It's mostly when sentences run together without a break that throws me off, rather then when they are fragmented. Like they are saying everything in one go without a breath.

eg. "Harry sir my name is Harry and no I don't mind thank you for asking though." - Some random shitbox fic of FF.net

You compare that with someone who actually knows what they are doing, like nonjon for instance, the dialogue from his fics actually sound like people who sitting around and talking, rather than that mess up there.

 

Run-on sentences where, although the writing is sound, the author hasn't got a clue when to use punctuation/fragments.

 

I just read a story where - at my count brief count using ctrl+f - the author spells barely 'barley' twenty six times within a few chapters. This is in a story where everything else grammar and spelling wise is fine.

I hate to add another grammar based complaint to this thread, but if you seriously read this and don't feel the urge to slap the author you amaze me.

 

Just... ugh. Auto-correct's a pain in the ass and all, but do these people proof-read their stories before posting them?

Here's a huge peeve of mine as well; Cliches in the fandom. Especially old cliches. This is a huge stickler for me in the Harry Potter fandom, because you cannot go one page on fanfiction.net without coming across an indy fic, and one that perpetuates the worst cliches of that genre of writing.

Awful nicknames for people ("Dumbles" really sticks out to me, since I just saw it the other day) is another big one.

Oh, and terrible writing or grammar. (So, 99% of fanfiction) Honestly, I just want to waste an hour or two with a decent story, not be forced to slog through the first chapter of a fic before hitting the 'x'.

Characters being out of character (without reason) comes to mind as well, or characters using terminology that they wouldn't.

So yeah, about 99% of the fanfiction out there comes up on my shit-list. I have discerning tastes.

 

I hate to be repetitive, but not capitalising the letter 'I', when saying something like 'I went to the shops'. It's like they never went through basic English lessons.

Pisses me off greatly.

 

When an author does something really stupid to a story because he gets a load of reviews asking for it. I was reading something the other day where something that contradicted an earlier part of the story happened, I pointed this out in a review thinking that it was an honest mistake. I got a PM back from the author saying that he knew it was impossible but he included it because some reviewers asked for it. This just completely ruined the story for me. This can also include the ridiculous, superfluous pairings that you get sometimes.

 

I’ve got to respond here, not disagree exactly, but maybe point something out…

Some people can’t spell, or at least have very little innate talent when it comes to things like grammar and spelling. Analogous to the fact that some people have a natural ear for music or an aptitude for mathematics, while some need to struggle to get any kind of ability at all.

I’m one of those, I abuse autocorrect like a motherfucker, I have to google McGonnagal (McGonagall) every fucking time to get the spelling right, and it pisses me off something fierce!

So I re-read each section I write after I write it, and any completed chapter once it’s finished, then again on FFNet’s Document Manager. AND FUCKING SPELLING MISTAKES STILL GET THROUGH THE GORRAM CRACKS!

*sigh*

I’m not disagreeing, and obvious mistakes like Pensive instead of Pensieve, using i instead of I, and so on bug me enough to want to bitch slap people on occasion too… It’s just that small errors are not always indicative of laziness.

Rant over, please feel free to swear at me and tell me I’m being an idiot

 

I get where you're coming from brah, and I respect your opinion and all, but, in my opinion, if you're going to write something and then publish it (even if it's only on the internet and you won't receive any money for it) you should at least have your shit straight.

Small errors like an uncapitalized 'i' or things of that nature (your spelling error with McGonagall is easily fixed, add it to your word processor's dictionary) are fine with me, it's when it is repeated over and over again that I have a problem with it.

Repeated use of words like 'before' 'then' and so on also irritate me, even if I'm just as guilty of this.

 

Dragons moving freely in Hogwarts........

 

No, not an idiot, and I sympathize (I have a good friend who has dyslexia), but that's what betas are for. It's just a fact that reading text full of spelling errors and typos is annoying and distracting; expecting people not to be annoyed by them, however genuine your difficulties are, isn't reasonable.

 

You just brought up another pet peeve of mine:

Excessive use of full stops.

 

Good god that. I just read a story that I would have otherwise really enjoyed but the dialogues was ridiculous. Example:

Ridiculous. Now, I might have been able to accept it as evidence of the trainer's current state if that was the only instance it was used so heavily, but it's like that all the time. Just frustrating to read.

 

That sounds super fucking annoying.

 

I read a story recently that was a great deal like that, but instead of full stops, it was full of super-short sentences. Which was great for the first chapter, because it fit the outlook of the main character, but then he changed, and the damn sentences stayed short. If the author had quit there, it would have been amazing, but god-damn if it wasn't annoying to see the exact same sentence structure over and over.

 

The thing that burns me is when an author already knows or has had it pointed out to them that they regularly make a certain mistake, and they do nothing to fix it.

Like the barley/barely thing. There's an easy fix for this, and it is called Find/Replace. If you already know that you regularly swap one word for the other, simply wait until you finish your chapter, then do a Find: barley / Replace: barely.

Done. Unless you write a lot about grains, you're not going to need to worry if you just accidentally replaced a legit barley reference. :facepalm

This method can be used for things like names, too, if you regularly misspell certain ones, and consistently use the same misspelling.

Voldermort? Deloris? Hermoine? Ginerva? Just wait until you've finished the chapter, and Find/Replace. Voldemort. Dolores. Hermione. Ginevra.

Spell incantations? I've seen some truly asinine spellings of those, Avada Kedavra being the typical victim. But, as long as the author is consistent in their misspelling, it takes mere seconds to fix with find/replace.

Seconds! But, if you tell this to the average FFN butt-monkeys, their reactions range from unwarranted and childish outrage to "But it's sooo haaaard!"

Then their legions of jerk-off fans leap to their defense, too, since, obviously, sloth and ignorance are virtues to be admired.

If you simply must use auto-correct, seriously consider adding things like Imperius (curse) to your dictionary. If you can't or won't or use "imperious" in your writing too often for this to be an advisable strategy, then you'd better start using Find to check "by hand".

Or at least the Electronic Age's version of "by hand"; twenty years ago most people would have been doing this shit truly by hand, either with an eraser or a bottle of whiteout.

Which means MOST people wouldn't be bothering to do it at all. There are two main reasons fan fiction exploded after personal computers and the internet went mainstream.

1. It made writing and distribution so much easier and cheaper, and no one has to staple a 'Zine together.
2. People love having their fragile egos stroked as much as any dick, and there are always people out there who, for whatever sad reasons, will eagerly do the stroking, even if the subject of their efforts doesn't deserve it. The internet makes it so this stroking can be performed and enjoyed in seconds and, since point 1 is true, it means so many more eyes are seeing your work. Thus, you have a much better chance of getting stroked.

Anyway.... if one has trouble with common words like then/than or quite/quiet... Well, all I can say is learn the difference and then do the proofreading work. Unlike music, you have all the time in the world to correct your mistake (you're not on stage, no one is recording you, you don't have to have good timing, a good ear, or good rhythm), and you can look up the answers to your issues, without having to calculate them, yourself.

Grammar/Punctuation are harder, yeah, and there isn't a program in the world that can accurately correct those. Spelling, though? Word meanings? It's called a dictionary. They even have them online, now, along with other helpful sites.

 

ALL OF MY RAGE. There are no words for how much I hate that misspelling.

 

My new pet peeve: Calling Dumbledore Master legitimist.