Cliches are my =x

like the ones where the popular guy falls in love with the nerd. It's just too obvious.

What I really hate in stories is when one person introduces a bestfriend or an important character and then the story begins to revolve around the main boy and the main girl and the forget about the bestfriends and family that are apart of their life.

I also hate it when the story is just about the boy and the girl nothing about things happening in their lives like parents and friends. I think a lot of stories are not realistic, and thats a major part that is needed for me to be able to like the story.

I dislike high school romances, Mary Janes, cliches, when the guy is so cheesy I'd have him for breakfast, when the girl is so sarcastic she's a **. Refined taste, much?

I try to be open minded when I read a story but sometimes it frustrates me when:

1.) A strong character with a goal falls in love and decides to leave all of their dreams behind to be a house wife. I mean why?! Why can't they just be in love and live their professional dreams! I read this story that was like 34 chapters and it was so awesome, everything about it and at the end she just decided to get a diploma and never work, just be a housewife! It was so pitiful! What I'm trying to say is: Is that what love is about? forgetting and throwing away your goals of a lifetime for love? If a character started with those goals and wanted those more than life, cant they love and live too? Otherwise I dont want love!

2.) A story that is written with words like:WTF? AHHHHHHHHH!! Soooooooo and OMG!!! it's so distasteful and it takes the drama off and sends me to this really blonde place (no offense to blondes here). I just feel dumber by just reading those expressions.

3.) A story that is overly descriptive. Sometimes, just saying it was "an exotic forest full of wild flowers and dangerous creatures" or "a giant mansion of three levels with marbled floors and an unreacheable ceiling with the most fancy and tasteful of decorations" is good enough. Its not necessary to explain every decoration and unimportant paintings that have nothing to do with the plot of the story.

4.) When a story starts as if describing a character for a blind date. Stories that start like "Hello my name is Leila and I'm seventeen with brown curly hair that goes down to my waist. Im very petite but love to eat so I dont know why I'm so skinny. Anyways... my eyes are light brown. My skin tone is very pale and blah blah blah......" I prefer the descriptions of the characters to be blended in the story line, not in the beginning as an introduction.

5.) When a story doesnt explain the feelings of a character when a situation takes place. The typical "And how do you feel about that?" dilemma. I mean, im not the character, I dont know how the person would feel so I get confused. Like a story of a girl that is kiss in surprise by a guy she hates. How does she take it? IS she mad, surprised, odd, strange, confused or did she like it? did she not?" sometimes they just let this things happen and they shrug it off and never explain what are the emotions going throught that character that faced a situation in particular. I want to know!

I would say more but I dont want to put anyone in an uncomfortable place because I know Ive probably done some of these myself =]... Its just more easy to notice when its not you.

♥Giselle (a.k.a. Krazikoko)

1. Info-dumps! It's better to just mix little chunks of information in with the story- otherwise, I just find something else to read.

2. Whiny characters. Oh, yes. I can't ever find anything good to read in my age group because the protaganists are always just a bunch of whiny teenagers! "My parents are trying to ruin my life! Boo hoo!"

3. Too much angst. I guess that kind of goes hand in hand with whiny characters.

4. Bad grammar, typos, etc.

1. I hate those paragraphs that discribe everything about a character. I like it blended into the story. Even bettrer is when they really don't discribe the character. That leaves it free so you can imagine the character anyway you want.

2. I hate those random cliches. Like there is a totally original story then there is some cliche that ruins the rest. Its like telling the readers I don't have a good idea so I wont take the time to think of one.

3. The biggest annoyance for me is when people don't seperate the speach from normal paragraphs.

4. Another one I don't like is when they totally change something in a story and the transition is super quick.

ex.

"Hey tom I love you."

Next day

"Hey tom I hate you"

If you read some of the stuff I've written then you would call me a hypocrit (bad spelling) but I realize I do this stuff sometimes and I'm not happy about it either.

Hey, someone mentioned not really liking high school romances.

I think I totally agree. None of the high school romances I've read so far have had a proper plot. It's all about massive drinking parties (which most high school students aren't meant to go to), gossiping ** who try to ruin the relationship between the popular guy and the not so popular girl and cliched relationships that will never work out in real life.

Enough said. I prefer a real story.

Okay, one thing I haven't read so far on this thread that I strongly believe should be acknowledged is the fact that often the protagonists are too young.

I mean, seriously, sixteen and in love? I don't mean to be a cynic, and I'll accept that sometimes it happens, but honestly??

It just takes the whole credibility and believability out of the story.

Hmm... in my opinion, that's what's magical about this kind of romances. It might not happen often(okay, I've never seen it happen before), but it's nice to read about it... to see what love means to them and the obstacles they have to overcome(which is definitely quite a bit).

It's not like they are my favourite things to read, but it makes for a good story if the author can write it properly. Stories can be mystical, incredible and nearly impossible because they're stories. Who would want to read about something that happens every day?

I don't mind clichés. If written well and thought out, they can work. I can't stand reading a romance where the protagonist is 14 and is involved in a heavy relationship. I'm 17, so I'm not like 50 and I can relate to a story about a teenager, but I just can't finish reading the story knowing that everyone in the story is a child basically.

I think it shows a lack of creativity when a bunch of characters are in love with the main girl/guy. I keep reading romances about 1 girl with 6 boys after her. It's hardly realistic when the majority of young authors write their main females to be rather plain/ordinary and the males to be shockingly beautiful. If she's so "normal" or "ordinary", why is she being stalked by a bunch of boys? Another thing is an overabundance of physical description. It reminds me of a generic myspace survey when everything is just listed out there in 1 or 2 sentences.

