Writing Pet Peeves

[J.Z.Castillo]

What is something that, story-wise, makes you roll your eyes?

Something I find REALLY annoying is having an MC who is always complaining about their lives and how they are inferior/weaker than everyone (Shu from Guilty Crown I'm looking at you) but somehow they end up being the most powerful character in the narrative? WHAT?!

Something that can really set me off, though, are Deus Ex Machinae, these nonsensical situations that seem to happen just because the story was about to have something happen that could destroy it completely/end the narrative. An example of this is people never staying dead and coming back to life with little to no consequences, or godly characters that can restart the Universe whenever they want (most DC and Marvel characters are guilty of this tbh).

Those are two of the many in my list, what are some of your writing pet peeves?

[joannekwan]

When there's a not-yet-couple in the story and one does something to embarrass themselves or the other person and they go (cue bubble full of text):
"OMG, I'm so sorry! So so sorry! That did not just happen! Please forgive me! What was I thinking? Now you'll never like me now! How could I be so stupid? I'm gonna die. God, that was stupid! I'm so sorry! This'll never happen again!"

It's like all that could be said with the expression of the character's face (and maybe an "internal screaming" sfx). I don't wanna read all that shit. Get it off the page.

[nessiefynn]

Hoo boy, do I hate long, wall of text prologues. Most times I see one I either skim/skip over it or stop reading right there. If I wanted to read a wall of text I would be reading novels, not comics.
Also, love at first sight romance. I love romance in stories, but when they just instantly fall in love it feels so forced! It's even worse if the characters have little interaction and we're just told they're in love "because." I wanna see the characters get to know each other and chit chat and quarrel like normal people do before one is head over heels for the other! >.<

[carloswebcomic]

The wise old person that shows out of nowhere and gives timely advise. For the love of god, that really annoys me. It's such a cheap way to get the character to realise the right direction.

[mariusthered]

people who never get hurt -YAWN!

[Ghostie]

The perfect priss character everybody "loves" and there's even a love triangle plot over, and yet they continuously think they're a "clutz" or clumsy.

TWILIGHT. i'm looking at you. BC I wish this "cute but stupid" trope would just die off now.

[Michelle]

Explanatory text-walls and boring explanations of lore/world history really bum me out. ~^~

Also writing where the characters are talking in nearly every single panel. Well-placed silence can be more impactful than moment-to-moment commentary.

[J.Z.Castillo]

It's like all that could be said with the expression of the character's face (and maybe an "internal screaming" sfx). I don't wanna read all that shit. Get it off the page.

I AM GUILTY, omg please don't unsub from my comic, I promise I am redoing those pages, what was I thinking? No wonder my readership doesn't grow as fast I would want, now everyone knows, what am I doing with my life? Please, I promise I'm a good cookie now, I have learned, don't leave me.

@nessiefynn YESS!! I hate this so much! I tried to avoid this like the plague when I first started writing YHIMC. I feel like it's such an insult to allegedly smart characters. Imagine if real life was like that, though? I would probably never leave my house.

@aronthemason ugh! Or when there are huge fight scenes and their clothes don't rip? How's that possible? I can't even.

@Plague I think this falls under my "character who is always complaining about their life" category. I HATE that so much! I feel like they only get written that way so people realize how great they are or some bullshit like that, like we won't see that if they are made to be actually interesting and competent.

[Pandastrophic]

I have so many and I think one of the main ones is the main villain killing his followes/people who work for him/etc because of small mistakes. Like we already know he's evil there is no need to have him kill his followers to prove he's evil. It just looks so one-dimensional to me, it's much more interesting to have a villain who's a jerk to the heroes but actually values their followers.

[AnnaLandin]

Oh, there are a few that irk me. These are things that might work just fine for other people - I just can't stand them personally.

• Dumb, brash, rush-into-danger heroes. Maybe it's because I'm no longer a teenager, maybe it's because I've played too many JRPGs where this is a thing, but when the hero is dumb as a brick and rushes headlong into danger even though they should know better, I roll my eyes hard. Once or twice is fine, but when it happens ALL the time? Grargh. (yes I'm looking at you, LLoyd from Tales of Symphonia).
• Crowbar romances. I'm sure you've seen this happen - in the middle of a story about other things (adventures, maybe, or saving the world!), the hero strikes up a romantic relationship with one of the female characters because she's there. Not because they have any chemistry, not because the romance builds naturally, but because boy exists in the same geographical location as girl MUST MEAN ROMANCE. The romance is crowbared into a story where it didn't need to exist simply so the writer can tick a box.
• "Cute" mascot characters. You know the ones; they exist only to be adorable balls of fluff that add nothing to the story, distract from the main storylines, and are frequently just annoying idiots.
• Info-dumps/Wall-o-texts. Plonking down a big, heaping pile of information - or a giant wall of text prologue explaining your entire setup in detail - is a quick way to make my eyes glaze over and get me to stop reading. Explanations are important, but you can do them bit by bit. You don't need a seven-page prologue explaining the entire foundational backstory of your imaginary world - we can find out as we go along!
• Pity-me MCs. MCs who whine and whine and cry and feel sorry for themselves and everyone hates them and they're never happy boo-hoo-hoo - and that's their entire thing. They have no personality, they have no driving force, they're just pitiable. It's not a genuine portrayal of depression or domestic abuse; a lazy writer's shorthand to get the readers in the MCs corner. It doesn't work on me, because there's no character to care about. They have no personality beyond "I'm sad, feel sorry for me", they have no function beyond being the target of terrible things. I need something to cheer for, some personality to care about, not just a bundle of sadness. Give me moments in which this character gets to do what they love! Give me moments in which they get to hope and dream! Just give me something that isn't woe-is-me-for-I-am-sad.

