MEDIA MONDAYS: SEVEN DEADLY FICTION SINS.

My brain has been so distracted lately and coupled with my difficulties tracking and seeing rivers (no, I'm not dyslexic, I have poor eyesight), I haven't been reading much. So when I finally managed to pick up a book only to discover there are lots of little things to nitpick about it, the kinds of things that drag you out of a story and make you roll your eyes, I was disappointed.
The following isn't all specific to that book (which I'm not going to identify because I'm not quite finished), just a collection of reactions I've had while reading over the years.

Sin #1: Phlebotinum
You know that feeling when there are less than 100 pages left so one of two things are going to happening - sequel or magical intervention. Phlebotinum is a term coined by Joss Whedon to describe a magical spell, talisman, weapon, whatever that appears at the last point to save the day! In television, I can forgive it. In a book? There are no limits so there is no excuse.

Punishment: Beaten to death by heavy volumes with titles like, "Magyck" and "Spellz".
Sin #2: Learn your rules (or invent some)
Following on from #1, magic needs rules, limitations, to stop it feeling as though it could just solve all of mankind's issues and create utopia. When you let your magical characters do whatever they want with magic, it usually creates more plot holes than it solves. Hell, there are plenty of well-established systems already in place - steal borrow appropriate one of those. However, don't change actual facts (real world or popular fiction) without a damn good reason!

Punishment: You'll be eaten in your sleep - obviously.
Sin #3: What year is this?
Period pieces are a genre of their own. They tend to be pretty blatant - the language, the setting, the date cited at the top of the first chapter - and there's usually a pretty good reason for it. Then you get books that throw in pop culture references because... it seemed like a good idea? They might be from present day, they might be from 1998, but they always stand out. Don't have a reason to be here and don't want your book to feel horribly dated in ten years time? Don't reference Deadmau5.

Unless juxtaposition is the point, obviously.

Punishment: Drowned in media from your chosen year. 
Sin #4: We get it - you're a teenager/detective/computer hacker!
Jargon is one thing. Tropes are another. If your tech guy is cute but super awkward, constantly says things the other characters don't understand and can hack anything under the sun, I'm gonna roll my eyes. If your teens are angst with a side of angsty angst, full of pop culture references and a total outsider, I'm gonna roll my eyes (also if they're too worldly and articulate). There are literally tonnes of these and I don't think I've ever met someone who wouldn't prefer a three dimensional character.

Punishment: You may only communicate with the language of your trope.

Sin #5: Who are you and why am I here?
Hang on a minute - who is this person? I've never seen this name before! Am I supposed to know who this is? That's right - that character who makes you flip back through the entire book just to check you didn't miss something only to find you're still scratching your head. You read on and find they don't even serve a purpose that couldn't have been fulfilled by somebody who was already there.

Punishment: Forever walking down a street filled with people you know you know but you just can't place. 


Sin #6: Siege mode!
This tends to go hand in hand with second-book-itis, particularly in a trilogy. Ever read a book, love it so much you cannot go on until you've read the sequel and then nothing actually happens? If you're lucky, there'll be some character development but it's much more likely you'll encounter some tension, some more tension and a whole lot of planning. I know sometimes you need to set the scene but if your second book is a drag to read, maybe just condense the whole thing into one book.

Punishment: Nothing. Forever. Nothing forever except more friction. Enjoy.
Sin #7: Repetition-ition-ition-ition.
Even if you haven't read Fifty Shades of Grey yourself, I'm sure you're aware of a few phrases from it. "Inner Goddess", perhaps. "Jeez", maybe. You might know that Ana is the type of girl who flushes or blushes a lot. If I feel bad for writing the same word twice in a blog post, you should definitely feel bad when people are counting the number of times you use the same stupid phrase.

Punishment: Imagine Groundhog Day, but with words.
What about you? Are there any little (or big!) things authors do that drive you up the wall?

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