Ever wonder what a novel’s nightmares would look like, if it could dream? Naturally, I can only guess. But I’d say that the spine-tingling fear of being put down is probably at the top of the list. When a reader pokes his bookmark in between the pages, stretches, yawns, and drops a novel back on his nightstand, it’s a terrifying moment for both novels and novelists alike. This is the moment we’ve worked and sweated and prayed to avoid. And yet it’s a problem that few of us will entirely escape in our careers. This week, I decided to take a highly unscientific poll in an effort to discover the most common reasons a reader stops reading. Below are the bulk of my results, gleaned from Twitter and Facebook. (If you’re not following me for updates, tips, helpful links, and inspiring quotes on either of these sites, you can do so by clicking the links or the logos in the right-hand column.)
1. Unworthy Characters
At the top of the list of complaints was the unworthy character. Nothing makes a reader slap a book down faster than a boring, unrealistic character:
Jen Brubacher: I don’t care about the characters, and so I don’t need to know what happens to them next.2. Lack of Plot Progression / Poor Pacing
Jane Lebak: Mile-long sentences ornamented with clichés, flat characters, cardboard villains, author relying on gimmicks. Yeah. Not reading.
Adriela Ashford: Boring characters. I’ll tolerate a lot as far as contrived storylines go, but if the characters aren’t likable, fugetaboutit.
People read because they care about characters; but they also read because they want to be entertained by the unexpected twists and careening turns of the plot. Let them down, bore them with clichés, or put them to sleep with nonevents, and they’re not likely to stick around:
Lorna G. Poston: Unbelievable plot, unless it’s a fantasy; underdeveloped storyline. I stopped reading a book just recently. It was a nice story, but nothing happened and the scenes didn’t fit together. I ended up not caring what happened to the main character.3. Gratuitous Sex, Language, and Violence
Jodie Bailey: Problems that could have been solved in the first ten pages, but they drag out for 300.
Naomi Musch: PREDICTABILITY. I may know that it’s going to end well, but I don’t want to be a chapter ahead of the author the entire way. That makes the journey so dull!
Literature and movies are saturated with gratuitous situations these days, but most readers don’t appreciate being pummeled with unnecessary violence, language, and sexual situations:
Tommie Lyn: I don’t like offensive language. Some authors seem to flaunt it, like a little boy saying, “Look at me! I know how to cuss!” and I won’t read them.4. Too Much Description
Holly Heisey : Gratuitous sex/violence will make me put it down.
The days of Dickens’s and Austen’s pages and pages of descriptive settings are long gone. Readers today want the scene sketched in a minimum of details:
Tamera Kraft: Long flowery descriptions or narrative that doesn’t do anything to further the story. Too much and I’ll set it down in a heartbeat.5. No Emotional Connection
Coralee Walther: Going into so much detail that you lose the flow of the story or it becomes really boring.
Kristina Seleshanko : Dry writing. That’s a big vague, I realize, but usually it means too much description and not enough action.
Readers want stories to last beyond just mere entertainment value. They want to connect with stories and characters on a deeper level. In other words, they want to read stories that matter to them personally:
Tommie Lyn: If it’s “wooden,” i.e., creates no emotion in me. It may be technically perfect... and beautiful prose... but if there’s no human element behind those well-chosen words that touches my heart as well as my brain, I can’t seem to get into it, and I’ll put it down.6. Poor Dialogue
MarChessa Taylor: A good story evokes an emotion from you, even if you’ve never been in the life situations mentioned therein; you find yourself in the story or imagining it with pictures in your mind. You find yourself relating or getting excited about getting to the next page.
Dialogue should easily be one of the best parts of any story. Readers love moving, witty, realistic dialogue. What they don’t love are forced and clichéd conversations:
Adriela Ashford: If the dialogue is too stuffy, slangy, or forced, I won’t read it. And overuse of names. In real life, we don’t constantly call each other by our proper names—why would we in a book?7. Too Preachy
Even as they desire to be moved by deep and powerful themes, readers are adamant in their dislike of “preachiness.” Trying to force an agenda on a reader will get your book nowhere but dusty:
Holly Heisey: I don’t like books that try to cram a message down your throat.Although this list of ours certainly isn’t exhaustible, it’s a good place to start in our quest to keep readers pawing through our pages as fast they as they can. What’s your opinion? What’s the most common reason you stop reading a story?
Related Posts: The All-Important Link Between Theme and Character Progression
Details: Bringing Fiction to Life
Eliciting Emotion
Punch Your Readers in the Gut!
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Story by K.M. Weiland
Tags: Characters , Description , dialogue , emotion , Gratuitous , language , Plot , sex , violence
Don't forget about "Lack of Research". When the writer has a lot of information wrong, and the reader knows, they stop reading.
