a way of unwittingly exposing that you're being dishonest, or really bothered/surprised by something. Whenever I read about someone blinking I am already imagining the scenario and don't have a problem understanding which type of blinking they're talking about lol. I have not come across a book that doesn't use quotation marks but if I do, I will not read it. If I have to work to figure out who is saying what, it's just not worth my time. I want to get lost in the story, not spend my time trying to figure out where a thought ends and speaking begins, or where one character's words end and another's begin. That's pure laziness, in my opinion.
It is actually possible to clearly indicate who says what even without quotation marks, though! But I did recently see some screenshots from a book that did not. 👀 And, good gosh, was that nightmarish!
I never noticed the blinking thing before but i have the feeling that i am going to now. Terry Pratchett is my happy space but I hear you about the chapter breaks.
Terry Pratchett is one of my very favorite authors of all time lol! That's the thing about these petty things, they don't ruin a book for me but I still hate them when I experience them haha
😂 This is so great. I found you because of the two year collab you just did with Petrik! And I'm so happy this was my intro video to your channel. The blinking and smirking don't bother me, but I totally get the other three. I can't think of any petty complaints (I feel like mine are the bigger scale complaints, lol). But now I'll have to pay more attention and see if I have some that are lurking. LOL.
This video is simply the best, hahah. Give me all the salty and petty opinions, I love it. And I totally agree with all of these, so you are not alone, lol. In the same vein as 'blinking', I absolutely hate the 'growling' in books. Like, who the heck growls at someone? 🤣 And I also can't stand it when the 'super thin/emaciated/sickly' character suddenly becomes all strong and bulky after a few days/weeks of training or eating 'well'. I'm sorry, but have you ever seriously tried putting on weight and muscle? That is HARD!!! Okay, rant over, hahah. Loved this video!!
You are so right!!! I hate when characters names all begin with the same letter or are super similar!!! Some of my all time fav books do this too! Wheel of Time and Faithful and the Fallen were two that come to mind haha
I agree with your first two... as well as different size book editions. I also hate when characters act against their own personal motivations (unless legit reasons are given); deux ex machina fixes (usually this involves introducing a magical game changer); using magic inconsistently (like introducing teleportation spell, but characters neglect using said spell when it would easily fix problems for them)
I agree with every single point! Blinking especially, just seems overly dramatic and lazy at the same time. Always takes me out of it. The lack of chapters didnt really bother me until I started leaning heavily on audiobooks where the lack of chapter numbers or blank sections compared to physical makes each section blur into another.
I hate when chapters are unreasonably long to read in one sitting. Or chapters aren't the same lengths so you can't manage time properly. Luckily I read on an ereader and can see how many pages left, but itd be annoying for paper books.
Ugh! I don't mind if the chapters just vary in length, generally-but I'm currently reading a book that went from consistently short, breezy chapters to consistently extra lengthy chapters almost precisely at the halfway mark. It was like slamming into a brick wall! Totally found myself wondering why it was suddenly taking me so much longer to actually finish a chapter until I realized it was because the chapters were literally longer. And then I was kinda depressed, because it was going to take me so much longer to finish the book. 😭🙃🙃😅 👀
Using ' in fantasy names without understanding how it works. It represents a glottal stop and should only be surrounded by vowels so that it can be pronounced. (See Hawaiian names) It is a fun sound but not used well.
using ' in names almost made this list lol but it doens't bug me quite as much as the others. But, I honestly feel like authors do it JUST to feel more "fantasy" instead of any understanding of WHY, like you said.
Can't glottal stops sometimes be utilized _instead_ of a full vowel, like between consonants, too? 🤔🤔 But it's true-I've definitely seen names using ' pretty much just for looks. Elaborate spellings, sometimes, too! 👀
This is SO great! Thank you. Oh! And when it comes to Jim Butcher, his editor absolutely MUST take the word “shamble” away from him. Every time Dresden walks he is NOT “shambling.” *annoyed glare* Three year olds are basically baby birds. There is never enough food is there?
Fun stuff! A lot of smirking in fanfiction too, very irritating. The absence of quotation marks in Day of the Dolphin makes it difficult to know who's talking, but it's from the dolphins' pov so it's a specific plot point not an arbitrary stylistic decision. FYI Finrod IS Felagund, it's his dwarfish appellation 😉
These are all so petty and I'm here for it XD As soon as you started talking about Silmarillion I knew it was the "F-names". There's a reason I still struggle to remember what everyone's called...
@@Bookborn right? ahaha. also, loved all of these. The smirking one especially really irks me. It's just such a lazy authorial choice. Whenever I see that, I roll my eyes..
One of the worst similar name offenders is George R. R. Martin. Have you seen the Targaryen family tree? It's Aegon, Daeron, Aenys, Aerys, Jaehaerys, ARRRRG!!!!!
This theme is something I love. It shows family lineage. This theme is important in the farm boy to hero story The Belgariad series by David Weddings, as the reader follows the main protagonist through his transition and understanding of who he is.
I actually like the no quotation marks for dialogue, but one of my favorite authors is Jose Saramago, who has a very specific style when it comes to dialogue
It's totally personal preference, don't think I could come up with a good argument for it. But I feel like the narrator is sort of paraphrasing what the characters are saying, which is a particular form of narration that feels very informal and sort of like someone telling you about something they heard. Love the channel btw!
Pratchett does use chapters, but only in the books where they serve a specific narrative purpose, like the Moist Von Lipwig books. He also uses them in all of his YA and childrens books.
I understand the annoyance at the overuse of blinking but I think it get the purpose. A bit like the eyes widening slightly, instinctive blinking is a way we often silently acknowledge information that figuratively knocks us of balance. Like with "smirking", I really wish writers would find more ways of expressing this feeling. I have a couple of petty ones. One is the "audible gasp". I could count on one hand the amount of times I've gasped loud enough for other people to hear it, and they've all been intensely scary or panic-inducing situations. People in novels sometimes loudly gasp at revelations or surprise like we're in a cartoon! Also, people often just don't check their reflections like normal people. It's hard to explain but it feels off, like a narrator commenting on their appearance the way a human wouldn't about themselves.
That's the thing, though-fiction can tell of the exceptions, not just what is typically so? 😅😅😁 But, at the same time, I get where you're coming from-sometimes I think kinda similarly, when reading those things, too.🤭🤭🤭
I'm totally with you on the blinking thing and no quotation marks !! surely that's just bad writing. Like not starting sentences with a Capital, not using commas, full stops etc. It's not artsy, its lazy bad writing. Thanks for this thought provoking video. My pet hate is overly describing characters clothing. Its one thing I really hated in the WOT.
Ok but WoT was like SO BAD for that clothing thing LMAO like it's famous, I'm not sure I've ever read a series that's as bad as that (that being said, I don't imagine a lot while reading so I can also leave most over-descriptions!)
I think 'blinked' is a shorthand for the larger reaction of 'rocked back on his heels', as in was surprised by something, had to reassess in a moment *BEAT* No?
@@Bookborn primarily it doesn't stop things. I actually get even more annoyed if it really awkward, but doesn't stop things. If thats how chainmail worked, people wouldn't have worn it to battles for a thousand years
My petty thing is too much detail. Let my imagination do some work, that's part of why I read. There is a point where the detail is useful, and even a point where it is needed (for example making sure you know that Ron has a younger sister as well as 5 older brothers who all have red hair and freckles). But if an author explains every nuance of a sword fight from the angles, the parries, the foot movement, etc it isn't needed. Use a little to give us a point of reference. Salvatore did this incredibly when he described the series of movements that Zaknafein led Drizzt into the downward double cross parry which, according to Drizzt was wrong since it had no counter. Drizzt later discovered the appropriate counter for it. And yes, I'm aware I keep mentioning Salvatore's work with Forgotten Realms every time I leave a comment on one of your videos.
Maybe someone already mentioned this but all the Aes Sedai names that start with the letter "S". Dozens of them... Also, similar to your dislike of "they blinked", is the use of "so and so shrugged".
Yes, SO many S's. I had to take a few month break on reading between books 8 and 9 I think when I first read them, and at some point I had to look up several of the Aes Sedai to remind myself who they were haha
I'm so awful at names at the best of times, the initial letter thing really gets to me. It's not a book, but the last offender of this for me was the game Elden Ring. The names of the various demigods start with certain letters to denote how they're related, which is cool in theory until you need to tell the names Godwyn, Godfrey and Godrick apart.
My thoughts exactly! I was going to comment on Elden Ring! Though as someone pointed out... GRRM might have actually been sneaking in something there, as almost every name starts with G, R or M... think about it.
When a character’s mouth goes to or forms a “straight line.” Is this the awkward smile meme? I always find myself making the face whenever I read this line.
lol I can see how this is annoying for the same reason as the blinking - nobody has a straight line mouth?? But I get the concept so it doesn't bother me for some reason
As a mom of two, I completely agree with you about the kid thing! Drives me nuts! How did your character manage to sleep for 10 hours and then have a life when she’s got a toddler? Like, how?? My youngest is 11 and still needs me every 15 mins! And I HATE no quotes, hate hate hate. I believe a current example would be Sally Rooney. As for me, I get so annoyed when an author keeps using a certain phrase over and over. The one that made me tear my out was all the sandwiches in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books. I swear, on every page, someone was making a sandwich. Open faced, hot, cold ham, every kind of sandwich. I ranted about it so much my husband still calls those the Sandwich Books!
