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65 Cliches In Writing To Avoid Like The Plague

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It was a dark and stormy night. Mary Sue was looking at her ridiculously beautiful face in the mirror. “I’m so ugly,” she thought to herself, “No one will ever be interested in me.” Outside, the local quarterback and the president of the Shakespearean club were fighting for the right to take her to the prom. Nobody knew it, but the quarterback was secretly a vampire, and the literature club president was the estranged heir to the largest corporation in the nation.

Did you notice how many cliches I just crammed into that little paragraph? You have seen all of these elements and many others time and time again. Writers everywhere, doesn’t matter which genre they write in, keep using them to the point where the reader can sleepwalk through the story and still know what will happen next.

Not to offend anyone, but some writers just can’t do any better, while others genuinely think that using as many recognizable tropes as possible will draw a bigger audience because readers only respond well to something they are already familiar with. And that is a huge cliche in itself.

The only thing literary tropes really do is drag your reader out of the story. And if your entire plot is one big trope, chances are many people will opt to avoid it altogether.

For this article, we collected some of the worst storytelling tropes readers find most annoying. How many of these would you like to see disappear forever? Would you like to add anything to this list of cliches writers should stop using? Let us know in the comments, and definitely share this article with any writer you know.

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

"Describing women of color like they're a dessert menu. 'She had skin of a dark chocolate cinnamon mocha cocoa coffee cake African princess.'"

reddit.com Report

47points

Boii 1 year ago

Plot twist, it's a book about cupcakes.

21points

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#2

"Romanticizing mental illness. Stop it."

oohrosie Report

45points

Esme Weatherwax 1 year ago

Yes stop it! There's nothing to romanticise about mental illness. Sometimes there's a lot to laugh at - I can say without any downvotes as I'm a lifelong sufferer.

14points

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#3

geminiloveca said:
"Characters describing themselves while looking in the mirror."

HelloIsFloob replied:
"She looked tenderly into the mirror with her technicolor eyes, her perfect, flowing hair shining beautifully. Her dress, her makeup, her every conceivable aspect was absolutely, divinely perfect. Mary Sue sighed. Why was she born flawless? Why couldn't she just be a normal human being like everyone else? She shrugged it off and took her pet dragon to magic school."

geminiloveca Report

42points

Boii 1 year ago

Mixed feelings because it kinda is a good opportunity as long as it's just a quick event

10points

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#4

"Two guys fighting for one girl who is surprised that anybody at all likes her. Usually a high school student, the guys (one or both) generally have some sort of supernatural aspect, small town, girl doesn’t have more than one good friend, I could go on."

KittenWhiskers24 Report

38points

Boii 1 year ago (edited)

And of course, she wears glasses, because in such novels glasses are always ugly.

14points

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#5

"Adding romance that doesn't further the plot. Unnecessary romances or relationships always come off as being predictable or forced."

gygmypoat Report

35points

Boii 1 year ago

I disagree personally but I see where this is coming from and it's not unreasonable.

7points

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#6

"This is one of my favorites: a contest to see who can write the most atrocious opening sentence. The 2018 winner:

'Cassie smiled as she clenched John’s hand on the edge of an abandoned pier while the sun set gracefully over the water, and as the final rays of light disappeared into a star-filled sky she knew that there was only one thing to do to finish off this wonderful evening, which was to throw his severed appendage into the ocean’s depths so it could never be found again — and maybe to get some custard after'."

Panicked_Turkey Report

32points

Nicole Weymann 1 year ago

I like it 😂 where's the rest of John?

15points

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#7

"The 'big' cliches are not so bad. A princess locked in a tower, a boy who is secretly the heir to the throne, a guy has some weird thing happen to him and gets superpowers and becomes a superhero. The sort of over-arching plotline cliches might not be optimal but they are far from the worst thing you can do. People like that sort of familiarity.

