Author Liesel K. Hill's Musings on Fantasia...
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Follow Friday--Deal Breakers
DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT MY DYSTOPIAN GUEST POST ON FRAGMENTS OF LIFE!
Welcome to Follow Friday Blog Hop!
Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.
The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!
How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!
Q: What is a deal breaker for you in a book? For example, do you abhor love triangles? Or can't deal with bad editing?
| languagearts.pppst.com |
Hmm. There is more than one thing I consider a deal breaker, but I'll go with bad writing. There are three issues with writing that I can't stand.
1) Passive Voice
2) Bad Grammar
3) Pretentious Writing (When an author uses big words to try and sound elevated but they don't fit the rest of the narrative.)
It's one of those things I should try to be more understanding about, since as an author I'm sure I did this at first too. But it totally bugs the snot out of me! If I can't focus on the story for the writing, I usually put down the book.
How about you? What bugs the snot out of you? :D
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(
Atom
)
Ha! I completely agree with you, I don't want to read a book where it sounds like the author wrote it with the use of a thesaurus. I am a new follower from Random Thoughts and Weirdness (you already followed me :))
ReplyDeleteGood answer!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by :)
Old Follower!!
Marilyn @ Marilyn's Mystery Blog
Agreed on all three but mostly pretentious writing! I started reading one like that but had to finally put it down. It was bugging the crap out of me.
ReplyDeleteOld follower :)
Julie~ New Adult Addiction
I really like you response! Also, thank you for following/commenting on mine! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with all your deal breakers, especially pretentious writing. It drives me mad as well! I'm a new follower via GCF. Hope you'll stop by The Book Asylum and check out my blog and deal-breaker: http://thebookasylum.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with all your choices, those things bug the crap out of me too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
I really love your graphic. I wish my answer were better but really it takes A LOT for me to quit a book!!
ReplyDeleteAngie
Great choices - I totally agree, and especially with grammar, a writer should be able to write the proper English!
ReplyDeleteOld follower, thanks for stopping by my blog!
Those three things are really annoying. Not always enough to stop me from reading though. I'm stubborn XD
ReplyDeleteAlready a follower, but here's my FF if you want to see my answer :)
OOh all good points! Ones I agree with as well, but the author has to be really using them over and over and over for me to stop reading entirely!
ReplyDeleteHere's my Follow Friday
Have a GREAT weekend!
Old Follower :)
Great answer! I can't stand pretentious writing either. It doesn't make the author look smart, it does the exact opposite.
ReplyDeleteOld follower via GFC.
My FF post
Sabina @ Delirious About Books
Bad grammar really irritates me too! It's such a shame when you come across it...
ReplyDeleteNew follower here!
It would be great if you could stop by my Feature and Follow Friday post.
We also have an INT PB Giveaway (Murmur Of The Lonely Brook by Debashis Dey) going on, do participate if you like!
Sarika @ The Readdicts
I totally agree, bad grammar and passive voice it just horrible. Thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteGreat answer. I don't care for Pretentious Writing either.. sometimes it seems like an author writes a story, then thumbs through a thesaurus and changes everything to big words.
ReplyDeleteHere's my FF.
Ashley
#BookNerd
Great answer. Bad grammar is just so wrong. It should be one of the things closely monitored by the author/editor. It just sticks out like a sore thumb sometimes!
ReplyDeleteOld follower :)
Becca @ Lost in Thought
http://lostinthought-becca.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/feature-follow-4.html
I so agree with you! Bad writing, syntax and grammar takes me out of the story, and makes me want to find a red pen instead :(
ReplyDeleteHere's my FF post for this week.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Using big words in order to look smart, ahh, I hate that!
ReplyDeleteFF @thedailyprophecy.
Definitely agree! I am all for "big words" in books, but they have to fit the character.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with your answer. I don't like pretentious writing, either!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. Following you via gfc.
Megan @ Love, Literature, Art, and Reason
Pretentious reviews are deal breakers as well.
ReplyDeleteBad grammar is one of mine also.
ReplyDeletehttp://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2012/11/feature-follow.html
Pretentious writing can definitely be annoying, especially in YA books, unless all those characters have been studying for the SATs together, lol.
ReplyDeletenew follower
Thanks for stopping by Book Sojourner
Great points! Bad grammar was one of mine too! I'm learning to write for scientific publications currently, but a lot of the same rules apply to creative writing (commas, run-ons, etc), and so it's starting to drive me even more nuts when I notice problems in books. If an author didn't want to invest in a professional editor, I don't want to invest my time. This makes me especially sad when I'm fairly certain the ideas of the story have potential, but I just can't focus on them because of the grammar!
ReplyDeleteOld follower, thanks for stopping by my blog!
These are very well thought out answers. All three of these get on my nerves as well. Thanks for stopping by my post. Old follower.
ReplyDeleteOooh pretentious writing! I wish I'd thought to include that point in my FFF this week. Bad grammar can be a deal breaker as well. Great answer, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMicheline @ Lunar Rainbows
(old follower)
The passive voice also bothers the heck out of me. Thanks for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeleteOld follower.
~The Book Blondes
Totally agree on the pretentious writing! Old follower :)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. Bad grammar annoys me too. Thanks for stopping by my FF Old follower.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you! Big words do sound cool and sophisticated but when it's out of character it annoys me so much! Thanks for stopping by my blog. Old follower. :)
ReplyDeleteDaphne @ Reading Until Dawn
I agree with you totally! Especially when someone seems like they write with a thesaurus open in front of them at all times. A thesaurus is a good resource, but it shouldn't be used as a crutch!
ReplyDeleteI'm a new follower on GFC. You can read my FF here
The thing that unnerves me but is not necessarily a deal breaker is when a writer uses a great word and you're like awesome but quickly find yourself saying okay enough already after they use it twenty more times.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePretentious writing is rather ostentatious... LOL!
ReplyDeleteSorry, I couldn't resist. Great answer!
New follower
Sídhí News & Gossip
A Blog Hop Place for Books
I'm not a fan of pretentious writing either. I can think of a few books by a particular author that I really like, but they are historical novels. So the author has the characters speaking in these long drawn out sentences - but it drives me crazy. I like some of her books a lot because the characters are well developed and the plot is interesting, but when they speak - ugh!
ReplyDeleteGreat answers. I completely agree with you. Old Follower. =]
ReplyDeleteI agree with you :)
ReplyDeleteCheck out MY FF
Great answers!
ReplyDeleteI also hate it when an author tries to stick in a big vocabulary word in to sound smart.
Thnx for following. I;ve followed back!
ReplyDeleteNice choices! I totally agree, although, I've not seen much of pretentious writing in my most of my books.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
old follower
Passive voice bores me to death too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by.
OMG! Number 3 is annoying. I hate that and when you can tell that an author used the thesaurus throughout. You can tell when the words don't flow. It's disheartening, I mean god awful. lol ;)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePretentious writing sucks - that's one of the few things I hate the most about a book, or any writing! I mean, a huge vocabulary is good, but why bother to use another word when you already know one that is perfect?
ReplyDeleteOld follower!
Good point! I love big words....IF they fit! Which they don't always! Tone is key.
ReplyDeleteFollowing!
C.J.
Sarcasm & Lemons