I love this video, all super valid points. I personally hate the word “alighted” can we just say “landed”. I notice it literally every single time the word is used.
Okay, but "landed" feels more like running to ground, or jumping and landing solidly on two feet from a certain height, while "alighted" feels more like coming down or up on wings(or like something lightweight just getting blown onto something by a gently breeze). "Landed" is rough, and heavy(unless you included qualifiers, like 'softly', or such)-"alighted" is softer, and more eloquent/beautiful. 😋 🤣 ((But that's probably just my own breed of petty, right there; So, ignore me.😁))
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who noticed Jim Butcher's heavy use of blinking! I've been listening through Dresden Files this year and it seems like characters are blinking at each other every few pages!
Tough to explain but I saw this a bunch in The Name of the Wind. Everything Kvothe came across, money or mundane objects, later became crucial plot points and exactly what he needed.
The blinking one doesn't bother me, in most cases, from context, I usually take it to mean they closed their eyes for a second (either in thought, despair or whatever), as opposed to it being a standard reflex action blink, it's just a quicker way to convey that. Off the top of my head I can't think of any petty things that annoy me, I'm sure there are some but they are the type of thing I probably only think about when they are right in front of me then promptly stop thinking about until it crops up again, then I forget about...
Well, I was watching this video and I was shocked by the first one to the point I blinked in surprise, but by the third I was enjoying myself so much that I couldn't stop smirking before I showed the video to my 3 young boys Tim, Tom and Tumultuous (Tum for short) and they all said 'all art must suffer flaws to reveal the true beauty of the craft' which you know, I thought was a bit much.
Let me slightly add/change to this. I was 300 pages into chapter 1 when I saw your video. I just blinked when I saw the title. I then clicked on it while smirking.... Then the rest of your comment. (I think the point of blinking was that it was NOT followed with "in surprise". Just blinking on its own.)
If I had to pick a reading pet peeve of my own, it's when ebooks have pictures or weird formatting that don't render well on my reading app, so the map is all squished or the table of data spills over into itself or whatever. I'm also bothered by people who use the wrong amount of attributions in dialogue. Too much and I'm like "you used said seven times in six sentences" (alternatively, why would you use ejaculated in this context); too little and I have to reread it three times to figure out who said the line at the top of the next page. This isn't a problem with authors really good at character voice but it can get annoying.
I think there needs to be more pontificating, retorting, and various other words that let us know the attitude in which something is being communicated. And yes, even sex scenes shouldn't use ejaculated...leave that word for the physiology texts.
describing things that are obvious and pointless to the story, like, everything there is on the food table, or a tree has green leaves except for two, one is grey the other rotten ...
I think "blinking" might be a modern day anachronism? To convey a character thinking, "um, ookaaaaay...". I agree with smirk. "No quotation marks" author is recovering from formatting last minute typed college creative writing drafts. My favorite realization is thinking "I need to convey it perfectly, their look of exasperation..." then realize that big novelists actually write "he gave her a look.." and gets on with the story. Oh wait, mean I guess I could say a look of exasperation. Problem solved. Recalling my previous comment rant on inane vs mundane language and 12 word pages of pedestrian un-novel exchanges. That's why I will never fault The Wheel of Time paperbacks for their descriptiveness which I find immersive and an actual break from day to day hecticness.
I'm currently reading "Spinning Silver" and the child in there was written SO WELL!! I was quite impressed. My petty complaint is when an editor misses something with grammar/structure. Like an arbitrary change of tense in the middle of a paragraph or the like. If it's not prevalent through the whole work, it shouldn't bother me as much as it does...
Spinning Silver is just a fantastic novel all around, I loved it so much. I'm reading a Hugo winner currently - so you know, it's probably been edited professionally a lot - and in the first chapter it said "sad" instead of "said". How did we miss this??
I dislike dream sequences, especially when the chapter starts off with one. Most of the time I do not realize it is a dream until the last lines of the chapter! I think Eye of the World did this. Recently for me, one of the First Law books did it with Glotka! Every time this happens I just groan, oh it is a trick just a dream.
Blood Meridian was my first read that had no quotation marks. It was first surprising, then interesting, then mildly annoying, and really its a shame I was wasting so many emotions on formatting. That book has just become vibes without punctuation in my memory. Interestingly, I didn't notice Pratchett avoided chapters until it was pointed out to me a few years back. I guess it goes to show that some things stick out more for some people than for others! My pet hate in fantasy novels is actually the names thing you mentioned. I'm not going to pretend otherwise and that Tolkien example in your video is 👌
I feel personally attacked. I love characters smirking[-but it probably does get overused]. 🤣🤣🤣 (Also, I was unaware that not everyone actually utilizes intentional[ or even unintentional] blinking to convey unspoken attitudes or moods, irl.) I imagine in blinking cases like that last you read it was to indicate that someone is either totally unresponsive or essentially just frozen in place though, but not literally, so at very least [involuntarily ]blinking is still occurring...and enough time is passing that a blink has happened. But maybe I'm wrong.. ? 🤔🤷♀️🤷♀️😁 🤣🤣🤣🤣 _P. S. - I love this video^-^ 🤭🤍💜_
@@Bookborn 😹 That's fair-I'm sure I have a few things like that myself, I just tend to blank on them until I actually see them. I should start taking notes, honestly.🤭🤭^-^😊
I hate it when a character that suppose to be around is forgotten. One major one for me is in dresden files. A character with major connection to the main character is around but was not mentioned at all aside for i think 2 scenes.
I feel like characters blinking is something I never noticed but now something I'm going to notice all the time and be as annoyed by it as you are! So thanks! lol.
No, give me quotation marks.. I NEED them.. I also need chapter notations! And the names all being so similar always boggles my brain! OMG YES ON THE KIDS! There are so many times I'm like " there is NO way this kid is acting like this, my small kids would NEVER" lol If I didn't feed my 5 and 9 year old like hourly I would DIE from how much they whine at me that they are STARVING to death lol But I think my biggest is this one, like KNOW HOW KIDS WORK!
A word that rubs me the wrong way is “clamber.” People are constantly clambering in fantasy books, but rarely anywhere else nor even in other forms of literature. Another one, and it’s particular to Janny Wurts, is the over-misuse of the “If …. , [then] ….” construction. She uses this about once per page, maybe more. Sometimes it’s a conditional in the ordinary sense. Sometimes it’s a conditional where the antecedent is simply the restatement of something the reader already knows (which is OK but gets annoying), and sometimes it’s one where the antecedent “if” clause is actually introducing new factual information. I actually put down a series I was otherwise enjoying because of this petty writing tic getting under my skin. (I read the first 5 of the 11 books, and may go back to it sometime. It’s otherwise quite good.)
@@Bookborn My obsession with it started when an author, I forget who, misused it and I had to go look it up to make sure that it wasn't my misunderstanding. Then, I started seeing it everywhere. Now, I'm afraid I've afflicted the same curse on you.
Really fun video! I will play devils advocate for a second and say there’s probably a good reason lots of high fantasy authors have names that start with the same letter and I think it’s because they try to keep names sounding like they are all passed down from a different foreign language, so in Mandarin you might see a bunch people with the name Chan or Chun or Chin. But yeah, I can see why it would be a petty annoyance. If I had a petty grievance, it would probably be when two characters are starting to feel some kind of romance and then all of the sudden we cut to them waking up in bed together. Like what the heck, I’m not a prude or anything but sex is like the peak of where the relationship should go, not where it starts! It relieves way too much of the tension for my tastes way too fast. And this is in HUNDREDS of books/movies I’ve seen, to the point where I just roll my eyes every time I see it. Also it bugs me why we always need a romance to begin with. I’m always happy when I see boys and girls just being loyal friends where they’re not trying to seduce each other.
I agree completely about the early sex scenes. As a matter of fact, I only briefly skim over sex scenes, anyway because I'm just not interested in that aspect of the story (my own imagination is far better lol!) unless it's specifically related to something important to know about a character. Such as, they're overly aggressive, have self-esteem issues, think they're a great lover when they aren't, etc..
I had this recently when I was reading Fireborne but I see it a lot in the few YA & middle grade books I read - I really hate random blushing in books. Like "His hand brushed against my arm and I felt my face flush". There's just so much blushing like I know you're teenagers but your face must just be constantly red.
Oh yeah, characters names starting with the same letter or sounding similar is irritating, as I have bad memory for names. But I give the petty hate to inproper use of armor in fight scenes or lack of it. Soldiers stabing through chest, cuting belly, sides, heads of etc - where is armor? Chainmail? Breastplate? Something?? The worst is stabing through an armor like it was nothing. When I'm reading Stormlight it always irritate me that there is so much description of battle wounds in places that would be prevented with armor, which is rarely described - the highborn officer with his belly cut at battle of the Tower - where is the breastplate that even Kaladin got at the beginning of WoR but NEVER worn? They always fight with uniforms and nothing more. I got angry just describing it! In movies it's triggering me even more as I see that armor there being split like butter...
One series that I really enjoy despite it constantly frustrating me is The Licanius Trilogy by James Islington. The author constantly uses all forms of the word "hesitate" incessantly. Every character hesitates before they say anything and I just want to, very politely, tell the author to never use thst word again and to trust the reader to interpret the proper flow of dialogue. It'll be on like every page of a chapter. Sometimes 5 times or more on a single page. It's got to the point where whenever I see that word in any book it pulls me out. 😅 And also, every character only makes wry or dry remarks, ruefully smiles or inclines their heads. It's a good story despite these flaws though.
