readers Readers, What Do You Skip?

[Solus Magus]

Too much details turn me off. I am more of a person who looks at the bigger scheme and small details would usually come and go within my imagination. Like what the other folks here said, I am also a fan of "show, not tell" kind of narration. I only read the details if I need to put myself into the shoes of the character. I really love those scenes wherein everything is intense.

 

When it comes to grammar, I can tolerate as much as I could. As long as I can grasp the idea then I am fine.

[Brayon]

I've noticed something about this thread. The vast majority of posters are Authors, like myself. I hope we didn't run off normal members from this thread.

 

(Also, I am firm believer, that to be a good writer, you have to a good reader. I read a lot, in both Digital and Paper formats.)

[Bucket1]

7 hours ago, BHopper2 said:

I've noticed something about this thread. The vast majority of posters are Authors, like myself. I hope we didn't run off normal members from this thread.

 

(Also, I am firm believer, that to be a good writer, you have to a good reader. I read a lot, in both Digital and Paper formats.)

I think this comes back to @Timothy M. thoughts about writing comments, it can be intimidating and we have loads and loads of lurkers. I guess that’s not unusual.

 

And I have given a bit more thought to what I skip or why I stop reading... I am a fairly forgiving reader but I do expect the author to respect their own work (multiple spelling mistakes etc) and their characters need to have some authenticity. Fiction very often requires the suspension of disbelief but disbelief in the integrity of the characters will cause me to switch off.

[Former Member]

Wildly unrealistic situations bother me, so I avoid all the zombie, vampire, were folk, and similar genres as well as sudden wealth (inheritances, law suits, or lotteries). Of course, there’ve been exceptions, usually because I enjoy a particular author. When I see any of those sorts of keywords in the description, I don’t go any further.

 

While I enjoy good science fiction and fantasy, most non-professionals don’t do it well. Even much of what is published on paper is derivative and unimaginative. What I’ve seen online has mostly been too crudely sexual in nature for me.

[Former Member]

18 minutes ago, droughtquake said:

Of course, there’ve been exceptions, usually because I enjoy a particular author.

Yes, @Mikiesboy, you are very exceptional!  ;-)

[Mikiesboy]

42 minutes ago, droughtquake said:

Yes, @Mikiesboy, you are very exceptional!  ;-)

you're very kind, droughtquake... thanks.. i just write em as i see them...  

[William King]

The thing I found odd about "what do you skip" is that I did not imagine people read books skipping through bits, because I don't. A good story grabs me with the first line, the first paragraph, first few paragraphs, or by the end of the first chapter. Someone here once told me that in the absence of summaries or reviews you should read the first chapter or two to see if you like it. That is what I do, and I will read on into the second chapter if I am not sure about the writing. 

 

If I find I have to skip bits of the first chapter, or get into chapter two and skip bits, for whatever reason, they have all been mentioned previously, then I drop the book, I put it down and don't read on. Therefore, I never read a book and skip bits, I savour every word and description the author has written, sometimes I even reread a paragraph because I think I read it too quickly. Yes, I do read fast and slow, better I never skip through a book I have chosen to read.

[Former Member]

26 minutes ago, William King said:

The thing I found odd about "what do you skip" is that I did not imagine people read books skipping through bits, because I don't.

One big difference between traditional, bound-paper books and GA is that traditional publishers (as opposed to vanity or self-published) employ editors who (ideally) edit out extraneous, confusing, or redundant text as well as remove spelling or grammatical errors. While there are many fine editors and beta readers here, they are volunteers who should not be expected to achieve the highest standards that the very best publishers can regularly meet. I don’t recall skipping any text in a published book that I chose to read, but on GA, I have skipped over things that I’ve mentioned above.  ;-)

 

I’ve seen warnings that some authors have placed in chapter prefaces, suggesting that some readers might choose to skip certain passages or even an entire chapter due to sensitive subject matter. I’ve never felt compelled to heed those warnings because none have ever been a sensitive area for me. I think the only warning I would pay attention to would be extremely graphic gynecological details! And that’s been something I haven’t come across here yet.  ;-)

[Brayon]

13 hours ago, Bucket1 said:

I think this comes back to @Timothy M. thoughts about writing comments, it can be intimidating and we have loads and loads of lurkers. I guess that’s not unusual.

That's very true. In order to post anything, you have to have an account, and I believe @Myr once said (and I can be off on the numbers), that site traffic was 98% guests and 2% Members. So, it's quite possible.