What really kills a story is having a bunch of small cliches. What you might call sentence or paragraph cliches. Jokes we have seen before. Dialogue exchanges we have seen before. Scenes that play out in the exact way they have played out in other books. Description we have seen before. Your story can have the craziest, most original over-arching plotline, but if it's strung together with a bunch of cliches it will be boring."

Oberon_Swanson Report

29points

Boii 1 year ago

I agree but also you will most likely not come up with something new, everything has been there before. Just saying, don't break a leg because you are trying to be suuuuuper extra exclusive.

10points

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#8

"Using too many words to describe what could easily be said in a few words. I'm guilty of this myself, but I try to cut down on it."

reddit.com Report

28points

Jessica Wood 1 year ago

But I have to reach the word count.

10points

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#9

HumanShadow said:
"Children who speak and act like adults."

Dr-DudeMan-Jones replied:
"The thing is, kids are always trying to act like adults. The key is to write a kid who is trying (and failing) rather than writing a kid who is essentially an adult. I think Stranger Things does this very well. The frequent misuse of profanity also helps."

HumanShadow Report

27points

Froggie 1 year ago

Watched too many movies where it’s like this

5points

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#10

"Characters brushing off injuries... like if your hero just got stabbed, he's not gonna be ok right away.

Otherwise just not having a basic grasp of anatomy.

Conversely, heroes that never get injured at all Irk me.

Orcs or Drow as antagonists... its so overdone. Use illithids, or those dog ppl who's name I can never remember... also just the "race that is evil" trope in general is so bland."

TimeZoneBandit Report

24points

Littlebunnyfufu 1 year ago

But, it's merely a flesh wound!

12points

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#11

"Infantilizing mental illness, or 'curing' mental illness by getting laid.

Sometimes the infantilization of mental illness almost crosses into the 'born s*xy yesterday' trope, which really just tips it over into being distasteful on many levels."

Chuffies Report

24points

Boii 1 year ago

That's just silly

3points

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#12

"Describing the clothes of a character in so much detail that it ends up being two paragraphs."

23points

Boii 1 year ago

And in such a fashion that nobody understands it anyway, I love it

5points

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#13

"'It was a dark and stormy night.' While it worked for Madeline L’Engle, it didn’t work for Snoopy."

KhunDavid Report

22points

N Miller 1 year ago

This is now enough of a cliche that it can be referenced by subversion. "It wasn't a dark and stormy night - it should have been, but the weather gods had been distracted by the fire thief, so the sky was clear and cloudless. The moon illuminated...."

3points

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#14

"If a plan is explained before it happens, it will fail. If it's not explained it will work out just fine."

22points

Boii 1 year ago

It will be explained afterwards if it's a huge success

4points

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#15

"Avoid the "God in the machine". Sudden and contrived resolutions of unsolvable issues by a surprise and slightly unbelievable intervention."

PapaOoMaoMao Report

22points

Niall Mac Iomera 1 year ago

*Out of the machine. The god is outside of the mechanics of the plot.

1point

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#16

"Love triangles."

aquatermain Report

21points

Stardust she/her 1 year ago

As opposed to this love tesseract imagesqtbn...sqpCAU.png

16points

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#17

"Zombies apocalypses... I'm thinking why is this still a thing.

Oh, and Vampires hitting on teenage chicks too."

21points

Stardust she/her 1 year ago

It becomes a bit pedo-ish to me because that vampire has been around for more than 10x the protag’s life yet they still feel that there’s nothing wrong with loving them. That’s just my personal opinion, don’t downvote

10points

Jessie 1 month ago

Well they’re probably 10x the age of any living person and someone that looks like a 25 year old just doesn’t really go with a normal 90 year old.

0points

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Boii 1 year ago

Vampires always baffled me, why would they chat with their food?

6points

Froggie 1 year ago

Zombie apocalypses are honestly fun to read, it’s the same disaster but a whole new story each time

4points

Froggie 1 year ago

Plus zombie apocalypses terrify me, so I like scaring myself

3points

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Lisa H 1 year ago

I like zombies, though...