When you mentioned multiple characters with the same beginning letters, my mind went immediately to the Silmarillion. Then you held it up and I've been laughing for a few minutes now 😂 For me it's the phrase "I can take care of myself" because most of the time, no they can't. The minute I see it, my eye starts twitching
Now that you’ve read ASOIAF have you heard GRRM talk about the names of characters with similar names/start with the same letter? He speaks about how authors get told don’t call your characters with the same letter start, but he had more than 26 characters so couldn’t. Then he thought of the history of the UK and realised families all have the same names, so he jumped in on it as well. Tywin, Tyrion, Tytos. Then all the Robbs, all the Jons. It was to mimic the history of the UK. But he does talk about how you’re not meant to do it. It’s quite interesting
When authors name their characters with names from our world. Like, I just read a fantasy novel that has elves and dwarves and a guy named Luis and a girl named Maria. Like, come on
I get annoyed when authors make it seem like characters have no choice in what they do or say. This happens a lot with romance. Like a guy startled a girl by kissing her and she is surprised to find she is kissing him back even though she didn’t like him. That kind of thing. Our bodies don’t just make decisions for us despite our preferences.
The thing is, they're typically implying that.. on a subconscious level ..she actually _WAS_ attracted to him, though. Despite the fact that she didn't consciously think[ or admit] that she did. (Which is still pretty annoying, though.) But.....actually ... involuntary body movement can be a very real thing for some people, sometimes. Like, I know people who talk out loud without having any idea that they are doing so, because they legit believe they were just thinking it silently to themselves. Reflexive movement is also a thing, like if you're in a particular habit of responding to certain things in certain ways, or if you just have this thinking ingrained in you that certain things are just how certain other things should be responded to-you can absolutely respond that way, especially when caught off-guard, before your brain catches up and really thinks about what you actually like or want or not. People come in all different types, and what is either usual or unusual for some may be completely different for others, and it's really easy as subjective humans not to realize that sometimes. 😅😅 😊
I checked out the digital version of "The Forest of Vanishing Stars" because listening to the audio, I thought I was hearing way too many references to blinking, so I did a search of "blink" and there were about fifty. Usually, "She blinked a few times" or something like "He blinked at her." I then did a search of the novel I'm writing and removed all but one reference, when she blinks repeatedly to adjust her eyes to light after being in the dark a long time. Nothing important has been lost. I try not to start character names with the same letter, at least not more than two per letter. With Tolkien, there is a good reason he did it with the names: he based Middle Earth in part off Norse epics and sagas, in which lots of characters have identical or similar-sounding names. Don't get me started on all the names in "Heimskringla" that start with "Thor" (hint: it's over 30) and how many different characters have the same name. And that's just one saga set! I limit the scenes with children, and when they appear, they behave like children: arguing over petty things, whining to their parents, disobeying, asking inappropriate questions, etc. What annoys the crap out of me in any book? The dreaded biting of the labials. The rare occasion I actually see this is real life, it's really disturbing and I have to look away, and I hate reading about it in books. Especially since it has been used to convey every conceivable emotion (i.e. anger, fear, nervousness, happiness, uncertainty, frustration, thoughtfulness, pleading), so it's become meaningless, since it could mean anything. One book had so much chomping of lips that I DNF'd it for that reason.
One thing that I dislike about fantasy books is how Winter is ALWAYS a worse season that summer. I know that’s because most writers live in Western countries, but it still bothers me a little anyway. Winter is always viewed as the season of hardship, but where I live and in a lot of other places as well, the season of hardship is summer.
I feel like that is a result of a broader issue of so much fantasy pulling from northern/western countries (Europe, predominantly). If we had more fantasy inspired by India, the Amazon, the Middle East, Africa, etc. It would be less prevalent.
This funny, because I started writing a fantasy book when I was younger in which the temperamental personification of Summer was the bad-guy. (I wish I had ever finished writing it.) 🤣🤣
Or it's more of a modern problem; winter was the season of rest and feasts/holidays even in the west. Summer vacation wasn't a thing three hundred years ago.
My nitpick is going to be with sci-fi authors with no scientific education who don't have a scientist proofread their works. The problem arises when an American author decides that they are going to use metric in their stories, but don't understand that pounds are to Newtons and slugs are to kilograms. That is to say, there is no true conversion from pounds to kilograms without assumptions being made. Oh, wait...I'm getting to technical. Let me just say that your mass (slugs/kilograms) on the moon and the Earth are exactly the same. Your weight (or force of gravity on your mass) is different. You should never say that your character weights and list kilograms as weight is force. Kilograms is mass. Oh, shoot, I did it again. Sufficeth to say, this totally ripped me out of an otherwise compelling story when a character offhandedly said they weighed roughly 1/5 of their Earth weight, but that "weight" was given in kilograms. And I have only have a B of Sci in computer science and don't particularly like sci-fi. I can't imagine what level of eye twitching this causes for engineers, natural scientists, and astronomy buffs.
As an engineer I feel this, although my personal one that always gets me is bullets being shot in the air and they go through water and are still as powerful/don't change any direction (this happens in movies all the time and literally fills me with rage).
@@Bookborn guns and gun terminology in fiction/movies set off so many gun enthusiasts. "It's a magazine, not a clip!" "Why is that revolver not empty after firing 10 rounds?" and that's before they even think about ballistics. :D Heck, I know this stuff and I can count on one hand the number of times I've gone out to shoot my guns.
Great video. Enjoyed that. One of my peeves is the use of the word “ululate”. It suddenly started appearing far more regularly. Was this on a word-of-the-day calendar that numerous authors owned? Did they decide they liked the word so worked it into their stories?
The overuse and misuse of "sniff". E.G. "He sniffed as he chuckled...". When you start noticing it, it it is all over the place. I think it is often used to convey agreement, annoyance, or a sarcastic emotive response to something someone has said. But in real life that is all more of a soft blowing out of the nose (granted is there even a word for this?). Closer to a nasal hu-rumph? Not a sniff! I can't take it and it's petty.
I think maybe it's because there isn't really a singular word for, like, the reverse of a sniff? Where it's a quick outward puff, instead of an inward one? 👀 (Like, because huff usually implies irritation not agreement, and usually comes out the mouth not the nose?) But, I mean, I dunno-maybe there are some people out there who legit breathe inward through their nose while or shortly before doing things like chuckling?? I have no idea-but I feel like I'm going to start noticing it now, too. 🤣
I recently read The Color of Magic and yeah Pratchett can’t bother to use chapters. Idk if I’ll continue with Discworld for that reason alone. You wanna talk about being petty Hillary lol
A very minor one I've noticed is that authors are obsessed with using the phrase "audible click." I distinctly remember a scene in the Wheel of Time where a character even "shut their mouth with an audible click" - which, just...how? Why? If your mouth is making noticeable clicking noises when you shut it, you should probably call a doctor.
I don't even think the name thing is petty, constant blinking or smirking might be annoying but they don't make the book genuinely difficult to read like fourteen characters named some variant of Arya.
1. When characters ask each other a bunch of questions and no one knows what is going on for a long time. 2. When characters argue with each other about some other character they all know and they all claim to know more about the other character's personality quirks. 3. When the characters get all the attention in the story and the world is overlooked. 5. When the plot is driven by inexplicable evil and revenge. 6. When the magic system is mostly just plot armor. 7. When creatures in the story sound like they are dumber than the people. 8. When dragons are treated like they are automatically evil and solitary. 9. When the word nonplussed is used when it really is not the right scenario. 10. When the villain is ridiculously overpowered at the beginning of the story but makes a dumb mistake and then seems off balance the rest of the story and is ultimately defeated because of the dumb mistake at the beginning. 11. When the main character only gets the use of their powers at the power level required to win when they are at the crisis of the story. 12. When the characters know each other so well they have nothing but inside jokes and backhanded comments to make about each other. 13. When characters are introduced during a crisis in the story just to save the main character. 14. When the main character blacks out during a confrontation with a villain and wakes up later in good health and is able to escape. 15. When one of the characters knows something super specific about a creature in the story that makes it easy to defeat or avoid it. 16. When the Macguffin in the story is acquired after lots of struggle but turns out to not be enough to stop the villain and the main character just wings it at the end and wins somehow. 17. When prophecies are given in the story just to make it seem like there is an unavoidable event coming just to avoid that event and make the point that the future is unsure or unwritten. 18. When strange humanoid creatures as main characters insult each other based on their different physical characteristics or cultural beliefs or societal traits just to make it seem like they have a real history together. 19. When a love interest slaps the main character and argues at the beginning of the scene but at the end of the scene they act like they are in love and nothing bad just happened. 20. When there is an omen or curse that is mentioned for going into the scary woods but it never happens because the main character finds a clue after going into the woods.
Children are usually portrayed more accurately in film, since that is a visual medium and child actors are more likely to act age-appropriate without even trying to.
Also characters raising one eyebrow. Most people aren't even capable of moving their eyebrows independently, and those who do only ever do so ironically. It's a performative expression - not something people actually do instinctively (ie grimacing when faced with a room full of scorpions, laughing when witnessing something funny, etc.). The result is characters that I'm supposed to read as snarky or curious instead coming reading as personified obnoxious RUclips thumbnails.
try different languages in french they do not use "quotation marks" for dialogue instead - 1st person's dialogue - 2nd person's response - 1st person reply but without naming who's speaking. an advantage though is that it avoids the constant use of said
'He blinked at the first Lord' - boring, weird.