[mariusthered]

Dumb, brash, rush-into-danger heroes.

I have one of those! but it's written for him to learn the hard way!

[Tanisha]

When a girls needs to be saved each and every time and even if the saves herself, she just ends up getting stolen AGAIN or just makes things worst for the people around her?? Like why...even bother make her look like she can handle things herself when your just going to make these series of events happen each time!

Another one is when after a story is all when and done, the heroes save the world or something, it's time for the girls to kiss the guys and the guys to kiss the girls. Even if their relationship with each other isn't developed properly or there isn't a relationship between them at all, just make them kiss cuz this is the end. I don't mind some, but it gets ridiculous when two characters ya know, barely know each other but, just kiss cuz that what people want??

[MissMagicGirl]

@nessiefynn I agree! I hate love at first sight! Probably my biggest pet peeve

Another thing I hate is "tuff girls" who says "they are not girly girls" or says "Don't be such a girl!" to the guys. It really bothers me because its keeping old gender roles and stereotypes alive. It also says that being a girl is bad and that in order to be cool a girl has to be less feminine . That one really annoys me >_<

[KSlinger]

I'm watching One Piece right now-- it's sick-- but, much as Luffy is cool, it kind of irritates me that every single one of his statements/actions is always the right one. Most of the time he doesn't have any idea what's going on (because he chooses not to listen or isn't involved) and comes out with the stupidest stuff, yet everything he says and does is met with 'omg such wisdom! how could I be so blind?!'.

He has some serious Forest Gump shit going on, which I appreciate and enjoy to some extent, but when a character is incapable of making genuine mistakes things get really boring.

[LCT_m_a_d]

Too much description. For me the fun of reading is being able to use your imagination to tell the story. When I read something that commands an impression I lose interest.

[TheVoidchildProject]

The perfect priss character everybody "loves" and there's even a love triangle plot over, and yet they continuously think they're a "clutz" or clumsy.

I'll add another dimension to this and that's when this character is supposed to be likable but instead becomes so incredibly boring because they're only traits are that they're "good-looking" and "nice". The perfect example is Lana Lang from Smallville. Gawd, I couldn't stand how inoffensive and dull she was...

[indagold]

love interests love interests. I hate these hamfisted characters you know are going to just marry in the end anyway. They start off as friends and then you know some romance plot is gonna happen even if the characters hate each other. Usually it's the token chick that spawns this. Token chick gotta date their friend if everyone's a dude that's just how the world works.

Bros. Anything with two gnarly dudes having an epic adventure skating, surfing, rapping, high fiving... basically any bromance that hasn't escaped the 90s. I never saw the appeal of this, I think it's trying to relate to teens but mixing pop culture of today with pop culture of the 90s. It doesn't make any sense and it's just unbearable.

Girl power characters. I absolutely loathe the whole girl power thing, it even bothered me as a kid. People try to write up female characters to be all powerful and cool and not some lame barbie type despite being equally as vapid. It just felt so boring though, like they are some soulless attempt to appeal to girls but they are never interesting. They do nothing new compared to the "girly" competition they try so hard to compete against. There's a difference between trying to write female characters as real people and writing female characters as some way to drive a point down. I don't know how girls are suppose to look up to a character that has no personality outside of being strong.

[Kayke]

The only thing that really bugs me is the whole WALL OF TEXT thing. I love reading books, but I don't want to have to read a book to understand a comic.

Also huge casts of characters who are introduced all at once. There's nothing wrong with having a big cast, but I just like having time to get used to the story without having to know 10 people's names and personalities immediately. Introduce me to them so I can get to know them.

[miseryhunting]

The line or any version of it: "We're such idiots, aren't we?"
THIS DOESN'T MAKE YOU LOOK ENDEARING IN THE SLIGHTEST...This must be the most overused line I've ever read - especially after characters get together. Yes, you're dumb, now stop saying this...

[J.Z.Castillo]

Dumb, brash, rush-into-danger heroes.

Pity-me MCs.

I kind of like idiots who rush into danger... specially when they're paired up with a smarter character. I don't like them all the time and they have to be done the right way for it to work. PITYFUL MCs! OH. MY. GOD. That can really set me off and definitely falls into the example I gave. It's really annoying.

Like why...even bother make her look like she can handle things herself when your just going to make these series of events happen each time!

SWORD ART ONLINE!! Goddammit, Asuna was such an amazing character but she then became so stupid and helpless following Kirito around. I hated that so much. SO MUCH!

It really bothers me because its keeping old gender roles and stereotypes alive. It also says that being a girl is bad and that in order to be cool a girl has to be less feminine .

I hate that, too! If anything these women should be more pro-woman than everyone else in the entire narrative! It always makes me go, "HHUUUUHHH???"

He has some serious Forest Gump shit going on, which I appreciate and enjoy to some extent, but when a character is incapable of making genuine mistakes things get really boring.

HAHAHA, I have really huge problems with those big-name anime (Bleach, One Piece, Naruto, Fairy Tail) but that's a really good way to put it! I really don't like the "idiot savior" archetype either. It's too easy to write but really difficult to like.