Your least favourite plot device

iguana

I thought it would be interesting to see what really common storytelling devices really drive readers/viewers crazy. There seem to be certain staples of lazy writing that anyone who is serious about writing should learn to avoid or at least have a damn good reason if they use.

My personal bugbear is stories that are driven by a lack of communication by a couple, friends, business parties or whatever. Not a general breakdown that can occur when people take each other for granted, which can be an interesting story if told right. But a scenario where the whole plot hinges on two people not having a particular conversation even though every iota of good sense in your mind is screaming that they need talk properly.

The worst is when two characters have an important conversation and each misunderstands the other, somehow confirming their separate fears. All because they have somehow failed to actually state what it is they are talking about. Though I also hate it when a character gets themselves further and further into a muddle because they are trying to keep a secret. But by trying to keep the secret they do things which are far, far worse than what they were first hiding.

The reason why I hate it, is that 99% of the time it all comes out in the end anyway. There is no real drama because it is so clearly a plot device rather than a natural progression of the story. I end up really bored and pissed off as the protagonist works under false assumption or tries and tries to keep their secret and everything gets progressively worse until the final dénouement, when all is revealed and either worked out or ruined due to the secrecy.

pickarooney

The worst is when two characters have an important conversation and each misunderstands the other, somehow confirming their separate fears. All because they have somehow failed to actually state what it is they are talking about. Though I also hate it when a character gets themselves further and further into a muddle because they are trying to keep a secret. But by trying to keep the secret they do things which are far, far worse than what they were first hiding.

Ah, the old senseless quiproquo. As opposed to a quid pro quo. I don't think there's really an English word for quiproquo which is when two people understand the same thing in a different way. The lack of a direct English translation and the existence of a very similar phrase in English inevitably leads to a self-fullfilling prophesies.

Speaking of prophesies, I can't stand it when some ostensibly unimportant character makes an off the cuff remark and you just know that in 100 pages you'll be marvelling at how it all coincidentally came to pass just like that guy said.

EileenG

Yes, I hate the stories where all the trouble could have been avoided by sitting down and chatting over a cup of coffee.

I seeth at the Hidden Princess stories, where the heroine, though brought up by rednecks in a trailer park, turns out to be a magic princess, sent away by her loving parent who fear she'll be assassinated by a wicked uncle. Or where the hero/heroine turns out not to be the school dork, and has a mark/locket/freckle which proves they are an amazingly powerful Chosen One.

It's not a plot device, but I hate where the heroine looks at herself in the mirror and complains that her breasts are too big, and her hips are too small, and her cheekbones are too high, and her skin is too smooth to attract any man. It's almost as bad as when she looks in the mirror and smiles happily because yeah, she's a total babe!

I don't like stories which hinge on a co-incidence. Hero is blundering around, and does a good deed for a girl who just happens to be the missing princess, and they all live happily ever after.

miec

It's not a plot device, but I hate where the heroine looks at herself in the mirror and complains that her breasts are too big, and her hips are too small, and her cheekbones are too high, and her skin is too smooth to attract any man.

This made me smile, I totally agree. It screams of neuroticism. I'm not sure what plot elements bug, except the above.

I remember once reading a Jackie Collins novel and the lines 'she threw her armani jacket over the chair, etc, etc' made me want to puke, or other such cliche yukkiness, but there is a market for that. It all comes down to taste.

For me a good book has heart, it has a centre / story, I know sometimes the way it is written can kill the heart of it but there are some incredibly well written books, that focus on language and they have no heart, there is no substance, so if something bugs me the most it is fancy prose with **** all in it.

Ellian

The rom-com screenplay device - You mean it was all a stupid bet?

Oryx

Its not so much a plot device, more like the description thing above, where the MC, successful author Tiffany, pulls her sweater over her pert bosom and ties her shoes on her tiny feet at the end of her long athletic legs. And the romantic dude eyes her in her plain jumper with her hair pulled back and thinks he's never seen anything so beautiful. The author pouring their idealised self image into the characters is so corny and obvious, always makes me cringe.

