Reader Pet Peeves

I recently posted this question on my Facebook author page…

“I’m curious! Do any of the following things bug you when reading fiction?

1) Misunderstandings that go on too long. 2) A predictable plot. 3) Unlikely calamities (for example: fire followed by sickness followed by a blizzard). 4) When one honest conversation would really help matters, but the characters avoid having that conversation. 5) Coincidences

Let me know in the comments! If you have a reading pet peeve I didn’t list, go ahead and share that too, please.

p.s. All of the above bother me and so I try not to include them in my books. However, I acknowledge that I might be more sensitive to these than most because I’m a writer who spends a lot of time learning and thinking about the craft.

p.s.s We’re just speaking generally here (not mentioning any particular book, for example, that didn’t work for us) with the understanding that we might have tiny gripes but the bigger picture is that we all really LOVE books and reading.”

The responses were very numerous and fascinating. So much so, I created a bar graph!

The top two reader pet peeves (of those I’d listed) were misunderstandings that go on too long and when an honest conversation would help, but the characters don’t talk. The next most common answer was, “all of these bug me!” Then came unlikely calamities, predictable plots, and coincidences.

Some of the top reader pet peeves that I didn’t list initially, but that were echoed by several readers in the comments of the post were…

Lack of realism (characters who don’t think/act/talk like real people or scenarios that were completely unbelievable.)

Details and timelines that don’t add up.

Too much description.

Rushed endings.

A story that drags to the point that readers suspect the author was just trying to add word count.

Characters who fall in love way too fast.

Secret baby plot lines.

Too much repetition and over-explaining.

Grammatical and spelling errors.

Unsympathetic characters (because they’re too naive, lack intelligence, or are whiny, weepy, argumentative, wishy-washy, cheesy, or lie repeatedly).

And, to wrap things up, a few that made me laugh…

When the reader can’t figure out how in the world to pronounce a character’s name.

Male characters who read like females.

When the characters use each other’s names a lot. “I’m glad I wrote this post, Susan.” “I’m glad you did, too, Becky.” “My pleasure, Susan.”

Characters who have a dead cell phone in a life-threatening situation or (if they do have a working cell phone) don’t use it to call the police.

Here are my take-aways! Readers are smart and discerning. And writing is difficult because there are about a million traps an author can fall into with any given book.

What are your thoughts?