I believe this story actually did something quite similar to that. It's been quite some time since I read it though and it has become much longer. Might interest you - or it could be the wrong story in which case I hang my head in shame.

 

When anyone says "So Mote It Be."

 

When characters start throwing around magical oaths.

Magical oaths are the equivalent of a man making a bet that risks castration. You don't throw that kind of bet around unless it's the end of the world.

 

As far as fanon inventions go, "so mote it be" oaths are up there with bitchbaby!Harry

 

Sorry bitchbaby!Harry? What is that supposed to be?

 

When the main character starts whining or cutting then I'll quit reading.

But professional Angst can be good.

I'd rather the author show me the character's state of mind through the way the character dresses, their hair style , quirks, mode of speak, manner of walking, habits, and treatment of others.

 

This is actually a significant pet peeve of mine: fanfiction writers who attempt to change a main character's hair style and clothing style to convey that character's personality.

That kind of thing works great in a visual medium - in story form, it's usually grating waffling. At best it's an insignificant detail yet throws me off picturing the character and at worst it's Enoby Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way levels of awful.

 

Badly done angst, whining, being a special snowflake, horrible abuse written into the story to give excuse for all of the former. Wasn't that obvious?

 

The majority of professional writers do use the hair style of a character and their dress to convey their state of mind, though.

Harry Potter's messy hair represents his stubbornness, among other things, and his style of dress -- uncaring -- represents the lack of order in his life.

 

Actually I think it just represents that he doesn't care about clothes.

 

This made me laugh pretty hard actually. While fanfiction writers may try to force deeper meaning in these kinds of things frequently, something as simple as that is far more realistic.

 

Then you would be wrong.

All professional writers understand the importance of details when conveying characters. Using the character's appearance to convey their state of mind is something done in nearly every single story and any story worth reading.

Snape stalking around the dungeons with black robes, greasy hair and yellow, uneven teeth is one of the more obvious examples of J.K. Rowling using appearances to suggest a person's state of mind and personality.

 

Except pretty much everyone in Hogwarts wears black robes. Snape wearing black robes doesn't really say anything about his character, so that was a bad example. (Dumbledore would have been a better one).

I didn't say that Harry's appearance doesn't convey anything about his character -- it does. It conveys that he doesn't care about clothes. That's a pretty significant character insight - it means he's non-conformist, that he doesn't care much about what other people think about him.

What it doesn't convey is a lack of order in his life.

 

And yet, how many of characters are actually described as such when introduced?

It's a simple, literary technique.

For instance, if we're introduced to a student who is hyper and jolly, sure, they may be wearing black robes, but you don't put that in the description.

"A black-robed figure" just doesn't sound appropriate when describing Colin Creevey, even if it is technically correct.

Just like, "A figure of power arose, his wand held aloft, wearing purple robes spotted with little duckies," probably isn't appropriate when writing a scene of Dumbledore dueling. Sure, it may be technically correct, but it does not fit within the context of the story.

 

It does if you're writing a comedy.

/rekt

 

I'm not sure if this one has been brought up before but, exceedingly long Skeeter articles. I just get so bored reading them. I mean you know what's going to be written in them after seeing the title and yet you feel forced to read them anyway. And I'm talking about the ones that are 12 paragraphs long and take up an entire screen worth of space. Sometimes there's multiple ones per story.

 

Honestly, you only need the first paragraph of a Skeeter article usually.

 

It's honestly because most writers on ffn would make worse journalists than novelists.

I can't think of one good article I've ever read in fanfiction. If nothing else, I think Rita Skeeter would be an engaging writer.

 

Tbh, I don't think JKR did journalism justice either. Skeeter was supposedly a successful, sought-after journalist, but she comes across as more of a gossip blogger than a newscaster type. Sure, she could have a weekly/daily celeb-watch type column in the Daily Prophet, but unless Rowling releases more info via Pottermore, it's all just speculation.

And maybe that's what Rowling wanted the reader to take away. Who knows? Obviously, it's your fanfic, you can do what you wanna.

But...I interned for one my local newspapers a couple years ago and the most valuable thing I learned there was how to craft short, catchy blurbs that could deliver information while capturing interest in the same soundbite. Adverbs, excessive adjectives, intensifiers - they all get the axe. What's left over is what tells the story. Kiss: keep it simple, stupid.

From what I remember - and don't quote me on this because I don't have GoF open in front of me - Skeeter's authorial voice was very...frilly as in, "His eyes pooled with tears..." or something similar. It's one thing to draw the reader in; it's another to drown them in a sea of purple prose.

The trick to it was to think of the piece as the chorus line to a song - if you couldn't sing it, they couldn't publish it.

But let's face it - you can't sing most fanfics. You'd have to belt out a four hour long aria just to get through the first chapter of Wastelands.

 

Unlikely the first to mention it but I will anyways.

When authors use 'Harry Potter and the [something or other]' as their title. Yes it annoyed me with the series as well.