EileenG

Am I the only one who thinks that if you have long legs, you need long feet to balance them or you look as if you are on stilts? Or worse, have hooves?

pickarooney

I think as a general rule men are much less concerned by big feet than women are.

A thing that always makes me roll my eyes is when a writer creates a physically attractive female character and then the next one along is just as beautiful but in a different way (they all have lovely bottoms) or she's a hyper-successful businesswoman and this is mentioned in the very next line, as though the author feels sort of guilty about dreaming up this femme fatale.

jumpguy

I hate annoyingly over-descriptive intros to EVERY chapter. It's taking the piss. Yes, there's setting the scene and all that, but seriously, it's a bit over the top to go and describe a relatively common and rather mundane setting. It's way too overly dramatic and just annoying. Maybe I'm impatient and just want the author to get to the point though, I don't know, one man's meat is another man's poison. It just feels like a load of filler a lot of the time. It often feels like a book is trying to be a movie, and it just doesn't work and makes a good plot just labourious to read.

Kinski

Guy likes girl. Girl likes guy. Why can't they get together? Cause she's already got a boyfriend...who happens to be a complete a**hole. Er, how did she end up with such a jerk in the first place? Is she that bad a judge of character? Why doesn't she just break-up with him? See Dawn and Tim in The Office, and countless romcoms.

As an aside, the wiki TV Tropes is fun for looking up stuff like this; I think it's pretty useful from a creative writing perspective too.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

TV Tropes is indeed excellent and has a lot to say on the OPs least favourite plot device....

cobsie

Kinski wrote: »

Guy likes girl. Girl likes guy. Why can't they get together? Cause she's already got a boyfriend...who happens to be a complete a**hole.

Ha ha - aren't you basically describing most of the cannon of Western literature here?

I love 'bad love' stories. And movies. And songs. But not in real life

Although, my least favourite plot device is when hard-boiled cop hooks up with hauty scion of wealthy family. Oh puhlease - that really is a fantasy!

EileenG

iguana wrote: »

My personal bugbear is stories that are driven by a lack of communication by a couple, friends, business parties or whatever. Not a general breakdown that can occur when people take each other for granted, which can be an interesting story if told right. But a scenario where the whole plot hinges on two people not having a particular conversation even though every iota of good sense in your mind is screaming that they need talk properly.

The worst is when two characters have an important conversation and each misunderstands the other, somehow confirming their separate fears. All because they have somehow failed to actually state what it is they are talking about. Though I also hate it when a character gets themselves further and further into a muddle because they are trying to keep a secret. But by trying to keep the secret they do things which are far, far worse than what they were first hiding.

The reason why I hate it, is that 99% of the time it all comes out in the end anyway. There is no real drama because it is so clearly a plot device rather than a natural progression of the story. I end up really bored and pissed off as the protagonist works under false assumption or tries and tries to keep their secret and everything gets progressively worse until the final dénouement, when all is revealed and either worked out or ruined due to the secrecy.

I recently read a book where the entire plot hinged on the hero thinking the heroine was a prostitute, and the heroine thinking the hero know she was a journalist. Lots of long conversations about how she enjoyed doing her job, and it wasn't fair that only men got to do that sort of thing, and him claiming that it was unsuitable for a lady of her station. Even though I was stuck with virtually nothing to read, I could only wade though half of it before I tossed it.

Killer_banana

The whole teen movie thing where the guy takes some ugly nerd, takes of her glasses and suddenly she's an amazing babe and he's in love. Hot or not she's still the same nerdy girl. Give him a month of her not being able to meet up 'cause she's studying and then wanting to go see sci-fi movies when they do and he wonn't be in 'love' with her anymore. And I know I just stereotyped there but if it weren't for stereotypes these movies wouldn't exist.