[Bucket1]

59 minutes ago, BHopper2 said:

That's very true. In order to post anything, you have to have an account, and I believe @Myr once said (and I can be off on the numbers), that site traffic was 98% guests and 2% Members. So, it's quite possible.

Those figures wouldn’t surprise me at all. I was the same for quite some time before joining the fun and games

[jkwsquirrel]

In Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, I skipped the songs.  I enjoyed the world-building and descriptions, but the songs...  Looking back, I could have skipped the whole Tom Bombadil section and been alright.

[FormerMember4]

13 minutes ago, jkwsquirrel said:

In Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, I skipped the songs.  I enjoyed the world-building and descriptions, but the songs...  Looking back, I could have skipped the whole Tom Bombadil section and been alright.

I’d rather drink bleach. Description OVERKILL!!

[Myr]

7 hours ago, BHopper2 said:

that site traffic was 98% guests and 2% Members. So, it's quite possible.

Yup.  That's about right.

 

[MacGreg]

7 hours ago, BHopper2 said:

That's very true. In order to post anything, you have to have an account, and I believe @Myr once said (and I can be off on the numbers), that site traffic was 98% guests and 2% Members. So, it's quite possible.

 

29 minutes ago, Myr said:

Yup.  That's about right.

 

I suppose this shouldn't shock me - but it does. 98% just pop in to read and then disappear?

Edited November 14, 2017 by MacGreg

[Graeme]

@William King, I don't skip much in a print novel the first time I read it, but I certainly do on re-reads. When there are multiple storylines, I will often re-read the story, following just one of those storylines, skipping over the others. It gives me a different feel to the story, that way.

 

That's not what this thread is about, but I thought I would mention it. 

[Reader1810]

1 hour ago, MacGreg said:

 

 

I suppose this shouldn't shock me - but it does. 98% just pop in to read and then disappear?

Registering was one of the best things I ever did. There is so much to do and enjoy on this site as a registered member.

 

Hint, hint, nudge, nudge to anyone thinking about taking that final step.

 

Okay, back to the topic at hand.

 

 

[Bucket1]

5 hours ago, Reader1810 said:

Registering was one of the best things I ever did. There is so much to do and enjoy on this site as a registered member.

 

Hint, hint, nudge, nudge to anyone thinking about taking that final step.

 

Okay, back to the topic at hand.

 

 

Slightly delaying the return to topic by saying I agree

[Krista]

I skim when the scenes become repetitive in nature. Also, sex scenes that go on and on, slow building, etc. If something is happening that is exciting or tense in a portion of the book -  I tend to skim the... side dramas that aren't all that important, that for some reason, the author decided to add to those scenes moving the book/story at the time.

Edited November 19, 2017 by Krista

[northie]

A number of times, people have commented on how the lack of a good editor has made them skip or completely ignore stories. I include myself amongst those people.  Yet a story can be well-written from that point of view, good English, coherent sentences, and be almost completely lacking in narrative drive. Two stories (from the same non-GA author) suffer from this. I don't quite know why I'm still reading them. The plot trundles along, nearly every day accounted for. The characters do things, but there's no sense of movement, tension, release, anticipation.  When something finally happens, and it's an important something, I feel no engagement, no emotional connection, because of this lack of drive. The characters are not cardboard cutouts, but the author does very little to make me care about them. So, unsurprisingly, I find myself skipping through, trying to find something of note, anything which will make me realise why I started reading them in the first place. 

[William King]

The comments about what and why readers skip stuff is interesting, but also frustrating and handicapped - without actual examples it is difficult to be clear about what people are saying when they start to be specific, but don't go the whole way and quote. What are sex scenes that go on and on? Well written, trundles on, lacks dialogue and doesn't engage (does beg the question, why are you reading it?), but doesn't help much with knowing what you are talking about, the example.

 

I only pick these comments because they are the most recent, not for any other reason. You see, six pages in and I know there are loads of things readers don't like and skip, but I'm not too clear as to exactly what, because no one wants to quote. I don't see how you can progress with generalities.

 

I find it annoying that several people complain about grammar and even go as far as saying they would not read something that doesn't have an editor. I find it annoying because I am an author without an editor and probably with bad grammar thrown in for good measure. I find it annoying because you would make that choice not to read without opening chapter one. Of course that is your choice, but excludes the vast majority of amateur writing on here that doesn't have an editor, or beta readers. 

Edited November 20, 2017 by William King

[LJCC]

I skip poorly detailed structures such as: the slip and slopes of the mountain side beckoned him to walk with her sister because she was furious with him. And I'm like...WTH was that?