'He winked both eyes at the first Lord' - intriguing.
🤣🤣
Fafana asked felise about her daughter falina's favorite food with a smirk but felise just stood there and blinked
It was Falafel.
I just gave all you guys ammo didn't I
@@Bookborn *blinks* yes. *blink, blink*
@@Bookborn bingo
This sentence needs a chapter break
When an author of a multi-POV story has a scene/chapter change and then doesn’t immediately reveal whose POV we’re in. Even a couple of sentences lacking any indication bugs me, let alone a paragraph or more. A few seem to be withholding that information for effect. Well, I’m affected. 🤨 Fun one!
This is solid here. If you’re switching POVs, I need to have the name of the POV character in fancy writing above the change and preferably a picture if possible ;)
This is a super solid one. Doesn't ruin the overall novel but is still SUPER annoying.
Vaughn, I really appreciate when the book doesn't have chapter titles, so they make the POV character's name go where the title would be. Then I can start it in their voice. And talk about making things tough for the adaptation to audiobook...the secret will be ruined by the narrator anyway. ;)
Disagree if it's done well. I like to actively guess who it might be based on context clues from the first sentence or even the first few words. If the author is good at distinguishing characters, it's doable.
Also, it's good when it's a new character. It's like meeting a stranger; you form your impression of them based on the first few details given.
@@raswartz For me, it's less if it's well done and more if there is actually a super valid point or purpose to keeping the POV ambiguous. (Meeting a new character counts though!) Otherwise, [I think ]you better signal tha feckk outta that POV change, plz! _Lol_ 🤣🤣
I'm convinced the "breath they didn't know they were holding" is an inside joke amongst authors. It's like the wilhelm scream of books.
tbh I never noticed that one until booktube 🙈 Now I feel like I have to put it somewhere or I'll be kicked out
@@Bookborn I feel like I read it at least once in every fantasy book I read these days. 🤣
I actually really like "blinked" because it's such a clear visual in my head. I read it as the "show don't tell" of "took a second to process", and it works for me so it's interesting to hear it doesn't for you.
Books at different sizes is super annoying, I bought the stormlight box set and my grandma bought me the hardcover of book 4 which is more than double the size.
Yeah the difference sizes is so annoying especially when there is NO other option - like the greenbone saga's third book is randomly slightly smaller than the others? WHY?
I actually like the blinking one. I always take it to mean a quick pause where the character is taking in what you just said, or to mean they stare an extra second at you because they're like "what??" or "okaaaayyyyy" I think "She blinked" is a great way to convey that. At least it works for me. 😄 I saw this in a comment already, but definitely when you don't know who's perspective you're in within the first 2-3 sentences. I read with the characters personality affecting how I read so that super annoying. I think Robert Jordan did this really well!
I think I've only had like two people agree with me on the blinking thing so it makes sense you like it 😂
Reading something and thinking it's from someone else's perspective is like when you go to drink orange juice and then you take a swig and realize you picked up a glass of Pepsi instead. It's like shocking and somehow tastes awful even if you love Pepsi
They undulated between a smirk and blinking
One thing that’s in so many fantasy books that bothers me is when a character effortlessly rips some of their shirt/robe etc. off in strips to make bandages. Cloth is very hard to rip with hands! You’ll probably stretch the fabric and could rip it at another place.
lol YES such a good one! Ripping clothes does NOT work that way, and they always get these nice little binding strips haha
I guess if they have a sword or dagger or something at hand, we can assume they used it to get it started, then tore it? We don't really need bandage minutiae if the scene is about something else. It does bother me when this happens in movies and shows however, then we're clearly seeing something that is wrong.
That depends _ENTIRELY_ on exactly *what **_type_* of fabric you're talking about.
(Also, where exactly you start ripping it. And what someone's physical strength level is or isn't, exactly.)
Buut... Still, valid. Lol 🤭 😆
My favorite part of your videos: Your willingness to put your opinion out there. Too many people are guarded about this stuff for fear someone may disagree.
I feel like this one is pretty safe since it's actually petty and if anyone was super mad that I didn't like blinking, I think they are the problem more than myself 😂
I mean, to be fair, I think people are less afraid that someone will disagree than afraid of what people who disagree might do or say because of that?
@@jaginaiaelectrizs6341 That's the reason for the fear... I am not talking about being socially awkward, lol.
@@Fortylat I never suggested that you were talking about social awkwardness? I was just saying, to me there's a difference between being afraid that people will disagree and being afraid that people will actually retaliate or harass. One thing has to do with worrying about opinions or worrying that opinions won't align[ and typically because humans tend to feel as if others agreeing somehow validates a person or opinion &/or invalidates certain other opinions/persons OR it's because of worrying about being "weird" or "unusual" and just wanting to fit in with everyone instead of making waves or drawing attention], while the other thing doesn't so much care if opinions differ or not as it just doesn't want to be not treated rightly. Worrying about differences in opinion is stupid-people are entitled to their own opinions, and other people agreeing or disagreeing with it has very little if even anything to do with actually rubber-stamp validating that opinion or that person. But worrying about being treated poorly, however, is perfectly legit-no one should have to deal with being insulted or otherwise harassed, and not everyone has to believe that every little opinion they might have about everything is worth that. (Especially since it is entirely possible for people to disagree without either person treating the other person terribly because of it.) But that's just my way of thinking of it. And I'm not here to tell you if you agree that there is a distinction or not. I'm just pointing out that, in my opinion, there is a slight distinction; and, to me, that distinction kind of matters-because, although I personally believe that people shouldn't be seeking the opinions of others simply to boost their own ego and self-righteousness or simply to reinforce their own viewpoints and indignation towards others' nor be more concerned with not ruffling or contrasting the opinions or perceptions of others' than with just being honest about their own views, I also believe that people do have a right to want to protect themselves from mistreatment[ even if they don't actually care about the opinions or perceptions that other people have about them or theirs at all]. So, I personally think being afraid of being treated badly can be looked a lot more favorably toward than just not being able to handle others disagreeing can be. But, again, that's just me. 🙂 Lol
@@jaginaiaelectrizs6341 tl:dr… my point was *I* never said what the fear was, as ANY fear was the point. Regardless of WHAT the fear was. You going on and on about specific fears are a waste of time. I said “fear someone may disagree,” I never said specifically HOW they will disagree… why are you so obsessed with the specific fear? ANY fear involved. It could be the fear an old wizard will read it and turn you into a newt… idc what the fear is.
I loved watching this video and now I need a part 2 please! 😂 I've never been bothered by the word smirk (it didn't jump out from the pages from me), but I've read up to 18 Hercule Poirot mystery novels to my husband and everytime Christie says that Poirot blinked I just can't help actually doing it myself and looking at my hubby humorously (like you did in that video). It never bothered me, but I guess I did find it pointless because everytime I just automatically do it myself and then move on to some more dialogues. ☺️ For character names, I've heard people who read The Faithful and The Fallen series by John Gwynne having a hard time keeping up with the characters in that first book, but it never was a problem for me (I've read Malice and Valor, and won't be continuing on). And now I'm tempted to read The Silmarillion just to see if I'd struggle with that too 😂
When you talked about children as set pieces, it reminded me of how my husband can't stand the trope of children not seeming to be under any parental authority in some TV shows and movies (it annoyed him so much when we watched Once Upon a Time because the child - Henry - would have so much power over the adults in his life and we're just meant to root for him 😂). Everytime something like that happens my hubby can't help asking: "these children never go to school or something?!". Hilarious 😂 I don't remember an instance of children being badly written in the books I've read, I just remember feeling very uncomfortable when I read The Series of Unfortunate Events years ago (I only read the two first books), but it was meant to be weird and absurd. 🤔
Also, I wonder if you feel the same when it comes to a specific storytelling style: I can't stand neverending internal monologues, or very long monologues in the form of dialogues (especially when the characters go on pointless side tangents that don't serve the story at all). I've not seen that happening in the Fantasy books I've read, I've mostly stumbled upon that while reading classics (I DNFed Crime & Punishment by Dostoyevsky because of that). I don't mind slow-paced stories, but please don't mostly rely on monologues. 😢
Your comment made me think of Dark Shadows, which I’ve slowly been warching. The kid, David, has so little supervision, at one point I realized I didn’t remember who his parents were. There’s also the matter of how he gets almost no education.
The blinking issue reminded me that I hate when characters can see a whole range or very specific emotions just by looking into another character's eyes. Either my observation skills are very poor or this isn't how eyes work. I've seen this in several fantasy books but the only example that comes to mind is Elantris by Sanderson.
Didn't even think about that ,but it's so true. Characters be having entire conversations through their eyes 😂
My favorite observation made by newcomer audiences to Lord of the Rings film trilogy in Return of the King is when they have Eye of Sauron functioning like a lighthouse searchlight and totally miss and should have seen Frodo who manages to hide behind a rock. So much for seeing through "earth, stone and flesh." Reactions usually "Sauron. Idiot."
Well, if you're particularly close to someone, especially-this can actually happen, irl.
I have no problem with characters "blinking" in response!
