Writing pet peeves

[Shuppet Master]

Just recently, I read someone review on a story(I won't put names here) and found that they used the word "effect" in place of "affect" in a sentence, which is completely messed-up. So I started this thread to vent that when you say something like "affect a duel", you don't use "effect" in its place. "Effect" is a noun, "Affect" is a verb.

Sorry about that.

Anyways, to make use of this thread, feel free to post your own pet peeves when you see someone's writing.

[dratinihaunter13]

writing "towards" instead of "toward" has been bothering me lately. also the your, you're thing, most mistakes like that which spell check can pass over. it pisses me off just as much when i do these things too >_<;;

[mr_pikachu]

Yeah, mistakes with words that are close to one another always give me a sick feeling in my stomach. They often make me wonder if the writer is really trying; that is, if the writer cares enough to spend a little time and effort on manually editing their fic.

One thing that I find annoying is the problem of stereotyping. It's particularly easy to fall into this trap with Pokemon; after all, just about every nurse in the anime (and game, for that matter) looks, talks, and acts the exact same way as every other nurse. The same, obviously, goes for police officers. It's great when someone will go out of their way to make their characters different. As I mentioned in the "Hero" thread, I like characters who are supposed to be heroes and yet have deep problems. Characters who are protagonists but yet wouldn't normally be called "heroes" are quite entertaining.

[Lady Vulpix]

Well, there are several mistakes that tend to annoy me by their excessive repetition, like the use of:

-then instead of than,
-of instead of have,
-hadn't of instead of just hadn't,
-grammer instead of grammar,
-philosepher instead of philosopher.
-a instead of an.

Changes of tense, or even perspective/narrator within a paragraph are also annoying. And contradictions, and things that don't make any sense when you read them.

I also agree with everything Brian said in his post.

[mistysakura]

Well, I get annoyed by justabout all the above. Not too much though. What really gets me is repeated mistakes. Mistakes that continue on for chapters and chapters even when readers have tried to explain. Basically, I'm pretty forgiving towards people who are willing to improve when it comes to grammar and stuff, and I know it takes time, but the people who don't seem to try annoy me.

[Lady Vulpix]

Same here, Ada. If it's just once it doesn't bother me that much, but they often keep doing it again and again... especially the 'then' one. Some use a spell-checking program and assume that if it didn't spot a mistake, then it's ok, when those programs can't notice the incorrect use of real words.

[Chris 2.1]

I once offered a guy some advice on tenses, and typed a paragraph in 3rd person to explain. He copy and pasted it into his fic, with no relevence to the rest of it so it went like this:

I went to the professor.

"Hi i said, can I have a pogeymonz?

"Justin I think yes' said Professor Maple, and he gave me Charmindy

Then, the ethereal glow of the Pokeballs light exploded in the room. The little red lizard, eminating a surprising amount of heat, gave a small cry of his name as he playfully swished his tail around. The Professor watched alarmingly, handing Michael the Pokeball as the young boy gazed at his new Pokemon.

"Thankz mr Professor man I'll be the champyun''' I sad and took Charminky out th room.

Then I beat all 18 Gyms and The eleet 4. An d then I won.

The end.

And then there was a secwul.

The end.


Or something like that. That really annoyed me.

[Lady Vulpix]

Well, that was an odd yet somehow funny story.

Which reminds me... many people also tend to write eminating instead of emanating. What's with English speakers and vowels?

[Blademaster]

OK, I've got a pet peeve. It's not a pet peeve about writing, though - it's just something that's driving me nuts that I have to vent on a little.

What is the deal with me? More often than not:

My posts aren't replied to (Mine is the only one on this page that hasn't been replied to at all!)

My questions are ignored. (No one helped me figure out how to make a signature, or answered if I could post a preview of a story in The Writer's Lounge, or agrees with me when I notice trivial things that're often overlooked, etc.)

My comments are unheeded. (The rare occasions that I criticize anything I'm either disregarded or chewed out for it.)

Why is this? Why am I the pariah? The outcast? The black sheep? I'm not a people person, I'll admit it, but I get bored and lonely too, dammit! Did I do something to piss off this whole site or give a wrong impression about me or something? I just want to know...

Anybody...?

-Blademaster

[Gavin Luper]

Erm ... sudden venting of the spleen.

Blademaster, I can say with reasonable certainty that nobody on these forums has a problem with you; I can most certainly say that I, personally, don't. And I think you'll find that your comments and criticisms do not go unheeded; and, if it so happens that some people do disregard you or whatever, be assured that you are not the only one. You are not being singled out, no matter what it seems you think.

That said, your post was pretty irrelevant to the thread, but I'll leave it here anyway; there's nowhere else for it to go.

Cheers!

[Mega Horny]

=30498594805u39]One of my greatest Pet Peeves, is that the majority of the people in the forum tend to only read the fics of MODs and Veterans rather than those of newcomers, without even checking to see if they have any potential. This annoys me because I in turn do not receive much feedback, which, is the one thing I take joy in as a reward for the long and tiring hours of writing. Also, if you one does not post feedback, one won't be able to learn from their mistakes and will never improve, thus continuing a constant cycle of

ignorance --> No improvement -->mehness

I would use an example, such as Chris 2.0's fic, TPML, or Gavin Luper's Lisa the Legend, in which there are countless readers, but they are both excellent fics so I cannot complain. I just wish people would be a little more accepting of newcomers and try to help them improve, rather than ignore them and hope they'll go away. Believe me, I won't.

[Greyfox]

*sigh* Time to get into "debunk mode".

First off, if you're writing for the approval of others, then you're writing for the wrong reasons.

Secondly, you'll find, Mega Horny, that the further along a story is, the more popular it'll become. It's not because they're veterans or moderators that their story is well-received. They're well-received because the writers have put so much work into them. Theoretically, I think it's because when a typical reader sees a story with over a hundred posts in it, it means that there are a lot of chapters for them to read. If the author has put so much effort in doing writing those several chapters, then he or she is less likely to abandon it. That gives the reader comfort in knowing that when he or she really gets into it, the story won't suddenly cut off at a critical moment.

I'm sure you'll find that when Gavin Luper and Andrew's respective fics first began, they weren't nearly as well-received as they are now.

-drew

[Mega Horny]

I know what you mean. I was just hoping to get more readers before the end of book one, so new ones wont be flooded with spoilers, but that wont be for a while anyway.

[Lady Vulpix]

While what drew says it's true, sometimes a large amount of replies discourages people. Many times I've mention my fic to others and they said they couldn't read it because it had so many chapters they wouldn't be able to catch up (which they would, actually, as I only get to write one chapter every 2 or 3 months, but that's what they feel).

I hate it when people give destructive criticism. Not corrections, corrections can be helpful; but when they say your fic sucks and it's completely unbelievable and ridiculously corny, and too naive... those kinds of comments. That's what really hurts me.