I dislike that many love stories are so rarely well-developed. The characters are too superficial aside from the fact that one of their parents is always abusive or they have a dark past. I just really want to see some good character or story development.

I just really get turned off it the story is unrealistic in tearms of the character development/emotions/dialog.. it just takes me out of the story.

btw does anyone know of any really good romanic stories?

I hate it when it's too predictable or it's so cliche you feel like you've read it before.

I'm not sure about a really good romance story, I'd recommend mine (Till Death Do You Part), but then it's like "oh someone is recommending their own story" and you don't have any idea whether it'll be good or not because it's the author whose recommending it. It's my best story, if that helps at all.

lol don't worry about it, i like that you did that because it shows that you have confedence in your work.. i'm going to read it tonight! ^.^

oh wow thanks!

your welcome.

My one pet peeve is poor grammar or poorly written stuff. Which is kind of sad sometimes because there have been ocasions where the fic has a really good story plot. But the writing has just been atrocious. I don't mind high school romances. I'm a sucker for a good ole cliche every blue moon. Sometimes I just want something simple and pretty easy to read. Nothing mind-blowing or melodramatic. I also agree with a few comments above, about the age references. I hardly believe a fourteen is old enough to understand the concept of 'love' or what a serious relationship entails. So it just seems a tad too unrealistic. The 'Mary-Sue' concept sometimes gets one my nerves. Because in all honestly, no-one is that perfect. A flaw here and there doesn't do any harm it makes a character all the more interesting. Especially if readers can relate to it. Even if a storyline has been done before albeit a thousand times before, I'd still be keen to read so long as it's written well and the grammar/spelling errors are next to none.

ChimDee

I totally agree with you ChimDee. A story should have good spelling and grammer, and with the number of betas here on fp now this really shouldn't be a problem. I also don't like stories where there's too much angst, sometimes I feel like some writer's really go overboard.

For anyone looking for good stories to read I'd recommend the following: -

The Deadly Flower by Carmel March - this is a supernatural romance, yes it has vampires, but it's very well written ;D . She has some great characters.

Erase and Rewind by LeilaX - She writes some great stories, has a great handle on characterisation and plot; this new one of hers is a particular fave of mine.

I totally agree with you ChimDee. A story should have good spelling and grammer, and with the number of betas here on fp now this really shouldn't be a problem. I also don't like stories where there's too much angst, sometimes I feel like some writer's really go overboard.

For anyone looking for good stories to read I'd recommend the following: -

The Deadly Flower by Carmel March - this is a supernatural romance, yes it has vampires, but it's very well written ;D . She has some great characters.

Erase and Rewind by LeilaX - She writes some great stories, has a great handle on characterisation and plot; this new one of hers is a particular fave of mine.

Hm.. I actually like cliches to an extent. For authors who attempted one with the intention of twisting it, I applaud them, because it's not an easy thing. For those who don't, the story has its own merits too. My current story is looking like a real cliche, but I do have some juicy twists.

Anyways, I think it's hard to find a good love story is because of the things people want to read. I think writers would have a heck of an easier time if there was a demand sheet for what readers review about. I, for one, didn't start writing because I wanted a good collection of review or network of readers. I wanted to write. If anything, it might be the story itself. I tried to read what appeared to be really good stories, but it didn't work out too well when I get impatient with trying to decipher what they were saying.

I find it quite demeaning to send your story to a beta reader, so they can do all the work and test it out. I mean, sure, they volunteered, but I could never live with my self if I shoveled my work on to someone else. Many are complaining about grammar and spelling. Sometimes it's just accidental, for the writers who stay up until 5:00 AM to write that chapter 4... That's why there are reviewers. Instead of instantly being turned off by the grammar, you should at least review it and point out the writer. One review can do so much...

I don't like when they explain them selves by looking in the mirror like, "I looked in the mirror and saw my brown hair, brown eyes, olive skin, shirt, blah blah, balh,.bl ahhhh11!1221" We get it, you like describing yourself in the mirror. Don't worry, sweetie, the mirror doesn't want to know your life story.

YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD BE REALLY AWESOME!? IF SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENED: "I saw my old friend, Bill the Building Builder today. He commented on my curly hair, saying it looks more chaotic than it did the last time he saw me." OR MAYBE EVEN "I looked into his eyes and doubted what he saw in me. I asked him. He said it was my green eyes." Something unique would be really niceee.

I DONT LIKE SEEING ALL CAPITALS, EVEN IF THEY'RE YELLING! For emphasis in one or two sentences, sure, but in every? Go away pls!

I don't want to see a jock and a nerd thrown into a story, and are expected to mate. Eventually, they do, by Chapter 2 (most often). But I don't like seeing the Jock nerd match up, in general.

Thank God I've found other people who have the same pet peeves as I do!

I'm sick of stories that:

(a) begin with an entire chapter, spoken in first person, about the female protagonist and how she's never had a boyfriend before.

(b) feature two characters whose bitter hatred for one another is a result of Boy spilling paint on/tearing painting made by/throwing dirt from sandbox in face of/etc/etc. Girl.

(c) provide no reasonable explanation or realistic time frame for the immediate love that exists between two characters

(d) feature male protagonists who say "Baby" or who make jokes about their own sex appeal to the female characters that profess to hate them

(e) feature male protagonists who, we are are told, are the most popular boy in the school and who, we are told, fall in love with the quietest, shyest, nerdiest girl in the school for no reason whatsoever

So . . . can anybody recommend some romances that do not possess any of these traits? Because I'd love to read them!

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