I just infer from context whether it's surprise, sarcasm or shock (I had to go with three S's... but hesitancy probably belongs there too)
For me, it's when an author feels the need to explain and lecture.
It's difficult to nail down, but I love exploring the author's ideas through theme and narrative, but the second I'm "told what to think" it takes me right out of it.
The obvious culprit and absolute king of this is Terry Goodkind. I still have a soft spot for Sword of Truth (I started reading that series maybe age 12, so nostalgia goggles and a lack of wider reading for context at the time) and I'm not of Daniel Green's opinion that he's just a plagiarist (though many comparisons to Jordan and others are obvious... I'm just sorta okay with authors stealing ideas. We get some REALLY good stories that do exactly that. I can't even GET through Eregon or Shanarra, despite several friends telling me how much better they get)
Nope, his TRUE crime (other than being a bit of a c word... I'm British so that word isn't QUITE as taboo :P) is when he abandons his story and characters to just outright explain his philosophy. Sorry buddy, greater minds than yours have failed to convince me of objectivism. A chosen one protagonist with superpowers isn't going to convince me that REALLY we can all just choose to be ubermensch (and deep apologies to Nietzsche on that one. His works are so often twisted for purposes he wouldn't have agreed with, much as with Marx) and neither will caricature badguys twirling their figurative moustaches while they repeat strawmen of real world philosophical arguments.
Really is unfortunate, as a lot of his character work and set pieces are beautiful.
And I have NO problem enjoying works that feature DEEPLY problematic themes and philosophy. I really enjoy the Gor books and I am a sucker for supernatural romance (and that can be REALLY f*cked up when you think about it. Twilight stalker-vamp is tame in comparison :P)
I consider it petty just bc it's SO ambiguous that even personal bias will alter what is "acceptable" (I'll be more willing to accept a lecture I agree with) and it's never a deal breaker.
One of my favourite authors, Pratchett, manages the fine balance of his opinions being quite easy to discern and his criticisms and commentary on the real world obvious... while not appearing to assume the reader is too stupid to follow. (AND you mention him moments later :D Totally agreed. Chapters are good!)
Ok so see, I HATE that too, but it's not "petty" to me. It's bad writing pure and simple and will ruin a book! None of the ones I've mentioned ruin a book for me - I just get annoyed. But the preachiness is so common now and it drives me CRAZY. Let me think! Let me explore or try to figure out how I should think. Treat your readers intelligently.
Yep! And agree with the Goodkind opinion too. He probably read Atlas Shrugged as a teen but then never developed ideas beyond that.
@@Bookborn
It PROBABLY does rise beyond petty :P
I tend to roll my eyes and speed read through it... which is a bad sign.
There are actually several types of blinking. I've watched a lot of videos on behavior analysis and how someone is blinking is very important. For example, rapid blinking is a way of unwittingly exposing that you're being dishonest, or really bothered/surprised by something. Whenever I read about someone blinking I am already imagining the scenario and don't have a problem understanding which type of blinking they're talking about lol.
I have not come across a book that doesn't use quotation marks but if I do, I will not read it. If I have to work to figure out who is saying what, it's just not worth my time. I want to get lost in the story, not spend my time trying to figure out where a thought ends and speaking begins, or where one character's words end and another's begin. That's pure laziness, in my opinion.
It is actually possible to clearly indicate who says what even without quotation marks, though!
But I did recently see some screenshots from a book that did not. 👀 And, good gosh, was that nightmarish!
The character names all starting with the same letter gets me every 👏 time 👏 😂
Fun video!
For me it’s the overuse of “mouth agape” or “their jaw dropped” whenever a character sees something surprising. I just can’t stand that! 😅
I never noticed the blinking thing before but i have the feeling that i am going to now.
Terry Pratchett is my happy space but I hear you about the chapter breaks.
Terry Pratchett is one of my very favorite authors of all time lol! That's the thing about these petty things, they don't ruin a book for me but I still hate them when I experience them haha
😂 This is so great. I found you because of the two year collab you just did with Petrik! And I'm so happy this was my intro video to your channel. The blinking and smirking don't bother me, but I totally get the other three. I can't think of any petty complaints (I feel like mine are the bigger scale complaints, lol). But now I'll have to pay more attention and see if I have some that are lurking. LOL.
This video is simply the best, hahah. Give me all the salty and petty opinions, I love it. And I totally agree with all of these, so you are not alone, lol.
In the same vein as 'blinking', I absolutely hate the 'growling' in books. Like, who the heck growls at someone? 🤣
And I also can't stand it when the 'super thin/emaciated/sickly' character suddenly becomes all strong and bulky after a few days/weeks of training or eating 'well'. I'm sorry, but have you ever seriously tried putting on weight and muscle? That is HARD!!!
Okay, rant over, hahah. Loved this video!!
Oh my gosh you've got all the points I kept thinking about while reading. This video is so fun to watch
You are so right!!! I hate when characters names all begin with the same letter or are super similar!!! Some of my all time fav books do this too! Wheel of Time and Faithful and the Fallen were two that come to mind haha
I agree with your first two... as well as different size book editions. I also hate when characters act against their own personal motivations (unless legit reasons are given); deux ex machina fixes (usually this involves introducing a magical game changer); using magic inconsistently (like introducing teleportation spell, but characters neglect using said spell when it would easily fix problems for them)
See those last two I hate too, but I don't feel like their petty. They are too world-breaking - the story can't be good with them almost ever
@@Bookborn if we're talking just being petty... Authors not embracing the glory of the Oxford Comma!
@@Briaaanz ooooh-YAASSSSSS!
A missing oxford comma actually bothers the heck outta me, more times than not!!!!!
I agree with every single point! Blinking especially, just seems overly dramatic and lazy at the same time. Always takes me out of it. The lack of chapters didnt really bother me until I started leaning heavily on audiobooks where the lack of chapter numbers or blank sections compared to physical makes each section blur into another.
And just makes it really hard to have a good stopping point haha!
I feel the same about all of these, but god damn the BLINKING!!! It sends me!!
Finally someone who understands my pain 😭😭
Irvine Welsh and Cormac McCarthy don't use quotation marks either.
I'm fine with it. Though it's not something I always want to read.
I hate when chapters are unreasonably long to read in one sitting. Or chapters aren't the same lengths so you can't manage time properly. Luckily I read on an ereader and can see how many pages left, but itd be annoying for paper books.
I do wish authors would make use of shorter chapters more. It's so nice for personal pacing haha
Ugh! I don't mind if the chapters just vary in length, generally-but I'm currently reading a book that went from consistently short, breezy chapters to consistently extra lengthy chapters almost precisely at the halfway mark. It was like slamming into a brick wall! Totally found myself wondering why it was suddenly taking me so much longer to actually finish a chapter until I realized it was because the chapters were literally longer. And then I was kinda depressed, because it was going to take me so much longer to finish the book. 😭🙃🙃😅 👀
When you referred to words that grate on other RUclipsrs for some reason the word "undulate" came to mind 🤣
Sounds like we need to pool together some money for a Cameo purchase.
YES! 🤣🤣🤣
Using ' in fantasy names without understanding how it works. It represents a glottal stop and should only be surrounded by vowels so that it can be pronounced. (See Hawaiian names) It is a fun sound but not used well.
using ' in names almost made this list lol but it doens't bug me quite as much as the others. But, I honestly feel like authors do it JUST to feel more "fantasy" instead of any understanding of WHY, like you said.
Can't glottal stops sometimes be utilized _instead_ of a full vowel, like between consonants, too? 🤔🤔
But it's true-I've definitely seen names using ' pretty much just for looks. Elaborate spellings, sometimes, too! 👀
This is SO great! Thank you.
Oh! And when it comes to Jim Butcher, his editor absolutely MUST take the word “shamble” away from him. Every time Dresden walks he is NOT “shambling.” *annoyed glare*
Three year olds are basically baby birds. There is never enough food is there?
I feel like I need to make a video called "editors need to take these words away from these authors" LOL
With a slow, shuffling, awkward gait? Lol
Fun stuff! A lot of smirking in fanfiction too, very irritating. The absence of quotation marks in Day of the Dolphin makes it difficult to know who's talking, but it's from the dolphins' pov so it's a specific plot point not an arbitrary stylistic decision. FYI Finrod IS Felagund, it's his dwarfish appellation 😉
This a great list of petty things, nice work
These are all so petty and I'm here for it XD
As soon as you started talking about Silmarillion I knew it was the "F-names". There's a reason I still struggle to remember what everyone's called...
The amount of times I had to flip back to that genealogy chart to remind myself was crazy haha
@@Bookborn right? ahaha. also, loved all of these. The smirking one especially really irks me. It's just such a lazy authorial choice. Whenever I see that, I roll my eyes..
This is me, searching my manuscript for these things in case I make it to the semifinals in your SPFBO bracket...
Characters "sucking their teeth" in the First Law and J.A.'s other books haha
One of the worst similar name offenders is George R. R. Martin. Have you seen the Targaryen family tree? It's Aegon, Daeron, Aenys, Aerys, Jaehaerys, ARRRRG!!!!!
it's like I get it, they are related, but throw me a reading bone here 😂😭
This theme is something I love. It shows family lineage. This theme is important in the farm boy to hero story The Belgariad series by David Weddings, as the reader follows the main protagonist through his transition and understanding of who he is.