3points

Erik Ivan 1 year ago

Yeah, becuase a dude who is several hundred years old would hang out at the local high school. I guess vampires grow up extremley slow?

2points

Emie N. 1 year ago

There are plenty of female vampires that hit on teen boys too and its just as gross.

0points

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#18

"'He could see anger in her eyes, and a hint of dissatisfaction, maybe a trace of sorrow as well.'

People don’t see all emotion in the eyes, but loads of stories are written like this, where a character can look in someone’s eyes and see their entire emotional spectrum. Emotions are seen in the entire face, not to mention body language as a whole."

pearlsanddaisies Report

20points

Boii 1 year ago

You have never seen my mom if you think you cannot see anger in someone's eyes, you can see death in there as well

12points

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#19

"Teenage protagonists whose parents are dead or just never around."

HotTakeBabe Report

20points

Lisa H 1 year ago

If it's a movies from the 90's or earlier, then it's the kids that are never around and the parents don't care.

2points

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#20

"Love at first sight. Unless you plan on doing it for comedy, or using it in a genuinely different or interesting way with full knowing what the trope is, DON'T USE IT. Love doesn't work that way. Love is slow and gradual. When it's gradual, there's more anticipation, and it makes things interesting. But only if we aren't totally sure if they are falling in love in the first place.

This is worse in movies where there is the "love" music while the girl turns around with light shining around her, while the guy's jaw drops in awe. It just makes me want to thump my head into my table."

Mr_Awesome_Riley Report

20points

Luke Branwen 1 year ago

Attraction or lust at the first sight can exist. Love? Never. True love indeed takes time.

6points

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#21

"I learned this from Stephen King’s On Writing: Don’t use adverbs if at all possible.

Don’t say that John did something sadly. Show why he’s sad he did it. Show don’t tell."

thegeocash Report

19points

N Miller 1 year ago

Caveat - John said something sarcastically. Especially as an establishing character moment. You aren't going to convey sarcasm in text any other way (because /s tags just aren't literature). Adverbs have their place.

6points

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#22

"Don't introduce only people and things associated with a character that will be taken away or threatened.

Like if you've got a hero and you want them to suffer a loss of a spouse, then the spouse can't be the only thing they care about. For characters to feel fully formed, you have to establish a life for them. That's connection is built."

tenehemia Report

18points

scag$y 1 year ago

For someone giving advice about writing, that was a bit of a car crash. Or was it just me?

4points

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#23

christian2pt0 said:
"The best villains have (some) good traits. An entirely evil being is insanely boring, if they are going to be a recurring character in the plot."

DefinitelyNotALion replied:
"If you're writing a villain, remember that most people -- including evil people -- act according to what they think is right. Almost everyone's a good guy in their own minds. That's what makes a villain interesting as a character in their own right, and gives them depth to carry a story forward: they've got an entire mythology of their own where you, the reader, are wrong about your plot and character judgments.

The exception is those "just to watch it burn" villains who are written as foils to the protagonist. Which is fine if you A) don't want to subject your hero to scrutiny, or B) are running an antihero who the reader already has some doubts about, morally. Good villains blur the reader's assumptions."

christian2pt0 Report

18points

Jessie 1 month ago

Maleficent and Deadpool come to mind

0points

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#24

"A villain with redeeming qualities does not always deserve a redemption arc. If they did awful stuff then it needs to be addressed, not forgotten."

JustcallmeKai Report

18points

Boii 1 year ago

Yes, I'm anti-forgiving when it comes to books, just murder dat man.

3points

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#25

"Excessively flowery language. That's something I've struggled with because thought every detail needed a little embellishment. Reading overly-pretty, metaphor-filled work is just a headache."

to_the_tenth_power Report

17points

Boii 1 year ago

I just stop reading if I have to fight my way through a jungle of pretty words.

3points

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#26

"Scene transitions where the character wakes up after being knocked out in the previous scene.

