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Suspension of disbelief, or things that make you go huh?
 
#3
Far too many fic authors do not do the research and just write what seems cool. And most of them don't care. A few will actually get belligerent about it, like I as a reader am somehow indebted to them simply because they wrote something and have no right to point out flaws in what they wrote.

To answer your question directly, far too many fics ping my radar this way. Some I read anyway because the fun or the awesome overrules the reality, but most of them I give up on as soon as I see which way they're heading. Specific things that annoy me? Well, you can look at Skysaber's work for a good, concise collection. When he's on the ball, his stuff is fun as hell and often funny as hell. But far too often it spirals out of control and being a protagonist in one of his stories becomes a license to commit any atrocity while lecturing everyone in earshot about how it is the right and proper thing to do. That's when he doesn't just turn a passage -- or a chapter -- into a lecture by the narrative voice about whatever religious, political or social issue he's wonking on at the moment.

More generally: OOC without explanation or character development always annoys me. "It doesn't work that way", 'it" being anything from nature to politics, is another red flag for me. Rants, lectures, a surfeit of expospeak and "As you know..." Outright errors of fact. Arbitrary changes to the setting made for the convenience of the writer ("I couldn't remember Hermione's middle name, so I made one up" is a classic real example I use in my writer's guide). In-line author's notes. Errors in vocabulary or usage that make what the writer wrote and what he intended two wildly different things.

Oh, I could keep going, but I'll probably spill over into areas which are beyond the scope of your original question.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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Messages In This Thread
[No subject] - by M Fnord - 02-16-2015, 08:53 PM
[No subject] - by Bob Schroeck - 02-16-2015, 09:10 PM
[No subject] - by Kilroy - 02-16-2015, 09:48 PM
[No subject] - by Kilroy - 02-16-2015, 09:56 PM
[No subject] - by M Fnord - 02-17-2015, 03:38 AM
[No subject] - by Labster - 02-17-2015, 04:01 AM
[No subject] - by Black Aeronaut - 02-17-2015, 04:27 AM
[No subject] - by robkelk - 02-17-2015, 04:44 AM
[No subject] - by Shepherd - 02-17-2015, 06:14 AM
[No subject] - by Matrix Dragon - 02-17-2015, 07:06 AM
[No subject] - by Inquisitive Raven - 02-17-2015, 10:42 PM
[No subject] - by Bob Schroeck - 02-18-2015, 12:45 AM
[No subject] - by Inquisitive Raven - 02-18-2015, 10:28 AM
[No subject] - by robkelk - 02-18-2015, 03:45 PM
[No subject] - by Bob Schroeck - 02-18-2015, 04:39 PM
Time travel that isn't - by hmelton - 02-18-2015, 10:29 PM
[No subject] - by Jinx999 - 02-19-2015, 12:15 AM
[No subject] - by Kilroy - 02-19-2015, 01:25 AM
Time travel that isn't - by hmelton - 02-19-2015, 05:09 AM
[No subject] - by Matrix Dragon - 02-19-2015, 05:15 AM
Superman's Cell phone - by hmelton - 02-19-2015, 05:45 AM
[No subject] - by Matrix Dragon - 02-19-2015, 07:04 AM
[No subject] - by Morganite - 02-19-2015, 09:28 AM
[No subject] - by Bob Schroeck - 02-19-2015, 04:29 PM
[No subject] - by ECSNorway - 02-19-2015, 07:32 PM
[No subject] - by Deadpan29 - 02-20-2015, 07:08 AM
[No subject] - by Acyl - 02-21-2015, 06:21 AM
[No subject] - by Morganite - 02-21-2015, 06:52 AM
[No subject] - by Matrix Dragon - 02-21-2015, 06:53 AM
[No subject] - by Deadpan29 - 02-23-2015, 03:04 AM
[No subject] - by Kilroy - 02-26-2015, 02:06 AM

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