I came across a website long time ago, which I now cannot find, that offered a list of things that made a fiction novel bad, so I thought it would be helpful to list these things as well, in addition to learning what makes one good. I'll start out, based on experience.
-Lack of clear description. Often times I find it hard to picture where the characters are. It's one thing to create your own fantasy world, a post-apocolytpic Earth, another planet, another dimension, but if it comes off as confusion for the reader it defeats the purpose.
-Bad science. - I've heard there is no such thing in science fiction- however, if something is impossible scientifically, then its just plain impossible, and will be hard for the reader to accept. (even though Hollywood has gotten away with it for years).
- Unrealistic timelines.
- Unnecessary technical terms that add more confusion. Somehow shows like Star Trek used terms that made sense, but some shows that you see on the Sci-fi channel leave you scratching your head.
That's all I can think of right now. Anyone else?
Replies