what i don't look for in a story/book: continued

Remember that post I did a while ago? Over here? And I said I'd continue it? Well, look no further! After an immense bout of boredom (and a sudden urge to do flute practice even though some random family friend's in my house. In fact, I'm playing while writing this), I decided to do so. Without any further ado, here's the list.

• LOTS of little, insignificant characters who are really easy to get mixed up. I sometimes find myself wondering, "Wait, is Joe related to Sam or Billy?" and as it turns out, Sam and Billy are actually brothers and Joe is their second cousin thrice removed or something distant and obscure like that. Keeping everyone's names straight really makes the story SO MUCH less enjoyable, even if it's the best plot ever.

• Characters who seem to have it all. Example: Bobelina is a dazzlingly beautiful blonde who gets all the guys. She's also a certified genius with the world's highest IQ, having graduated from university at age twelve. Plus, she has a three-minute mile and is a virtuoso on the piano, guitar, drum set, and alto sarrusophone. And on top of all this, she has the best personality ever and you just HAVE to love her. Honestly, people like that annoy me so much. Good characters have to have flaws, otherwise they're just not believable.

• Random subplots inserted for no reason. Example: Lilly has to save the world by collecting some sort of ancient artifact, and at the same time, Lilly's brother's friend's girlfriend is cheating on Lilly's brother's friend. And at random points during the saving-the-world plot, there are paragraphs describing Lilly's brother's friend's girlfriend's love life, and there is absolutely no significance whatsoever to the rest of the story.

• Enormous paragraphs that go on and on like this, with lots of semicolons and other punctuation, that make it difficult to follow the plot; I myself have a tendency to skip big paragraphs, even if they have some crucial clue to the outcome of the story. Lalalala. This paragraph will go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on...... *trails off into distance*

That's pretty much it. By the way, I love copypasting! ;)