Common Mistakes that Pull Readers Out of Stories

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

There's nothing so awful as being pulled out of a great story by reading a typo. Unless, of course, you're the author of the story and a reader is telling you that they were pulled out of your story by an error.

There are lots of different mistakes that can yank readers out of a book, but the good news is that you can try to look for them before we publish…or, if you self-publish, you can correct the errors even after publishing.

Here are a few of the most-common issues that pull readers out of a story:

Author intrusion. It can be very distracting when an author starts lecturing on their favorite topic or cause, especially when it doesn't fit in with the character or story.

The need for readers to suspend their disbelief too frequently. I think most readers are happy to suspend their disbelief at least once, but when it becomes a regular thing, it's frustrating.

Too much author research. Or unnatural presentation of the research. Research can be incredibly important, but not to the point where it overwhelms the story and basically turns into an information dump.

Poorly-planned or disappointing endings. Deus ex machina, among them. It's no fun to come to the end of a book you've enjoyed and the ending falls apart, is rushed, or is unbelievable.

Continuity errors. You can do a special round of edits on your story to weed these out. Readers quickly pick up on goofs where a character suddenly has a different outfit on but doesn't change clothes.

Head-hopping (shifting POVs in the same scene). It can make it hard for readers to settle in, never knowing which POV will come next.

Smart characters making dumb choices.  Or even illogical behavior for a particular character that isn't in line with her personality. Characters investigating dark basements alone when there's a killer on the loose. Or even a character that acts completely out of character for no other reason but to act as a plot device.

Excessive descriptions of people or settings that don't reinforce the story world or develop the characters. I nearly always skim during long-winded descriptions. It just slows down the story's pace.

Boring or awkward dialogue. Really, it's just better not to mimic real conversations since they're not interesting when they're in print.

Too much inner dialogue.  If your novel seems to have a lot of it, maybe it's time to write in a best friend to be a sounding board for your character.

Typos.  We all end up with them, but it's important to get rid of as many as we can.

These are some of the main offenders to me…what would make it on your list?

Common Mistakes that Pull Readers Out of a Story:
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