If your protagonist is knocked out a half-dozen times in the course of your story, it had better end at the traumatic brain injury clinic."

gamblekat Report

17points

Neuridivergent 1 year ago

I saw a movie that did end this way. Don't remember the name. Ex mercenary for hire is targeted by other mercenaries because of what he did and who he could tie to it. Ended up at hospital where they told him he had a tbi and if he kept getting into fights he would die.

2points

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#27

"Self insertion. Or at least ego stroking self insertion."

Guest2424 Report

17points

Boii 1 year ago

Cringe!

3points

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#28

"In my freshman English class at community college, I wrote an "original" story about a kid whose dad dies of cancer, but on his deathbed, he makes his son promise that he'll win the basketball championship. Which he does by sinking the game-winning shot at the last second. And then he looks up and sees his dad's face in the sky.

Since I've been working as a writer for 20 years now, it's egregiously cringe-worthy."

DenL4242 Report

16points

Boii 1 year ago

Smells like Disney

8points

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#29

abrynne said:
"Grey eyes.
In a hero, heroine, villain, it doesn't matter. If the number of pairs of grey eyes described in novels truly represented the world's population, they would be as common as grass. Let your character have brown eyes, for crying out loud! It doesn't make them any less interesting!"

Yelesa replied:
"I think red hair is even more overused. Especially in fantasy."

16points

Jessica Wood 1 year ago

I give all my villains long red hair and I don't know what that says about me.

4points

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#30

"I tend to avoid stories with "Chosen Ones", I like it when the hero is an anybody who puts the work in."

mjzim9022 Report

16points

Nicole Weymann 1 year ago

I dislike gods more. Either the hero is on their side, in which case: with an ally like this where do all the problems come from? Or he's in opposition, in which case: why don't you just swat him flat, almighty as you are? And as a toy/figure on the board: just cut out the middle man and let the gods fight directly.

3points

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#31

"Finding a million ways to avoid using the word “said”. If your characters can’t express themselves without you tacking a gratuitous external verb onto their every line then you’re not taking enough care in crafting your dialogue."

reddit.com Report

16points

Bunzilla 1 year ago

Personally, I disagree. 'Said' is very undescriptive, an offers no insights into the intonations and how the line is being said, or the emotions behind it. It's fine to use 'said', but don't be afraid to use alternatives.

8points

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#32

"Having the last page of your book be 'And then I woke up.' Followed by a size 78 font 'The End.'"

15points

JoJo Anisko 1 year ago

Worked for Dallas /s

4points

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#33

"Trying to be edgy and super original, your story ends up being boring or it will feel like it's trying to hard. People want something new but we like familiarity. There is a reason there are so many damsal in distress, boy-meets-girl, bad or absentee parent, super power etc., stories. It's because they are believable and/or relatable. Don't flat out copy another work but it's okay to take inspiration from real life or other stories you've read or shows/movies you have watched. The point at the end of it is to create something people are going to enjoy and, if you want to make a career out of it, want more of."

reddit.com Report

15points

Boii 1 year ago

Nothing to add, just agreement :D

2points

#34

"'One thing led to another.' It’s lazy writing. It is your job as the author to tell me exactly how one thing led to another."

zahliailhaz Report

14points

Boii 1 year ago

One by one? ... okay, I'm out.

3points

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#35

"Don't make your protagonist the sole arbiter of the plot, make him the leader or have an ensemble cast with just one persons viewpoint to follow. It makes it more relatable.

On that note also try to avoid always making the antagonist an unspeakable evil out to destroy the world. Make them relatable or at the very least understandable."

Agent_Wilcox Report

14points

Boii 1 year ago

But please don't give them a sob story as background, I'm tired of them misunderstood poor villains.

2points

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#36

"The creature was so horrifying to look at, I cannot even put it into words. Using devices like this do not replace a good description, instead they show laziness and a lack of inspiration. A vivid description draws the reader so much farther into the story."

