What Do You Hate Most in Bad Writing?

Sometimes it can be constructive to get out a little anger about those things in writing that really tick us off. The things that really get under our skin about bad writing, and what leaps off the page as a sign that the author either has no talent or isn't trying hard enough. What do you hate most? Is it cartoonish characters? Stupidly contrived plot lines? Or is it something smaller, like lazy language, made-up grammar pretending to be avant-garde, or a feeling of pretentiousness? Faux-solemnity? Clumsy attempts at humor? Inconsistencies?

Whether it's a tiny niggling thing or a huge structural problem, chances are you've got a pet peeve of writing that always appears in those really bad books. Pet peeves of my own include bad gender roles but also bad cliches that don't actually tell us anything, like "jumping for joy" or "he was a square peg in a round hole." It also really bugs me when writers use very artificial means of building up suspense, like creating an abrupt chapter break at just the wrong moment or making a character look sinister when really it's just a red herring to make the reader turn the pages.

And, oh, I've got more pet peeves. While some people can tolerate bad writing for a good juicy read, I find I just don't have much patience for a poorly-written novel; I can't get comfortable in its world. Of course, some things about good and bad writing are subjective, but I want to hear the objectively bad things about bad writing that really get your goat (to use a cliche of my own). What is it that makes bad writing stand out? Tell me in the comments. We can all use a reminder of the myriad ways a story can be messed up, and it'll be helpful so that we can avoid that technique (or lack of one) in the future.

Comments

[Katie A]

Something among what I see in my circle of friends who like to write is either large (page-long) paragraphs or obvious spelling/grammar mistakes and maybe even a flimsy beginning. These things always provoke the angry editor within that they don't seem to have. An endless paragraph can easily loose my attention although it is easy to write. The errors are like ... breezes. I don't mind unless it's something like "im goin, to teh; stohr}\[". And the flimsy beginnings are hard for any writer in my opinion, but the really horrible ones loose me instantly, especially if they're attached to an endless paragraph.

[Cheryl Wright]

I hate it when a noun and its verb are so far apart that the sentence loses its essence and its impact. I come across this in the newspaper daily.

[sudharm baxi]

Completely agree with you Blair. Many a times established suspense authors write bad stuff, the kind of stuff that appears to be written for the sake of completion of the novel.

If you don't have something strong to convey don't write and ofcourse the real mantra for all the writers out there is -

WRITE FOR YOUR READERS AND NOT FOR YOURSELF!!

Drop by to have a look at a few things to keep in mind in order to write good stuff(not required for you but your suggestions would be very appreciated) at -

http://baxiwrites.blogspot.com/2009/03/writing-from-hot-pan-walk-to-cake-walk.html