Better Writer = Less Tolerant Reader

Total Read Time: 3 minutes

["frustrated" by deboer]

Stop me if this sounds familiar…

As I’ve focused on improving my writing skills over the years, I’ve found I’ve become an increasingly anal reader.  In fact, I’m most frustrated by those mistakes that used to be my own.  I guess becoming hyperaware of them in order to eliminate them from my own work makes them feel like nails on the chalkboard to me in others’ work as well.

I’m not saying my writing’s perfect by any means, and I know all writers need to start somewhere.  What drives me nuts is when I see these mistakes in works by well-established authors published by a major house.  In these cases, I often find myself actually yelling obscenities at the book (if I am alone), or slamming it shut in disgust.

I’ve even found that some books I really enjoyed before I started writing have now become unreadable and wonder if I was better off in my ignorance.  I guess it’s too late now…  I can only take comfort in being a ‘more discerning’ reader.

Some of the things that really bug me:

Head Hopping

If Character A is providing the POV for a scene, for the love of all that is holy, please don’t jump into Character B’s head to tell me what they are thinking (or any other character, for that matter).  It’s disjointed, and it’s confusing.  If we really need to know Character B’s thoughts, either rewrite the scene from their POV, or break their inner monologue into a separate scene.

Unless Character A is a telepath, they have no idea what any of the other characters are thinking and can only make assumptions based on their speech, expressions, and actions, just like in the real world.

The Mid-Scene Character Sketch

I was reading a book the other day that broke off in the middle of a tense scene to introduce 6 minor characters.  All dialogue and forward action ground to a halt while physical features and personality traits were described in detail by the main character, who was already familiar with these 6 other characters.  What the hell???

First of all, this kind of bulk description of people the main character already knows isn’t believable.  When you run into someone you know, do you think to yourself, “Ah yes, Jimmy.  He has brown hair, green eyes, and a short temper.  He loves his pet hamster, and enjoys playing laser tag on Fridays…”  Of course not.  The guy’s probably just ‘Jimmy’ to you, or maybe ‘Jimmy-From-Work’ or something.

Second, while the writer stops to describe the character, the forward momentum of the story has also stopped.  And let’s face it, it isn’t interesting to read several paragraphs describing some character you just met, nestled in the middle of the scene like a mini Wikipedia article.

Show me the character’s personality with their speech and actions.  Keep the story moving.  Intersperse physical descriptions in the dialogue tags or the character’s mannerisms.  Don’t describe everything in detail.  Give me the basics and let me fill in the blanks.  I care about what’s going to happen, not what Character A’s toenails look like (unless it’s relevant to the story).

Implied Intimacy Fail

So this same book also has the main character telling me about how close he is with his childhood friend, who is also his current lover.  See, I would really find this more believable if the main character didn’t call her by her full title in his inner monologue.  (Let’s say it was Princess Penelope.)

If you’re that close to someone, show me, don’t tell me, and make it believable.  At least call her Penelope, or even Penny, while all the other characters use her title.  This says far more than spelling out the exact nature of the relationship. 

Show me how the two characters interact and let me put it together myself.  Don’t dumb it down and have the main character give me crib notes. 

I’m sure I could go on, but I think I’ll end my rant here before it gets out of hand…

How about you?  Do you find being a writer has made you a less tolerant reader?  What mistakes bother you the most?