JonRob96 Report

14points

Boii 1 year ago

Unless it's cthuluhuhuhuuu *tongue broken* then you shouldn't try to explain.

3points

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#37

"Don't write like you plug a thesaurus every day before breakfast. If you're talking about one thing so often that you feel the need to change it up with synonyms, that's a problem with your flow and pacing."

steel_jasminum Report

14points

N Miller 1 year ago

To quote from my favourite book on this very topic "Using the word 'edifice' doesn't tell the reader anything about the building. It tells them you know the word 'edifice'"

4points

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#38

IvyWill37 said:
"The chosen one trope. I hate that."

jansencheng replied:
"The key to having a good chosen one character is that being chosen isn't their whole character, and they're able to act independently of their quest. If it's just "you're going to save the world", and them they just do, yeah, that's boring, but the trope can be used very effectively. Some good examples I can think of, Aang from the Last Airbender and Harry Potter. They're both "chosen" ones, born with a destiny they had no control over, but they're still interesting characters, with plenty of flaws and character quirks. They even question whether they're actually fit to fill in the role that was cosmically assigned to them."

IvyWill37 Report

13points

TheElementalGod️️ 1 year ago

O M G I LOVE AVITAR SO MUCH

0points

#39

"I'm not a writer but saying 'we aren't so different you and i' pisses me off."

joemcnoe Report

13points

Niall Mac Iomera 1 year ago

"Different; you and I? Not so."

3points

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#40

jameseglavin4 said:
"Dunno if it’s a cliché but it sure is bad writing: describing things by using superlatives from a character’s perspective.

'He looked down upon the most beautiful valley he had ever seen.'

Well OK, I know he’s an easily impressed yokel but wtf does the valley actually look like?"

Ameisen replied:
"The formerly blind child looked upon the most beautiful chair he had ever seen. Upon closer inspection, it was a ferret."

jameseglavin4 Report

12points

Nicole Weymann 1 year ago

More upvotes for this one 😂 unneccesary superlatives are a pet peeve of mine, too. "Never in a million years would I..." yuck! A more accurate and more interesting description would be funnier, too: "Never in eight weeks of guessing would I have thought of..." Also "you can't compare that!" Yes, I can. So can you. Comparing means pointing out similarities and differences - it's actually quite relatable to compare apples and oranges.

3points

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#41

"For my college English class this semester we have been reviewing these student published essays. I swear if I have to read another essay that has the phrase, “The Oxford English Dictionary defines...” I’m throwing the goddamn book out the window."

bennedictst Report

12points

Esme Weatherwax 1 year ago

The Oxford English Dictionary defines defenestration......

13points

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#42

"Not even a writer but you don’t need to be so descriptive.

I’ve read 300-page books that should really be 150 pages, because half of the book is someone describing every single atom of every single object in the room their in. Old books tend to be guilty of this more."

reddit.com Report

12points

Boii 1 year ago

I think this is a question of style and I don't consider this to be bad if the flow is good and the story isn't slowed down.

3points

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#43

"Something I've noticed about a lot of authors, but particularly fantasy authors, is their surprising conservatism when it comes to hereditary rulership. The dispossessed son of the King will be helped by people who will sacrifice anything for them, and for what? So that someone can be in charge based on which specific womb he fell out of? Knights, dukes, Lords all get way more respect and justification than they deserve."

CircleDog Report

12points

Powerful Katrinka 1 year ago

And remember: You can't expect to wield supreme power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you.

8points

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#44

"Overused phrases like 'crystal clear' or 'avoid like the plague' should probably be avoided like unvaccinated kids."

chefdangerdagger Report

12points

Froggie 1 year ago

You can’t stop me!

1point

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#45

"Honestly I’m tired of seeing 'shock of [colored] hair.'"

captionquirk Report

12points

Shyla Bouche 1 year ago

I can show you my shocked, uncolored hair. Damned stuff is all over my head. Bouche offered to show you her butt fur, as well. You know how cats are about their butts.

