What erks you in fandom???

[blondie]

I hate it when people just write some crap to keep the story going. A good author must know when to end a story.

Can I get an AMEN?

Of course, the flip side is just as bad: cutting the story off at the knees because the author got bored or didn't how to end it... plan ahea
d

[float.away]

This is completely random, but Float, your signature is riveting. Robert's really giving them the 'stink eye'. And that jaw clench. Hmmmmmm...

Hahaha, it's his best impression of the dramatic hamster, I think.

I too hate it when stories go on forever. I also get a little annoyed with things get dragged out for like, twenty chapters. I've read a lot of stories in which Bella and Edward are going through soooo much relationship drama that they put Meredith Grey and Derek Shepard to shame and that annoys me to no end. Enough is enough. They can only go through so much.

[cdunbar]

*groans* I stopped watching Grey's just for that reason. It's like "Leave them alone already!" How much can two people go through?

[malaleen]

I just posted something like this on my lj today. But there's a few things that are really throwing me out of fics. First is international authors who don't bother to get the fics looked over for American things. I've spent over half of my fandom career in British fandoms, and I was always drilled in the importance of Brit picking, and I'd wish international writers would do the same.

I also can't stand it when I see really bad grammar or formatting at ff.net, or misspellings in summaries or fics, especially of major characters' names. And this is a picky one, but it just throws me out of a fic: when people misuse words that are either similar in spelling or sound the same. Too/two/to, do/due, there/they're/their are common ones, but I also see waist/waste and hear/here. The one that gets me the most is barely. I can't tell you the number of times I see barley instead. I keep wanting to point it out saying, do you really want to reference a grain there?

[withthevampsofcourse]

shudder/shutter

WORST misuse of the english language, ever.

[arlverde]

shudder/shutter

WORST misuse of the english language, ever.

I shutter 2 think about it. I just love summaries that say I suck at summaries.

[cdunbar]

I just love summaries that say I suck at summaries.

Whenever I see that, I can't help thinking 'If you can't come up with a summary, what makes you think I want to read your story?'

I understand it's difficult to sum up a story, but it shouldn't be that hard for an author if he/she knows how the story is going to turn out. Them saying 'I suck at summaries' just leads me to think they don't know what their story is going to be about. Waste. Of. Time.

[blondie]

I just love summaries that say I suck at summaries.

Whenever I see that, I can't help thinking 'If you can't come up with a summary, what makes you think I want to read your story?'

I understand it's difficult to sum up a story, but it shouldn't be that hard for an author if he/she knows how the story is going to turn out. Them saying 'I suck at summaries' just leads me to think they don't know what their story is going to be about. Waste. Of. Time.

Even worse - misspellings in the summary. Don't submit it if you can't spell check the summary!

[amdove]

shudder/shutter

WORST misuse of the english language, ever.

Hell yes.

I agree about the Britishisms, too. I read a story a long time ago and I honestly believed that the author had relocated the characters to London or something, they used so many uniquely British terms. I thought "hey, that's new" then she mentioned they were living in Seattle and I realized it wasn't new, just careless.

biggest peeve ever: "and she woke up and it was all a dream."

[cdunbar]

biggest peeve ever: "and she woke up and it was all a dream."

That was so eighteen years ago. Besides, Bob Newhart did it best.