Also in my experience taking off someone's glasses rarely makes that much of a difference. =P

Phantasos

Something I hate (mainly a sci-fi/fantasy book problem) is when I open the first few pages of a book and I see a lengthy character list, sometimes many, many pages long.

Seriously, if the book is good I'll remember the characters. If you need to list them on the opening pages then the book must be hard work. And I buy books to enjoy the story, not to practice my memorisation techniques.

EileenG

Oh, or fantasy/SF novels where they invent a whole new language for their world, and insist you learn it. If your world has a ten legged unicorn on it, feel free to make up a name for it. If it has cats and dogs and bread and wine, I'd like them in English please.

nicowa

EileenG wrote: »

I recently read a book where the entire plot hinged on the hero thinking the heroine was a prostitute, and the heroine thinking the hero know she was a journalist. Lots of long conversations about how she enjoyed doing her job, and it wasn't fair that only men got to do that sort of thing, and him claiming that it was unsuitable for a lady of her station. Even though I was stuck with virtually nothing to read, I could only wade though half of it before I tossed it.

Sounds like a Mills and Boon I read when I was 13... Except she was a waitress, it was her birthday and she'd been bought a skirt too small for her birthday by her friend that she just had to wear and she was saying that she enjoyed her job, except for all the standing around...

On the actual thread topic, I hate it when, in a series the author goes into a huge amount of detail - about a page - when describing something that happened in the previous book... that isn't terribly plot necessary...

Arpa

The flashback/flashforward has to be one of the most over-utilised and annoying devices in literature, second only to the abhorrent "dream sequence".

Also, as mentioned in an earlier post, when the author portrays an idealised fictitious version of him/herself. It's almost a Freudian case study of craving recognition due to lack of self worth.

The most vomit inducing example I can think of is Dan Brown's well known atrocity where Robert Langdon is some sort of bookish, troubled and oh so sexy academic. I can almost imagine him jerking off in front of the keyboard as he wrote that tripe.

Fine, put yourself into your characters, as you know yourself best and it adds depth, but don't live out your dreams, or more likely, right your failings through your characters.

nicowa

Arpa wrote: »

The most vomit inducing example I can think of is Dan Brown's well known atrocity where Robert Langdon is some sort of bookish, troubled and oh so sexy academic. I can almost imagine him jerking off in front of the keyboard as he wrote that tripe.

Thank you for that image... I think I'm scarred...:(

iguana

Arpa wrote: »

The flashback/flashforward has to be one of the most over-utilised and annoying devices in literature,

I actually quite like books set in the present day but where large sections are set in the past. Graham Swift's Last Orders for example.

Ponder013

I hate the current trend for all detective/crime novels to have vast tracts of description giving the reader graphic and unnecessarily detailed information about the abominable and nauseating wounds inflicted by the equally well described (and always) psychotic killer. Seriously, don't crime readers have imaginations these days? And, why are all killers Psychotic or Psychopathic a La CSI Miami, or Criminal Intent... what happened to the ordinary decent murderers? Surely a Granny who does away with her best friend to get a place on the tidy towns committee is far more chilling...

Killer_banana

Also, as mentioned in an earlier post, when the author portrays an idealised fictitious version of him/herself. It's almost a Freudian case study of craving recognition due to lack of self worth.

The most vomit inducing example I can think of is Dan Brown's well known atrocity where Robert Langdon is some sort of bookish, troubled and oh so sexy academic. I can almost imagine him jerking off in front of the keyboard as he wrote that tripe.

Don't forget Stephenie Meyer's Bella Swan who when joining a new school, is loved and adored by everyone and has guys falling over themselves to ask her to prom. As everyone knows (whether they want to or not) she ends up with Edward Cullen who, despite his best efforts, loves her so much he tries to kill himself when he thinks she is dead. Of course that's just one of the many problems with Twilight.

EileenG

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