2points

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#46

"Awful love scenes filled with terrible euphemisms.

Although it would spell the end for the yearly "Bad S*x in Fiction" competition, soooo... maybe don't stop quite yet."

11points

JoJo Anisko 1 year ago

If he has a "flaming love sword", time to see the doctor.

4points

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#47

"Tortured descriptions of people's looks."

reddit.com Report

11points

#48

"Eventual lovers meeting as strangers in a fight."

edgyversion Report

11points

Boii 1 year ago

Nope! This is and will forever be holy, I love it, I know it's cliche but I still love it! :*

7points

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#49

"Using 3948673457 adjectives and 9 pages to describe literally everything in the story does not make you a good writer. Get to the point."

reddit.com Report

11points

SilverIsGold 1 year ago

What about 3,948,673,458 adjectives?

5points

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#50

"If doing a fantasy Sci-Fi thing please avoid making your character super op that nothing can hurt him.

Takes away tension and done too often

Unless that's the whole point (kinda like one punch man.)"

bleedingwriter Report

11points

Boii 1 year ago

But also don't go Hohlbein on them, don't make them suffer like crazy with every fight, that is not dramatic it's just silly.

3points

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#51

"You don't have to tell me every little detail of every little event, but don't be lazy either and just go "yadda yadda yadda, so and so did this, and now here I am". Like, put some effort, but don't be like, 'Like a beastly baying black bull in a fragile china shop, full of intricately decorated dragon plates, I...' STOP."

camohorse Report

11points

Boii 1 year ago

But what happened to them dragon plates??

4points

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#52

"Swearing at the end of the book when things are getting heated up. This only works in books meant for 11-16 year olds, when swearing is still taboo for many of them. In young adult, either the character should swear some of the time or not at all. This is because most of us swear like sailors anyways, so the gravity is lost on your audience."

Glorious_Jo Report

11points

Jerusalem Cat Syndrome 1 year ago

Which is exactly the point of avoiding such language in posts and comments: it is lazy vocabulary, and it still looks ugly and yet, no longer suggests weight.

1point

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Guy Divorced 3 Years Ago Drops Off 3 Y.O. With His Ex-Wife Completely Out Of The Blue

Guy Divorced 3 Years Ago Drops Off 3 Y.O. With His Ex-Wife Completely Out Of The Blue

Guy Divorced 3 Years Ago Drops Off 3 Y.O. With His Ex-Wife Completely Out Of The Blue

#53

"The 'huge beam shooting towards the sky with rubble swirling around it' is what we need to destroy to win the day."

wassuupp Report

11points

Boii 1 year ago

No love for giant beams :(

2points

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#54

"'Really' is almost always superfluous. Only use it if you're pushing up your word count."

reddit.com Report

11points

Boii 1 year ago

Really?

3points

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#55

"The alarm clock opening. Just... no.

Even worse is the alarm clock ending, which is just like the opening, but at the very last part, and even worse because it also uses the 'entire thing was just a dream' cliche."

StaunchWingman Report

10points

Stardust she/her 1 year ago

And it makes the entire book feel like a waste of time. Like imagine spening 2 days on a book only for it to turn out that everything that happened was a dream, every relationship built, every arc the characters go through just happened for nothing

5points

#56

der_komrade said:
"As strong as an ox."

Loyalty1702 replied:
"As smooth as a child."

der_komrade Report

10points

indiecognition 1 year ago

As smooth as an ox.

9points

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#57

"The night was sultry."

reddit.com Report

10points

Boii 1 year ago

yes, go on! *eats popcorn*

1point

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#58

"Epithets. 'The older man looked at the blonde.'

Also insane dialogue tags. '...he whispered,' '...she shouted gruffly,' '...he posited.' For the vast majority of dialogue, 'said' is best. It disappears, while stuff like the above distracts the reader and interrupts the flow of the story.

