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Family and Friends is my everyday journal. Captain's Log is where I pontificate on religion and politics.

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Wednesday Challenge 042220


This week: My silliest Pet Peeves.

1. Too many uses of the word have or had in a sentence. He had had enough to have had a nervous breakdown. Somehow that comes out grammatical, but it's atrocious. Too many authors use this tense to pad the number of words in a book.

2. English writers do this. It's like screeching breaks while reading. They had sat or they were sat. American English teacher (that's not an oxymoron) in me wants to scream: They sat. They were sitting.

3. Description is important, but not the be all and end all of the book. I hate skipping over two or three pages while every flower, tree, blade of grass etc is painstakingly described. I prefer people be described in some detail so you can get a visual of the character. It's important to know the setting, but to quote Shakespeare: "Brevity is the sole of wit."  

4. Over use of the word Fuck! It's good for affect, but if it's every other word it becomes meaningless. If the series or movie is set in ancient, middle ages or outside of Europe it shouldn't be part of the vocabulary.

5. Wife makes me watch The Voice. I actually like the singing and the guest coaching, but spare me the bickering and drivel between the four coaches over nothing. I get a little put out with the sob story of the singers. Everyone has a sob story, it's the voice that counts. When it comes to voting, I now know how someone like Trump could get elected president.

6. I am sick to death of World War II, even WWI. I'm tired of movies and TV shows that have body counts in the hundreds in a single episode. I stopped watching SEAL Team and SWAT, because it was like watching a video game over and over.

7. Shoot outs where the bad guys are spraying and praying with AK47's or M16's and the good guy has a pop gun, but hits the bad guy because they're behind a car door. A 7.6mm assault rifle round would make Swiss Cheese of that car door in a second and they'd pick up the good guy with a magnet. Part B, why do the bad guys always have assault rifles and the good guys have at best a Glock 9mm?

8. I've mentioned this before: anachronisms in historical fiction. It may be only a setting for a steamy romance, but get the history right. 
They didn't eat potatoes or yellow corn in Europe until after Columbus. The corn used before that time referred to wheat. 
Know your weapons. Sorry they didn't have gunpowder at the time of Robin Hood or a spyglass for that matter. 
They didn't know about red sulfur and use matches or zippers in the middle ages.

9. Repetitious sex scenes in books and movies. I watched the White Queen on Stars. Did they do one love scene and use if three times?
I've read books where every other chapter there was a sex scene word for word the same as the previous one with the same couple. It really peeves me to skip over sex scenes. Those should be the good parts.

10. Book pricing. With some of the authors on TTT and WC, they have their books on the sides of their column and I'll buy them to write a review, hoping they'll return the favor with one of mine. A little quid pro quo doesn't hurt. But when I pay five dollars and the book turns out to be a short story, I feel slighted. 

As you've possibly guessed. I'm an old curmudgeon and getting cranky for being cooped up during the pandemic. Actually the only hardship is not being able to go to the library. I'm retired and sit around the house writing, reading and watching TV on a normal basis.


22 comments:

Greg said...

Description is a big one for me too! It's a fine line between getting it right and it's super easy to overdo it. And yes body counts and shoot outs. I can totally relate!

P M Prescott said...

Glad we agree, Greg

RS said...

Ahh, your list is excellent. I agree with almost every single one, especially #6 & 7. SEAL Team and SWAT are among shows I've dropped too, for multiple reasons, but the repetitive shooting + body count was one of them. NCIS: LA had a brief window of about 2 episodes where a new director came in and went, "Hey, maybe you could stop doing 5 murders every week and try to ARREST the criminals more often instead?" but I don't think it actually slowed them down for a moment, so there went my brief hope of them pursuing the idea as more than a meta joke.

P M Prescott said...

RD I agree totally.

Wendi Zwaduk and Megan Slayer said...

I agree with a little helping each other out and yes, the pricing can be off-putting. It's tougher when the publisher sets the price and we have no say on it. Which is a pet peeve itself. I hate when I can't at least suggest the price should be a tad lower because it's too high.

Good post!

Lydia said...

I agree with everything on your list!

My <a href="http://lydiaschoch.com/wednesday-weekly-blogging-challenge-my-silliest-pet-peeve/”>post</a>.

Raye said...

Hahah I love how specific this is. But yes I can't stand reality competitions because of the sob stories and petty arguments.

P M Prescott said...

I agree there Megan, that's why I left POD and went straight e-book. I'm just now releasing on paperback through Amazon and able to better price the book.

P M Prescott said...

Nice to know, Lydia, great minds think alike.

P M Prescott said...

Raye glad we agree.

Tena Stetler said...

Excellent pet peeves. The TV body count and torture is a turn off and tune out for me too. Thanks for sharing. Here's mine. https://www.tenastetler.com/lsrs-wednesdays-blog-challenge-4-22-20-silliest-pet-peeves/

P M Prescott said...

Nice know we agree, Tena.

Aymee said...

I love Stephen King, but he is very guilty of #3.

I've finally given up on The Voice. I used to love Blake and Adam's bantering and then it got old. And now Adam's gone and... I'm done. But I agree on the sob stories. And every time you hear someone on one of these shows saying they should win because they 'want it more' than anyone else. I'm sure that's not quite true, honey.

Book pricing gets me, too. Authors need to make a living and should be paid for their work, but I think the price should reflect the word count.

My post

Fiona McGier said...

#3--Did you know back in the day, like when Nathaniel Hawthorne was writing The Scarlet Letter, that authors were paid by the word? So it was to the benefit of their pay to pad the story with descriptions. I enjoy Anne Rice's vampire books, but she does the same thing, and she's not getting paid extra! I know all about the bougainvillea in New Orleans from her books! LOL.
#5--I've never watched a reality show or contest. With so many books to write (and read) I don't want to waste precious moments on drivel that was invented when the TV writers/actors went on strike years ago, and the stations had to come up with something to fill the void beyond reruns.
#10--Authors have no choice when publishers set the price. I also dislike the covers they usually produce for my books. My husband has been doing them for the ones I'm self-publishing on Smashwords,after a publisher closed and I got the rights back. I like having more control

Dixie Jackson said...

I salute you and your list! It's pure gold and I LOVE it. :) Thanks for a great post today.

P M Prescott said...

Glad we agree on the same things Aymee.

P M Prescott said...

Fiona, I started on Smashwords and still use the template I made from their recommendation booklet. I can't get my cover to match their specifications and switched to Amazon. I like setting my own price on e-books and now on paperbacks.

P M Prescott said...

You're welcome, Dixie.

Mary Morgan said...

Wow! I seriously didn't think these were silly, Patrick. Let's say, sensible peeves? Great post!

P M Prescott said...

Mary, all peeves are sensible to the person, they're silly to others.

Cathryn Hein said...

Patrick, I think we're all getting a little cranky from this lockdown. It's understandable. I get ranty about some book pricing too. Especially when the ebook is as much and sometimes more than the paperback. That really gets my back up.

P M Prescott said...

Cathryn, I think it absurd to price an e-book beyond 5 dollars. There's no publishing cost, shipping cost, it's almost pure profit. To charge $15 for that is too much.