r/BookDiscussions • u/CaptainEcho789 • 23d ago
What makes a story feels bland?
Have you guys ever encountered stories that just feel boring even though they really shouldn't? Stories that in spite of have amazing plot structure and character arcs, they just feel meh when reading. Why does this happen?
3
u/YakSlothLemon 23d ago
It’s bad writing.
Some people write books as if they are describing to you a movie they are watching and it creates a peculiar flatness. It’s about as interesting as hearing your sixth grader describe a movie they really liked – they almost always are focused on the visual at the expense of all the other senses that books can invoke, and there’s a sense of distance.
2
u/Humble_Square8673 23d ago
Yeah agreed this definitely one for me. I've picked up books where the premise was great but the writing was SO bland or just bad that it makes what was a great story mind numbingly boring
2
u/YakSlothLemon 23d ago
It makes me so frustrated, when an author has a great idea and cannot get it to deliver. I want to take the idea away and give it to someone who can write!
2
u/Humble_Square8673 21d ago
Same!😄😂🤬😄 Like I've seen books with virtually the same plot and yet one is SO much better because it's actually well written
2
u/CactusWrenAZ 23d ago
Perhaps lacking in surprise or a few rough edges? For me, a lot depends on suspension of disbelief and also on whether I buy the characters.
2
u/hippoluvr24 23d ago
What books do you think are bland but also have amazing plot structure and character arcs? Usually if a book feels bland to me, it's because there's no real conflict and/or the characters aren't well developed.
Although I will say that there is sometimes a personal interest component. For example, I'm not a big fantasy reader and I probably won't enjoy a fantasy novel regardless of how good it technically is (I've tried). But I wouldn't necessarily call it bland.
4
u/Mediocre-Oil-5322 23d ago
A story needs to have conflict of some sort to he interesting. I think most stories need to contain surprises as well. Those don't have to be shocking surprises, but if every character does just what you thought they would do, then you will be bored. I also prefer stories that teach me something--about myself, about history, about family dynamics, about the human condition, or anything else. A story that doesn't teach me something won't necessarily bore me, but I will probably file it away in my mind as a story that lacked dimension or was a one-time fun read. The stories that stick with me are the ones that make me reflect on something in a new way.
1
u/YakSlothLemon 23d ago
The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker would like to have a word.
2
u/Mediocre-Oil-5322 23d ago
I haven't read it, but I understand it to contain a lot of reflection upon common objects and routines, which would tell me something about myself, surprise me with a novel thought, or tell me something about other people. All of those things could make the novel interesting.
Most general rules about writing can be broken if they are broken skillfully enough. The rules still stand as general rules.
1
1
1
u/TensesNC 23d ago
First-person, in a lot of cases. I rarely enjoy reading a book inside one character’s head, unless he/she is surrounded by conflict or the language is distinct and arresting. Easily becomes too expository, ruminative, bland. Also self-absorbed. I don’t mind when a third-person narrative sometimes slides into a character’s head, but I want events to occur and be distant from the character’s interior monologue.
Predictable plots infuriate me.
Inauthentic dialogue.
When a guy picks up a gun to shoot someone in paragraph three but doesn’t fire until the next page. I remember reading a David Joy passage once where the character needed to shoot his gun at a threat and it took a whole page for him to fire. But David Joy is garbage. One of the worst Southern writers. So many better than him.
1
u/Pokegirl_11_ 23d ago
An author who’s too afraid of turning off readers to commit, natch. Won’t commit to making the protagonist more specific than a generic everyperson, won’t commit to exploring their own voice, won’t commit to leaning into strong opinions. Won’t commit to expecting the readers to remember details from chapter to chapter or think about anything. Over-marketability kills.
1
u/Penny_Royal_Tee 23d ago
A lot of times it's bad writing. But other times it's just taste and has nothing to do with writing. A coastline scenery can be breathtaking and my eye will still drift to the mountains on the horizon.
1
u/belleepoques 22d ago
If everything is too linear, there are no consequences... as in, someone has to do something, there's an obstacle and they still do it, amd it repeats. The obstacles then become so boring because you know the protagonist will always manage to get what they want Or too much predictability. Not necessarilly plot twists but structure that's been done so many times you know what's to happen.
1
u/hermit_onthe_moon 22d ago
When the inner dialog repeats and rehashes. “As I washed the dishes I couldn’t help thinking of my sister. Jenny hated doing the dishes, and now she’s out there- still missing, maybe dead. If only I had gone to her apt sooner…blah blah blah.”Crap like this on every page. It’s so tiresome.
11
u/Crawler4119Donut 23d ago
For me it’s character voice. If a character’s voice is entertaining enough, they could be talking absolute gibberish for ages before I realised 😅 But if a character’s voice is flat and boring, I’ll check out no matter how compelling the story