Good point. Nothing kills suspension of disbelief faster than a writer who doesn't know what he's talking about.
Good points. There are a lot of movies I wish I could just turn off because of the reasons on your list, but I just keep thinking, maybe I'm wrong, maybe it will get better....
I can honestly say, since I read your last book in two days, that I did not want to put it down. :O)
I very rarely put a book down, but that's thanks to my OCD tendencies more than anything. Ironically enough, some of my favorite books have been ones that I didn't like right up until the ending. So there's definitely something to be said for not giving up on a book.
I'm pleased beyond words that Behold had you hooked. No nightmares tonight!
Have to disagree on #5. That one really depends on personal taste, and also on the genre. I like a page turner, and nothing annoys me more than an exciting story being interrupted by a romantic or relationship subplot. I'm still grinding my teeth over a story about a search for lost treasure that got mirred down for most of the book in a marital angst subplot. I know there's an audience for that kind of thing, but I'm not one of them. I even write in omniscient viewpoint, which is less emotional than third.
Although I definitely agree with you about the vagaries of personal taste, I don't think "emotional connection" necessarily means either romance or relationships. Emotional connection is just a matter of making the reader *care* about the characters.
I have become an intolerant reader. I've realized over the years that there are A LOT of good books, and I just don't waste my time reading bad ones. I've put down books for all the reasons pointed out in your post, as well as a couple in the comments.
Another reason I stop reading is confusing descriptions--fight scenes and such where I just can't follow what is happening.
And, another thing--head jumping. I can't take books that jump into too many points of view. I prefer books that stick to one or two, even three or more if done right. But if I'm bouncing around through the whole book and have to constantly stop to see whose head I'm in, down it goes.
Although head-jumping is accepted in well-written omniscient POVs, I'm not a fan of it either. I prefer tight, deep 3rd or 1st-person.
Wonderful post ~ all good points!
Thanks for stopping by, Lorrie!
A good list with good examples. All great things to weed out of a WIP. A novel really has to have a lot of things working together for a reader to keep reading!
Probably why bad novels are easier to find than good ones!
Great post!
The couple things that makes me put a book down is flat/unworthy characters. Also, if the author doesn't take me to the next chapter wanting more. As a reader, I need to be hooked right away, I have no problem putting a book down and never reading it again (same goes for movies.)
I'm sure I've missed out on good ones that way, but I don't have the time to slog through a poorly written book. Hopefully, as I write mine, that will help me :)
Very informative- as usual. Love this blog :)
That's a good addition: Poor chapter closers. Time constraints alone will cause a reader to set a book down at the chapter break. The trick is ending the chapter on such a way that the reader can't wait to come back to the book.
Good one! I'm tweeting this...
Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
I think lack of research, like Sarah said; flat characters and taking too long to get to the story are the only things that will cause me to put a book down.
Taking too long to get to the story is what killed my interest in the Wheel of Time series. I tried to read the first book and wanted to stab my eyes out with boredom after the first chapter. It didn't help that everyone who enjoyed the book said "oh, you have to get past the first 50 pages before it gets good." Yeah, I don't care. I want to find out at least a glimmer of the story before then.
Great list! I'm just learning how to write, so I will look at things differently going forward, but here are some things that have been known to turn me off:
1) BAD writing. I don't want to read any book where I, as a complete novice, find myself saying aloud at one in the morning, "Heck, I could have written this better!" It's insulting and not unlike a blind date with a man who uses double negatives and won't stop talking about how sexy his ex is. Do you leave him at the pub or stay around out of kindness?
2) Too many characters. Diana Gabaldon did this in one of her novels. By page 40 I was like, "Huh? Who is this? Is he the cousin of the daughter's ex-spouse? I give up."
I could add one more thing to the list that's not here: copycat-ism. If I've read three (say) "vampire-slaying-sexy girl cops who wear low-rise Jeans and high heels while taking down the BIG BAD Vampire" books, or Sex in the City copies already this month, dear God, I don't want to read another--in any form! Don't just write the same old thing; surprise me with something new. Be original, and I'll probably love you forever. :)
@Elizabeth: Thanks!
@Matthew: Couldn't agree more about The Wheel of Time. It qualified for a lot of the points in this post, IMO.
@Heather: Too many characters is an excellent addition. Not only is it confusing, it shows a lack of finesse on the author's part.
@Anonymous: Yeah, a little originality goes a long way.
I agree with all but #3. I think that is only true in Christian circles. In the main publishing markets, sex sells. Like hotcakes!
I just gave up on Moore's "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Childhood Pal of Christ". Based on the raw material of the Bible and Christ's life, I was expecting some sly satire and dark humor, and even beyond the first two chapters' worth of obvious jokes, and inconsistent tone, I held out hope that it would get better. But it never did.