I actually like the no quotation marks for dialogue, but one of my favorite authors is Jose Saramago, who has a very specific style when it comes to dialogue
What do you like about it?
It's totally personal preference, don't think I could come up with a good argument for it. But I feel like the narrator is sort of paraphrasing what the characters are saying, which is a particular form of narration that feels very informal and sort of like someone telling you about something they heard.
Love the channel btw!
Pratchett does use chapters, but only in the books where they serve a specific narrative purpose, like the Moist Von Lipwig books. He also uses them in all of his YA and childrens books.
I understand the annoyance at the overuse of blinking but I think it get the purpose. A bit like the eyes widening slightly, instinctive blinking is a way we often silently acknowledge information that figuratively knocks us of balance. Like with "smirking", I really wish writers would find more ways of expressing this feeling.
I have a couple of petty ones. One is the "audible gasp". I could count on one hand the amount of times I've gasped loud enough for other people to hear it, and they've all been intensely scary or panic-inducing situations. People in novels sometimes loudly gasp at revelations or surprise like we're in a cartoon!
Also, people often just don't check their reflections like normal people. It's hard to explain but it feels off, like a narrator commenting on their appearance the way a human wouldn't about themselves.
The mirror reflection to describe a characters is like writing 101, it's the worst when authors do that
That's the thing, though-fiction can tell of the exceptions, not just what is typically so? 😅😅😁
But, at the same time, I get where you're coming from-sometimes I think kinda similarly, when reading those things, too.🤭🤭🤭
I'm totally with you on the blinking thing and no quotation marks !! surely that's just bad writing. Like not starting sentences with a Capital, not using commas, full stops etc. It's not artsy, its lazy bad writing. Thanks for this thought provoking video. My pet hate is overly describing characters clothing. Its one thing I really hated in the WOT.
Ok but WoT was like SO BAD for that clothing thing LMAO like it's famous, I'm not sure I've ever read a series that's as bad as that (that being said, I don't imagine a lot while reading so I can also leave most over-descriptions!)
LOL to the snacks. My 5 year old and 3 year old would have been literally climbing on me and screaming/crying for a snack.
There is *literally* no other possibility.
I think 'blinked' is a shorthand for the larger reaction of 'rocked back on his heels', as in was surprised by something, had to reassess in a moment *BEAT* No?
Chain mail being decoration
Ok this is a good one tell me more. Like they don't acknowledge that it's awkward and heavy? Or it doesn't stop things?
@@Bookborn primarily it doesn't stop things.
I actually get even more annoyed if it really awkward, but doesn't stop things.
If thats how chainmail worked, people wouldn't have worn it to battles for a thousand years
My petty thing is too much detail. Let my imagination do some work, that's part of why I read. There is a point where the detail is useful, and even a point where it is needed (for example making sure you know that Ron has a younger sister as well as 5 older brothers who all have red hair and freckles). But if an author explains every nuance of a sword fight from the angles, the parries, the foot movement, etc it isn't needed. Use a little to give us a point of reference.
Salvatore did this incredibly when he described the series of movements that Zaknafein led Drizzt into the downward double cross parry which, according to Drizzt was wrong since it had no counter. Drizzt later discovered the appropriate counter for it.
And yes, I'm aware I keep mentioning Salvatore's work with Forgotten Realms every time I leave a comment on one of your videos.
It's ok, we all have those books and series that live rent free in our minds haha
Maybe someone already mentioned this but all the Aes Sedai names that start with the letter "S". Dozens of them...
Also, similar to your dislike of "they blinked", is the use of "so and so shrugged".
Yes, SO many S's. I had to take a few month break on reading between books 8 and 9 I think when I first read them, and at some point I had to look up several of the Aes Sedai to remind myself who they were haha
I'm so awful at names at the best of times, the initial letter thing really gets to me.
It's not a book, but the last offender of this for me was the game Elden Ring. The names of the various demigods start with certain letters to denote how they're related, which is cool in theory until you need to tell the names Godwyn, Godfrey and Godrick apart.
My thoughts exactly! I was going to comment on Elden Ring! Though as someone pointed out... GRRM might have actually been sneaking in something there, as almost every name starts with G, R or M... think about it.
When a character’s mouth goes to or forms a “straight line.” Is this the awkward smile meme? I always find myself making the face whenever I read this line.
lol I can see how this is annoying for the same reason as the blinking - nobody has a straight line mouth?? But I get the concept so it doesn't bother me for some reason
As a mom of two, I completely agree with you about the kid thing! Drives me nuts! How did your character manage to sleep for 10 hours and then have a life when she’s got a toddler? Like, how?? My youngest is 11 and still needs me every 15 mins! And I HATE no quotes, hate hate hate. I believe a current example would be Sally Rooney. As for me, I get so annoyed when an author keeps using a certain phrase over and over. The one that made me tear my out was all the sandwiches in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books. I swear, on every page, someone was making a sandwich. Open faced, hot, cold ham, every kind of sandwich. I ranted about it so much my husband still calls those the Sandwich Books!
I'm DYING over the sandwiches 😂 I haven't read that series but that is the weirdest quirk lolll
@@Bookborn it is an interesting series
@@Bookborn Maybe the author was just really, really hungry.
I love this video, all super valid points. I personally hate the word “alighted” can we just say “landed”. I notice it literally every single time the word is used.
Thanks Tyra, now I'm always going to notice the word alighted in a negative way
Okay, but "landed" feels more like running to ground, or jumping and landing solidly on two feet from a certain height, while "alighted" feels more like coming down or up on wings(or like something lightweight just getting blown onto something by a gently breeze). "Landed" is rough, and heavy(unless you included qualifiers, like 'softly', or such)-"alighted" is softer, and more eloquent/beautiful. 😋 🤣 ((But that's probably just my own breed of petty, right there; So, ignore me.😁))
Ugh the no quotation marks one. I had to read ‘no country for old men’ and it did this. Hated it.
I didn't know No Country for Old Men did that too. WHYYYY i hate it.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who noticed Jim Butcher's heavy use of blinking! I've been listening through Dresden Files this year and it seems like characters are blinking at each other every few pages!
Tough to explain but I saw this a bunch in The Name of the Wind. Everything Kvothe came across, money or mundane objects, later became crucial plot points and exactly what he needed.
ahhh like overuse of Chekhov's gun?
Omg, yesss! I have no clue what "he blinked" is supposed to convey, so sometimes I end up just staring at the page for awhile trying to figure it out
I hate it so much lol
The blinking one doesn't bother me, in most cases, from context, I usually take it to mean they closed their eyes for a second (either in thought, despair or whatever), as opposed to it being a standard reflex action blink, it's just a quicker way to convey that.
Off the top of my head I can't think of any petty things that annoy me, I'm sure there are some but they are the type of thing I probably only think about when they are right in front of me then promptly stop thinking about until it crops up again, then I forget about...
But I feel like"they closed their eyes in thought" is very different than a blink, idk LOL I said it was petty
@@Bookborn 🤣 (But that implies they didn't open them again[ terribly soon]? 😏) 😘😋😋
Well, I was watching this video and I was shocked by the first one to the point I blinked in surprise, but by the third I was enjoying myself so much that I couldn't stop smirking before I showed the video to my 3 young boys Tim, Tom and Tumultuous (Tum for short) and they all said 'all art must suffer flaws to reveal the true beauty of the craft' which you know, I thought was a bit much.
Let me slightly add/change to this. I was 300 pages into chapter 1 when I saw your video. I just blinked when I saw the title. I then clicked on it while smirking.... Then the rest of your comment. (I think the point of blinking was that it was NOT followed with "in surprise". Just blinking on its own.)
This comment took years off my life
If I had to pick a reading pet peeve of my own, it's when ebooks have pictures or weird formatting that don't render well on my reading app, so the map is all squished or the table of data spills over into itself or whatever.
I'm also bothered by people who use the wrong amount of attributions in dialogue. Too much and I'm like "you used said seven times in six sentences" (alternatively, why would you use ejaculated in this context); too little and I have to reread it three times to figure out who said the line at the top of the next page. This isn't a problem with authors really good at character voice but it can get annoying.
EJACULATED there's just never a good enough reason to use that word lol 😂
I think there needs to be more pontificating, retorting, and various other words that let us know the attitude in which something is being communicated. And yes, even sex scenes shouldn't use ejaculated...leave that word for the physiology texts.
Frank Herbert and his excessive use of 'Presently'
Seems like a lot of authors in these comments need to be held hostage over their favorite words 😂
@@Bookborn _crutch words ?_ 🤣🤣🤣 (I know I have a few just when I'm talking conversationally, too!👀)
Mine is "NOSTRILS FLARED"...LIKE who cares and who notices
My first thought was when they create their own curse words. “Hells bells” in Dresden for example.
Lol! I just finished commenting about the same thing! (But different example)
Yeah, this FOR SURE is a super common one I hear about (although I'll admit Hells bells is funny and I like it LOL)
Hells bells? Oh boy... I guess I'm really old because I remember my parents saying that, a LOT. 😅
Hell's bells! is archaic rather than made-up. It was quite a common expression 100 years ago.
When there is no section break in a long chapter. It’s like I have no room to breath during the 30 or 40+ pages.
describing things that are obvious and pointless to the story, like, everything there is on the food table, or a tree has green leaves except for two, one is grey the other rotten ...