And please think about what your narrator knows, believes, etc. Think about how they talk to themselves in their head. Is a grizzled old working-class cop going to describe a sunset as 'luminous strata of gold and blue dappled with fiery cloud?' Uh, probably not. It doesn’t matter if a turn of phrase is what you as the writer like. If it doesn’t fit the narrative tone... axe it."

nookienostradamus Report

10points

Navindu Wijewardena 1 year ago

my fave is " 'Snape!' Slughorn ejaculated."

3points

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#59

"Do not start sentences with 'So'. STOP THAT NOISE. Maybe once in a while, but not all the time."

reddit.com Report

10points

ThreeAngryLlamas 1 year ago

Exception for "So far..,"

1point

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#60

"One thought shouldn’t take five sentences to get out before the action happens. Decision making should be split second and then the reasoning should be told, not the other way around."

9points

Ingrid Jeffers 1 year ago

oops. sorry. i plead guilty of this as well.

1point

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#61

"Not sure this is what you're looking for, but I see it all the time in brief, blurb-y writing as well as formal e-mails, letters, presentations, and even court documents. Acronyms almost never add clarity or meaning to your writing. Whenever you have the urge to use one, please consider one of the words within the phrase you're abbreviating. Usually, there's a juicy, clear, legible noun right in the middle of that acronym that would be so much easier to read. EPA--> Agency. CLP-->Loan. POTUS-->President. Sometimes the full phrase adds meaning, so use it initially. But no reader is saying the full thing to themselves every time you use that acronym.

That acronym doesn't make you seem like an insider, it just makes you seem ill-spoken."

stink3rbelle Report

9points

Terry Tobias 1 year ago

When I was in college going for my degree in psychology, we were taught to write out the whole phrase with the acronym in parenthesis, i.e. American Psychological Association (APA). Once you've introduced the acronym, you can use it for the rest of the paper, article, document, etc. It eliminates confusion. If you're just going to use it once or it's well known as Squirrelly Panda explains, just write it out. People need to understand what they're reading.

4points

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#62

"Saying 'painted' as a more artful way to say described.

Visceral is another awful one."

steamblower766 Report

9points

#63

"Chosen one tropes, "Wiser than their years" (children that are better at 'x' than professional adults in the same field,) and most egregiously, do not write in first person point of view unless its a character diary."

reddit.com Report

8points

Boii 1 year ago

Teenagers that turn into murder machines after 5 weeks of workouts are almost as bad.

4points

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#64

"Anything involving the word “meld.” Also, expository writing in general."

pickleberrysauce Report

8points

indiecognition 1 year ago

Someone must not like Star Trek fan fiction

3points

#65

"Plague references."

argonuggut Report

6points

Stardust she/her 1 year ago

I guess we should avoid it like the plague

5points

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Justina Čiapaitė

This lazy panda forgot to write something about itself.

This lazy panda forgot to write something about itself.

Marisha Kazaryan

I knew I wanted to be a storyteller ever since I learned to read and write. Fulfilled this dream when I became a content creator and a filmmaker. Also got a degree in English language and literature because grammar is important! Good coffee and good music make everything better. When I’m not telling stories, you’ll find me studying foreign languages (currently, Korean), fangirling over my guinea pig Pepperboy, watching TV shows, and learning to play the drums.

I knew I wanted to be a storyteller ever since I learned to read and write. Fulfilled this dream when I became a content creator and a filmmaker. Also got a degree in English language and literature because grammar is important! Good coffee and good music make everything better. When I’m not telling stories, you’ll find me studying foreign languages (currently, Korean), fangirling over my guinea pig Pepperboy, watching TV shows, and learning to play the drums.

What do you think ?

N Miller 1 year ago

Ok, I have to absolutely plug a brilliantly acerbic book on this topic - How Not To Write A Novel. Please, please check it out. It's one of my absolute favourites. They cover every single cliché here and many more, all done in a brilliantly funny way.