Where I'd hoped to find clever insights and a fascinating, funny new take on Christ and the Bible, I found what amounts to a poor standup comedy routine based on Christ and the Bible. The author didn't press boundaries at all, and repeatedly went for the low-hanging fruit where the humor is concerned.
Such a disappointment. Lesson learned as a novelist: if you're going to take on Big Ideas and Sacred Cows, don't puss out about it. Be brave and irreverent.
@Anonymous: I'll grant you that my "survey" was answered primarily by Christians.
@April: The authors that make it big - and are are remembered for years to come - are those that take big chances and don't look back.
I would say what makes me stop reading a book would be: bad language, bad content, or that the story and characters don't mean anything to me.
What you say backs up the bulk of the responses I received. Thanks for commenting!
I think you hit on about all the reasons I put a book down. I stopped reading one just a few days ago because the writing was so over the top that I couldn't connect with the characters at all. I think the adverb quota for the whole book was met in the first 5 pages. Overly flowery or descriptive writing is a major turnoff for me.
Overuse of adverbs are one of my pet peeves as well - though I wonder if I'd notice them as much if I weren't a writer...
Great post and something for all writers to be thinking about. I'd like to add 'no hook' to the list because if I haven't gotten into the story by the end of the first chapter (or ridiculously long prologue in the case of some fantasy novels) then I tend to put the book down and find something else to read.
Ah, yes, the "nothing-happens-in-the-first-50-pages" nightmare. I'll definitely second that!
Good post!!
Gratuitous sex/language will turn me off first and foremost. If I pick up a book and there's a scene I object to, down it goes.
Lack of originality is the next thing that gets me. I want to be shocked, surprised, thrilled, awed by what I read. I want to think "Wow, I always FELT that but never knew how to say it!"
So if it doesn't make that, then once more I'll put it down.
.......oh, btw. Your writing grabs me by the throat from the first page and I could NEVER put it down. :D
"I always felt that but never knew how to say it" - well put! I think that's what we're all looking for in fiction, in one sense or another. We want to see how life is interpreted through someone else's eyes, so that we can see our own lives a little bit better.
And, thank you. I appreciate that a lot. :)
I try and not put down a book. I like to know why the writer has put me off reading any further. If the book has graphic sex scenes with nothing left for my imagination to play with, I tend to put the book down.
Interesting post.
I'm like you. It takes one heckuva bad to make me put it down. And, actually, seriously disturbing content issues are about the only thing that makes me skip a book.
What a great post! Great writing advice in here.
Glad you found it useful!
One of the things I've heard often about TG is "i had a hard time putting it down" ... so I did my job...does that mean 100% of my readers will keep reading, well I hope so *laugh* - but who knows...however, it's nice to hear that and it's something I am happy about.
For me, character is everything, so if the writer doesn't allow me to be engaged with the character(s), then I lose interest. Also, too much narrative and barely there dialogue - I tried to read a book, recently, that is a huge best seller, but it was almost all narrative and very little dialogue - I kept becoming distracted! the writing was gorgeous though... :)
As far as I'm concerned, dialogue is about the most fun part to write too!
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I tend to stop reading if the author's worldview is clearly different from mine. I'm a natural optimist, and life is too short to read depressing fiction.
I also stop reading if the author doesn't seem to have a worldview. I don't want the novel to be preachy, but it should be about something more than just the plot.
Regarding #3, the key word is "gratuitous." Sex sells, but lack of taste severely limits the audience.
I enjoy reading about the worldviews of others. An open mind is one of the best assets a reader can have. However, I agree about a "lack of worldview." I like stories that have something to say - without being preachy.
For me the story question has to be obvious within the first forty pages, otherwise I won't stick with it. I need there to be an important question that I want answered by the end of the book (and no sooner.) If a book (or a movie/TV show, for that matter) answers the question before it's over (and doesn't replace it with something even more fascinating/interesting), I'll just walk away.
All of fiction a question. If somebody's not asking what's gonna happen next, then pages aren't going to keep turning.
Oh, this list is just great. I found myself nodding along to all of them. Plus, it covers all the reasons I can think of.
I was wondering if I could put a link to this post on my blog and use the seven reasons with my own thoughts on them?
Would be great :)
It's a top list for all writers to consider and all readers can relate too.
Sure thing! Send me a link when it's up; I'd love to read your thoughts.
That covers most of it. Sometimes, though, I just put a book down because I'm not in the mood to read it. I can come back later and enjoy it
I rarely put books down and only then if I'm bored out of my mind. I wouldn't consider myself an emotional person, so I don't know that I've ever made a decision not to read a book based on my mood. But I'm, admittedly, pretty anomalous about these things!
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Short words are best and the old words when short are best of all.
Great quote!