I think "blinking" might be a modern day anachronism? To convey a character thinking, "um, ookaaaaay...". I agree with smirk. "No quotation marks" author is recovering from formatting last minute typed college creative writing drafts. My favorite realization is thinking "I need to convey it perfectly, their look of exasperation..." then realize that big novelists actually write "he gave her a look.." and gets on with the story. Oh wait, mean I guess I could say a look of exasperation. Problem solved. Recalling my previous comment rant on inane vs mundane language and 12 word pages of pedestrian un-novel exchanges. That's why I will never fault The Wheel of Time paperbacks for their descriptiveness which I find immersive and an actual break from day to day hecticness.
What about the Wheel of Time hardbacks?
Finegan's smirk irked Fabio and Falstaff, but Fredegar could do nothing more than blink in return.
Smooth.
I'm currently reading "Spinning Silver" and the child in there was written SO WELL!! I was quite impressed.
My petty complaint is when an editor misses something with grammar/structure. Like an arbitrary change of tense in the middle of a paragraph or the like. If it's not prevalent through the whole work, it shouldn't bother me as much as it does...
Spinning Silver is just a fantastic novel all around, I loved it so much.
I'm reading a Hugo winner currently - so you know, it's probably been edited professionally a lot - and in the first chapter it said "sad" instead of "said". How did we miss this??
Pratchett... yes, yes, yes!!! I totally agree!
I dislike dream sequences, especially when the chapter starts off with one. Most of the time I do not realize it is a dream until the last lines of the chapter! I think Eye of the World did this. Recently for me, one of the First Law books did it with Glotka! Every time this happens I just groan, oh it is a trick just a dream.
Blood Meridian was my first read that had no quotation marks. It was first surprising, then interesting, then mildly annoying, and really its a shame I was wasting so many emotions on formatting. That book has just become vibes without punctuation in my memory. Interestingly, I didn't notice Pratchett avoided chapters until it was pointed out to me a few years back. I guess it goes to show that some things stick out more for some people than for others!
My pet hate in fantasy novels is actually the names thing you mentioned. I'm not going to pretend otherwise and that Tolkien example in your video is 👌
I feel personally attacked.
I love characters smirking[-but it probably does get overused]. 🤣🤣🤣
(Also, I was unaware that not everyone actually utilizes intentional[ or even unintentional] blinking to convey unspoken attitudes or moods, irl.)
I imagine in blinking cases like that last you read it was to indicate that someone is either totally unresponsive or essentially just frozen in place though, but not literally, so at very least [involuntarily ]blinking is still occurring...and enough time is passing that a blink has happened. But maybe I'm wrong.. ? 🤔🤷♀️🤷♀️😁 🤣🤣🤣🤣
_P. S. - I love this video^-^ 🤭🤍💜_
((Somehow, the PETTINESS delights me!!^-^))
Like all your defenses for blinking make absolute sense but for some reason calling out the blinking just annoys me SO MUCH. 😂
@@Bookborn 😹 That's fair-I'm sure I have a few things like that myself, I just tend to blank on them until I actually see them. I should start taking notes, honestly.🤭🤭^-^😊
Cartographer was a really good book, that part about the kid I remember the scene, just never connected with the feeding.
Any reference to the song "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon. Rand AL Thor - no thank you very much
I hate it when a character that suppose to be around is forgotten. One major one for me is in dresden files. A character with major connection to the main character is around but was not mentioned at all aside for i think 2 scenes.
Sanderson used snort a ton in a couple of books.. Stood out every time he did it.
I haven't noticed that in Sanderson's books, I thought his famous one was the "raised an eyebrow" it's used sooo much
I feel like characters blinking is something I never noticed but now something I'm going to notice all the time and be as annoyed by it as you are! So thanks! lol.
Tbh the comments on this video are the worst like I've gained at least 10 new things that are going to annoy me 😂
No, give me quotation marks.. I NEED them.. I also need chapter notations! And the names all being so similar always boggles my brain!
OMG YES ON THE KIDS! There are so many times I'm like " there is NO way this kid is acting like this, my small kids would NEVER" lol If I didn't feed my 5 and 9 year old like hourly I would DIE from how much they whine at me that they are STARVING to death lol But I think my biggest is this one, like KNOW HOW KIDS WORK!
A word that rubs me the wrong way is “clamber.” People are constantly clambering in fantasy books, but rarely anywhere else nor even in other forms of literature.
Another one, and it’s particular to Janny Wurts, is the over-misuse of the “If …. , [then] ….” construction. She uses this about once per page, maybe more. Sometimes it’s a conditional in the ordinary sense. Sometimes it’s a conditional where the antecedent is simply the restatement of something the reader already knows (which is OK but gets annoying), and sometimes it’s one where the antecedent “if” clause is actually introducing new factual information. I actually put down a series I was otherwise enjoying because of this petty writing tic getting under my skin. (I read the first 5 of the 11 books, and may go back to it sometime. It’s otherwise quite good.)
ok that's so weird, I never thought about clambering but you are so right, it's used SO MUCH.
@@Bookborn My obsession with it started when an author, I forget who, misused it and I had to go look it up to make sure that it wasn't my misunderstanding. Then, I started seeing it everywhere. Now, I'm afraid I've afflicted the same curse on you.
I prefer no chapters. Chapters are arbitrary! *smirking as I type*
HOW DARE YOU KYLE I don't care if they are arbitrary they let me sleep at night with a stopping point lolll
Really fun video! I will play devils advocate for a second and say there’s probably a good reason lots of high fantasy authors have names that start with the same letter and I think it’s because they try to keep names sounding like they are all passed down from a different foreign language, so in Mandarin you might see a bunch people with the name Chan or Chun or Chin. But yeah, I can see why it would be a petty annoyance.
If I had a petty grievance, it would probably be when two characters are starting to feel some kind of romance and then all of the sudden we cut to them waking up in bed together. Like what the heck, I’m not a prude or anything but sex is like the peak of where the relationship should go, not where it starts! It relieves way too much of the tension for my tastes way too fast. And this is in HUNDREDS of books/movies I’ve seen, to the point where I just roll my eyes every time I see it. Also it bugs me why we always need a romance to begin with. I’m always happy when I see boys and girls just being loyal friends where they’re not trying to seduce each other.
ok I'm so with you on romance which is why I hate most romance in fantasy lol like give us some build up!
I agree completely about the early sex scenes. As a matter of fact, I only briefly skim over sex scenes, anyway because I'm just not interested in that aspect of the story (my own imagination is far better lol!) unless it's specifically related to something important to know about a character. Such as, they're overly aggressive, have self-esteem issues, think they're a great lover when they aren't, etc..
Agreed. Just...yuck.
I had this recently when I was reading Fireborne but I see it a lot in the few YA & middle grade books I read - I really hate random blushing in books. Like "His hand brushed against my arm and I felt my face flush". There's just so much blushing like I know you're teenagers but your face must just be constantly red.
Oh yeah, characters names starting with the same letter or sounding similar is irritating, as I have bad memory for names. But I give the petty hate to inproper use of armor in fight scenes or lack of it. Soldiers stabing through chest, cuting belly, sides, heads of etc - where is armor? Chainmail? Breastplate? Something?? The worst is stabing through an armor like it was nothing. When I'm reading Stormlight it always irritate me that there is so much description of battle wounds in places that would be prevented with armor, which is rarely described - the highborn officer with his belly cut at battle of the Tower - where is the breastplate that even Kaladin got at the beginning of WoR but NEVER worn? They always fight with uniforms and nothing more. I got angry just describing it! In movies it's triggering me even more as I see that armor there being split like butter...
One series that I really enjoy despite it constantly frustrating me is The Licanius Trilogy by James Islington. The author constantly uses all forms of the word "hesitate" incessantly. Every character hesitates before they say anything and I just want to, very politely, tell the author to never use thst word again and to trust the reader to interpret the proper flow of dialogue. It'll be on like every page of a chapter. Sometimes 5 times or more on a single page. It's got to the point where whenever I see that word in any book it pulls me out. 😅 And also, every character only makes wry or dry remarks, ruefully smiles or inclines their heads. It's a good story despite these flaws though.
When you mentioned multiple characters with the same beginning letters, my mind went immediately to the Silmarillion. Then you held it up and I've been laughing for a few minutes now 😂
For me it's the phrase "I can take care of myself" because most of the time, no they can't. The minute I see it, my eye starts twitching
lolll the "I can take care of myself" is totally the "Strong female character" phrase that's sooo overused.
Now that you’ve read ASOIAF have you heard GRRM talk about the names of characters with similar names/start with the same letter? He speaks about how authors get told don’t call your characters with the same letter start, but he had more than 26 characters so couldn’t. Then he thought of the history of the UK and realised families all have the same names, so he jumped in on it as well. Tywin, Tyrion, Tytos. Then all the Robbs, all the Jons. It was to mimic the history of the UK. But he does talk about how you’re not meant to do it. It’s quite interesting
When authors name their characters with names from our world. Like, I just read a fantasy novel that has elves and dwarves and a guy named Luis and a girl named Maria. Like, come on
I don't mind this just because so many fantasy novels make me have to just sort of...ignore the names because they are so complicated 😂
Like and comment for the stats, I'll watch after work!
I get annoyed when authors make it seem like characters have no choice in what they do or say. This happens a lot with romance. Like a guy startled a girl by kissing her and she is surprised to find she is kissing him back even though she didn’t like him. That kind of thing. Our bodies don’t just make decisions for us despite our preferences.