7points

Illicit 1 year ago

How were characters forgetting how to breathe not on the list!? "Let out the breath I didn't know I was holding" is so overused these days it drives me nuts.

5points

Squirrelly Panda 1 year ago

Constantly reiterating how one character feels about another. We got it the first time they met. We know she's annoyed at how handsome and confident he is and that she's attracted to him while hating him. We don't need 2 pages telling us this every time she sees him or thinks about him. It gets very tedious.

3points

Realistic_Lemons (any) 1 year ago

Lusions last post. That’s how this will be forever remembered. ❤️

1point

Powerful Katrinka 1 year ago

Introducing an animal just for the purpose of killing it later.

1point

--- 1 year ago

I hate it when writers change the POV during a chapter, with no warning whatsoever. Or, when writing fanfiction, they copy and paste canon dialogue and narrative, barely adding anything new to the story. Or, when the physical position of the characters is referenced a lot without being explained first. An example: "They were cuddling in bed (you imagine two people laying on their backs, one's top half onto another's). She looks up at him, (you imagine her laying down with her head on his shoulder, looking up), smiling, and he strokes her back in return (you were wrong, she was actually leaning belly-down on his side, her head on his chest). From where she was straddling him (ha! her whole body was laying on him all this time, her knees facing forward), she reached her around his middle, making him lean forward into her hug." (you fool, they weren't even laying down, they were sitting this whole time)

1point

SonjaN 1 year ago

Not quite the same but ... I hate books that go back and forward in time. One chapter is current day, next one is 1979 then back and forth. It's like reading two separate books. For one well reviewed book i tried reading all the current chapters together, then went back and read the flashback chapters. Both were boring stories. Maybe that's why authors do it, to increase tension in an otherwise blah storyline? Anyway I think they should have a warning sticker on the cover so readers can make informed choices!

0points

N Miller 1 year ago

Ok, I have to absolutely plug a brilliantly acerbic book on this topic - How Not To Write A Novel. Please, please check it out. It's one of my absolute favourites. They cover every single cliché here and many more, all done in a brilliantly funny way.

7points

Illicit 1 year ago

How were characters forgetting how to breathe not on the list!? "Let out the breath I didn't know I was holding" is so overused these days it drives me nuts.

5points

Squirrelly Panda 1 year ago

Constantly reiterating how one character feels about another. We got it the first time they met. We know she's annoyed at how handsome and confident he is and that she's attracted to him while hating him. We don't need 2 pages telling us this every time she sees him or thinks about him. It gets very tedious.

3points

Realistic_Lemons (any) 1 year ago

Lusions last post. That’s how this will be forever remembered. ❤️

1point

Powerful Katrinka 1 year ago

Introducing an animal just for the purpose of killing it later.

1point

--- 1 year ago

I hate it when writers change the POV during a chapter, with no warning whatsoever. Or, when writing fanfiction, they copy and paste canon dialogue and narrative, barely adding anything new to the story. Or, when the physical position of the characters is referenced a lot without being explained first. An example: "They were cuddling in bed (you imagine two people laying on their backs, one's top half onto another's). She looks up at him, (you imagine her laying down with her head on his shoulder, looking up), smiling, and he strokes her back in return (you were wrong, she was actually leaning belly-down on his side, her head on his chest). From where she was straddling him (ha! her whole body was laying on him all this time, her knees facing forward), she reached her around his middle, making him lean forward into her hug." (you fool, they weren't even laying down, they were sitting this whole time)

1point

SonjaN 1 year ago

Not quite the same but ... I hate books that go back and forward in time. One chapter is current day, next one is 1979 then back and forth. It's like reading two separate books. For one well reviewed book i tried reading all the current chapters together, then went back and read the flashback chapters. Both were boring stories. Maybe that's why authors do it, to increase tension in an otherwise blah storyline? Anyway I think they should have a warning sticker on the cover so readers can make informed choices!

0points

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