Hot Buttons & Pet Peeves

You will never see the word "guffaw" in any of my manuscripts. There's something so mocking, condescending, and coarse about the word, I hate it.

I'm just as adamant about the word "feisty" when applied to a book's heroine. I find it a patronizing, belitting word, and I see red each time it leaps out at me in print.

And don't get me started on overly-precocious kiddies with "adorable" lisps. Or badly-rendered Scottish brogues and wimpy, "dust-mote" heroines, who listlessly float through their own lives. Argh!

So why am I beginning this fine Tuesday with a list of my pet peeves? Mostly, it's because, although they're sort of silly (I'm sure there have been some great stories out there that feature a guffawing, villainous Scotsman, a feisty heroine, and her adorably-lisping, precocious kid brother) they prejudice me so severely, there's no way for me to see through to the story.

Readers, agents, and editors all have their pet peeves as well. Although I've seen descriptions of a character "fighting his demons" on many a cover flap and novel I've enjoyed, agent Donald Maass (Writing the Breakout Novel) can't stand this particular phrase. Though I enjoy a good prologue (as do many editors and readers, when they're well done) agent incognito Miss Snark hates 'em. Other agents and editors can't see past characters bearing certain overused names ("Bella" springs to mind, though I can't recall which agent said that) or names that trigger painful memories. ("Yowza!" I picture some editor exclaiming, "My hideous brother-in-law, who chews off his toenails and spits them into teacups, is named Jason! I can't stand this story!")

The point is, you can never know when you're going to tread upon some reader's pet peeves, and you absolutely can't control it. Everyone has hot buttons - quirky personal triggers. It's really the luck of the draw whether you end up pushing one or not.

That said, you can increase your odds of success by avoiding common pet peeves. Within my genre, many readers are completely cool with a villain offing a busload of nuns, but show an "on-screen" episode of animal or child abuse, and you'll be snowed in by a blizzard of irate-o-grams for sure. (Don't ask me how I learned this. I admit to nothing.) Many romance readers hate long separations between the hero and heroine, protagonist with teenaged children (babies and toddlers are preferred), and even the slightest whiff of infidelity. Violate these "taboos" at your own risk, or if you choose to do it, realize what you're up against.

When it comes to the enjoyment of a story, prejudices and readers' genre expectations can play a very strong part. What are some of your pet peeves, either words, character traits, or plot lines that yank you out of the reading experience completely?