A good reason I don't like romance 😂
The thing is, they're typically implying that.. on a subconscious level ..she actually _WAS_ attracted to him, though. Despite the fact that she didn't consciously think[ or admit] that she did. (Which is still pretty annoying, though.)
But.....actually ... involuntary body movement can be a very real thing for some people, sometimes. Like, I know people who talk out loud without having any idea that they are doing so, because they legit believe they were just thinking it silently to themselves. Reflexive movement is also a thing, like if you're in a particular habit of responding to certain things in certain ways, or if you just have this thinking ingrained in you that certain things are just how certain other things should be responded to-you can absolutely respond that way, especially when caught off-guard, before your brain catches up and really thinks about what you actually like or want or not. People come in all different types, and what is either usual or unusual for some may be completely different for others, and it's really easy as subjective humans not to realize that sometimes. 😅😅 😊
will undulate undulate its way on to this list?
I checked out the digital version of "The Forest of Vanishing Stars" because listening to the audio, I thought I was hearing way too many references to blinking, so I did a search of "blink" and there were about fifty. Usually, "She blinked a few times" or something like "He blinked at her." I then did a search of the novel I'm writing and removed all but one reference, when she blinks repeatedly to adjust her eyes to light after being in the dark a long time. Nothing important has been lost.
I try not to start character names with the same letter, at least not more than two per letter. With Tolkien, there is a good reason he did it with the names: he based Middle Earth in part off Norse epics and sagas, in which lots of characters have identical or similar-sounding names. Don't get me started on all the names in "Heimskringla" that start with "Thor" (hint: it's over 30) and how many different characters have the same name. And that's just one saga set!
I limit the scenes with children, and when they appear, they behave like children: arguing over petty things, whining to their parents, disobeying, asking inappropriate questions, etc.
What annoys the crap out of me in any book? The dreaded biting of the labials. The rare occasion I actually see this is real life, it's really disturbing and I have to look away, and I hate reading about it in books. Especially since it has been used to convey every conceivable emotion (i.e. anger, fear, nervousness, happiness, uncertainty, frustration, thoughtfulness, pleading), so it's become meaningless, since it could mean anything. One book had so much chomping of lips that I DNF'd it for that reason.
One thing that I dislike about fantasy books is how Winter is ALWAYS a worse season that summer. I know that’s because most writers live in Western countries, but it still bothers me a little anyway. Winter is always viewed as the season of hardship, but where I live and in a lot of other places as well, the season of hardship is summer.
I feel like that is a result of a broader issue of so much fantasy pulling from northern/western countries (Europe, predominantly). If we had more fantasy inspired by India, the Amazon, the Middle East, Africa, etc. It would be less prevalent.
Right. I live in southern brazil and summer is the season I'm least inclined to like leave my apartment and do things hahaha
This funny, because I started writing a fantasy book when I was younger in which the temperamental personification of Summer was the bad-guy. (I wish I had ever finished writing it.) 🤣🤣
Or it's more of a modern problem; winter was the season of rest and feasts/holidays even in the west. Summer vacation wasn't a thing three hundred years ago.
Interesting point! You're reasoning is totally correct, but that's certainly something to consider...🤔
My nitpick is going to be with sci-fi authors with no scientific education who don't have a scientist proofread their works. The problem arises when an American author decides that they are going to use metric in their stories, but don't understand that pounds are to Newtons and slugs are to kilograms. That is to say, there is no true conversion from pounds to kilograms without assumptions being made. Oh, wait...I'm getting to technical. Let me just say that your mass (slugs/kilograms) on the moon and the Earth are exactly the same. Your weight (or force of gravity on your mass) is different. You should never say that your character weights and list kilograms as weight is force. Kilograms is mass. Oh, shoot, I did it again. Sufficeth to say, this totally ripped me out of an otherwise compelling story when a character offhandedly said they weighed roughly 1/5 of their Earth weight, but that "weight" was given in kilograms. And I have only have a B of Sci in computer science and don't particularly like sci-fi. I can't imagine what level of eye twitching this causes for engineers, natural scientists, and astronomy buffs.
As an engineer I feel this, although my personal one that always gets me is bullets being shot in the air and they go through water and are still as powerful/don't change any direction (this happens in movies all the time and literally fills me with rage).
@@Bookborn guns and gun terminology in fiction/movies set off so many gun enthusiasts. "It's a magazine, not a clip!" "Why is that revolver not empty after firing 10 rounds?" and that's before they even think about ballistics. :D Heck, I know this stuff and I can count on one hand the number of times I've gone out to shoot my guns.
Great video. Enjoyed that.
One of my peeves is the use of the word “ululate”. It suddenly started appearing far more regularly. Was this on a word-of-the-day calendar that numerous authors owned? Did they decide they liked the word so worked it into their stories?
The overuse and misuse of "sniff". E.G. "He sniffed as he chuckled...". When you start noticing it, it it is all over the place. I think it is often used to convey agreement, annoyance, or a sarcastic emotive response to something someone has said. But in real life that is all more of a soft blowing out of the nose (granted is there even a word for this?). Closer to a nasal hu-rumph? Not a sniff! I can't take it and it's petty.
Oh no. I can tell this is one that's going to start annoying me now.
I think maybe it's because there isn't really a singular word for, like, the reverse of a sniff? Where it's a quick outward puff, instead of an inward one? 👀 (Like, because huff usually implies irritation not agreement, and usually comes out the mouth not the nose?)
But, I mean, I dunno-maybe there are some people out there who legit breathe inward through their nose while or shortly before doing things like chuckling?? I have no idea-but I feel like I'm going to start noticing it now, too. 🤣
I recently read The Color of Magic and yeah Pratchett can’t bother to use chapters. Idk if I’ll continue with Discworld for that reason alone. You wanna talk about being petty Hillary lol
omg nooooo but it's worth getting over it because he's a genius. At least give Guards or Good Omens a try!
Covers changing style partway in series.... OK thats major not petty
Taking years to release sequels...
A very minor one I've noticed is that authors are obsessed with using the phrase "audible click." I distinctly remember a scene in the Wheel of Time where a character even "shut their mouth with an audible click" - which, just...how? Why? If your mouth is making noticeable clicking noises when you shut it, you should probably call a doctor.
I always assumed the clicking noise was from teeth hitting each other because they shut it so hard but like you still aren’t wrong 😂
I need a word between a laugh and a chuckle that isnt a smirk. Because i hate the word chuckle
I agree that chuckle can only be used in the exact right circumstance
I don't even think the name thing is petty, constant blinking or smirking might be annoying but they don't make the book genuinely difficult to read like fourteen characters named some variant of Arya.
I really didn't need new things to notice. :) Kelsier smirked. ;)
I'm not mad at EVERY smirk...Kelsier is def a smirker I'm ok with it...but when characters do it every time it's just 😭
1. When characters ask each other a bunch of questions and no one knows what is going on for a long time. 2. When characters argue with each other about some other character they all know and they all claim to know more about the other character's personality quirks. 3. When the characters get all the attention in the story and the world is overlooked. 5. When the plot is driven by inexplicable evil and revenge. 6. When the magic system is mostly just plot armor. 7. When creatures in the story sound like they are dumber than the people. 8. When dragons are treated like they are automatically evil and solitary. 9. When the word nonplussed is used when it really is not the right scenario. 10. When the villain is ridiculously overpowered at the beginning of the story but makes a dumb mistake and then seems off balance the rest of the story and is ultimately defeated because of the dumb mistake at the beginning. 11. When the main character only gets the use of their powers at the power level required to win when they are at the crisis of the story. 12. When the characters know each other so well they have nothing but inside jokes and backhanded comments to make about each other. 13. When characters are introduced during a crisis in the story just to save the main character. 14. When the main character blacks out during a confrontation with a villain and wakes up later in good health and is able to escape. 15. When one of the characters knows something super specific about a creature in the story that makes it easy to defeat or avoid it. 16. When the Macguffin in the story is acquired after lots of struggle but turns out to not be enough to stop the villain and the main character just wings it at the end and wins somehow. 17. When prophecies are given in the story just to make it seem like there is an unavoidable event coming just to avoid that event and make the point that the future is unsure or unwritten. 18. When strange humanoid creatures as main characters insult each other based on their different physical characteristics or cultural beliefs or societal traits just to make it seem like they have a real history together. 19. When a love interest slaps the main character and argues at the beginning of the scene but at the end of the scene they act like they are in love and nothing bad just happened. 20. When there is an omen or curse that is mentioned for going into the scary woods but it never happens because the main character finds a clue after going into the woods.
Awesome video.
Children are usually portrayed more accurately in film, since that is a visual medium and child actors are more likely to act age-appropriate without even trying to.
The new Obi Wan show would like to talk to you (lol jokes aside, I do think you're right!)
Also characters raising one eyebrow. Most people aren't even capable of moving their eyebrows independently, and those who do only ever do so ironically. It's a performative expression - not something people actually do instinctively (ie grimacing when faced with a room full of scorpions, laughing when witnessing something funny, etc.). The result is characters that I'm supposed to read as snarky or curious instead coming reading as personified obnoxious RUclips thumbnails.
try different languages in french they do not use "quotation marks" for dialogue instead
- 1st person's dialogue
- 2nd person's response
- 1st person reply
but without naming who's speaking.
an advantage though is that it avoids the constant use of said