 

I also dislike character details that are nonessential to the character plot, such as: First, I'm 6'4. Have blue eyes. Built like a football player since I play sports. It's like reading out the details out of a morgue? Wouldn't it be better if it was written this way: My towering height was such a problem, that my blue eyes sought comfort in his own that I'd somehow fit in his volkswagon. He laughed and winked. Not that it helped. My knees felt weak. It didn't help either that my muscled frame hampered the narrow opening despite the passenger chair-reclined for easy entry. It was taxing. But his smile...it was worth it. I'd sit anywhere in his car if it meant I could get a ride from him. Only him. He called me Gary. What he never found out was that I called him 'The One'. Even now when he's saying his vows to her, while I stand beside him as his best man. My eyes turned to a shade of amber at the setting sun. Unlike my eyes, my feelings remain the same. It hurts.

 

And I detest the use of adjectives, verbs, or adverbs repeatedly in least 2 or 3 paragraphs in a story, such as: He gave a crooked smile. Which made Anna reply with a crooked smile. She tersed her lips which made him terse his buttocks as he let out a sly odour of crookedness that gave her another crooked smile, ad inifitum...Until she died with her tersed arse, embalmed in a crooked smile. *coughs* Twilight...And I'm like WTH is that? Even Ann Rice had a dictionary beside her when writing her novels. I mean, Merriam Webster is there to be your BFF. There are at least a million words to use in the english vernacular. 

 

And lastly, I cringe at 1st person stories that doesn't have character depth. Because most writers who write on the 1st person POV trope forget that they are writing in the eyes of a character, not their own. You'd always know in the beggining or the middle of the story if the story is a good read. I remember browsing a book and skimmed the middle part and read, "She took her rucksack as she rode the new york train." Rucksack? Is this a british novel or a british character? Got intrigued and realised it was a 3rd POV. So the narrator's british? Me thinks.

[xyz]

Backstory. That is, when an author launches into it before I've developed sufficient interest in the characters.

[Mikiesboy]

8 hours ago, LJCC said:

And lastly, I cringe at 1st person stories that doesn't have character depth. Because most writers who write on the 1st person POV trope forget that they are writing in the eyes of a character, not their own. You'd always know in the beggining or the middle of the story if the story is a good read.

I love this.  A writer with more years in than I had at the time told me writing in first is simple. However as you say, you are not writing from your own POV but from that of your character. To do that, you have to be that character, see his way, think his way and that can be rather difficult to do well.

[Wesley8890]

9 hours ago, LJCC said:

 

 

And lastly, I cringe at 1st person stories that doesn't have character depth. Because most writers who write on the 1st person POV trope forget that they are writing in the eyes of a character, not their own. You'd always know in the beggining or the middle of the story if the story is a good read. I remember browsing a book and skimmed the middle part and read, "She took her rucksack as she rode the new york train." Rucksack? Is this a british novel or a british character? Got intrigued and realised it was a 3rd POV. So the narrator's british? Me thinks.

I'm guilty of writing like that. Third person is easier to write in. 

[LJCC]

On 11/20/2017 at 4:02 PM, William King said:

I find it annoying that several people complain about grammar and even go as far as saying they would not read something that doesn't have an editor. I find it annoying because I am an author without an editor and probably with bad grammar thrown in for good measure. I find it annoying because you would make that choice not to read without opening chapter one. Of course that is your choice, but excludes the vast majority of amateur writing on here that doesn't have an editor, or beta readers. 

 

Well, in this site where chapter based writing trumps a finalised draft that is normally submitted to editors before the proofreading; you can expect a lot of errors in terms or grammar. But one thing that bothers me is why there are spelling errors in stories...in this digital age where one can easilly use the "Auto-Spell Check" function from a Microsoft Word or any Word editing software, that can save anyone the hassle of typographical errors. Unless the writer chooses to type in a typewriter then I respect the artform. But I really don't get the logic why spelling should be an issue without the use of editors correcting the most basic of typing errors.

 

If I'm writing a chapter, the red text usually puts me off from MS word, but I turn it off when I'm writing then turn it on for easy spelling features.

 

8 hours ago, Mikiesboy said:

I love this.  A writer with more years in than I had at the time told me writing in first is simple. However as you say, you are not writing from your own POV but from that of your character. To do that, you have to be that character, see his way, think his way and that can be rather difficult to do well.

 

True. 1st POV should be the easiest. But a lot of writers fall trap in the 1st person POV without understanding the narrative's complexity. I remember what my professor told me, that a 1st person POV is simply writing another person's biopic.