Writing Pet Peeves

Fri May 15 2026 11:45:00 GMT-0700 (Pacific Daylight Time)

A little preamble: I don’t want to discourage anyone from writing, please don’t sweat it if you do any of the things I list here. A lot of the points on this list are really petty and not necessarily “bad writing.” I'm not even a writer myself really.

Also, some of these things I really only see in fanfics. I think fanfics deserve way more leniency since it’s just something people do for fun and aren’t trying to be expert prose all the time.

(That being said, I feel so strongly about the first point. I’d get in a knife fight over it.)

Writing Pet Peeves

Writing flashbacks in italic case. Its a strain on the eyes, and not what the type is for. I always skip large swaths of italics. Use italics for emphasis.
Too many parentheses. Sometimes writers put a little blurb or contradiction in relation to what the sentence is saying (Like this, but usually something quipy). I think its a stylistic choice, and I'm open minded. But it tends to interrupt the flow of the paragraph and get confusing and erratic (I suspect people sometimes use it to avoid run on sentences or to be humorous). I get the sense with some of the use cases I’ve read, that the scene wasn’t supposed to appear erratic.
Exposition dumps in the beginning of a story. I need to care about the characters a bit before you unload a bunch of technical stuff at me.
Narrators who address the reader. Just shut the fuck up! I don't want to talk to you!
Main characters who looovvee to read. It feels a little bit... masturbatory.
Breaking the 4th wall. I don't want to be interrupted, and it almost never adds anything cool to the story.
Easter eggs. If it doesn't actually aid the narrative, don't waste my time. Referencing for the sake of referencing is weird.
Misunderstanding trope. Misunderstandings happen, it’s not bad writing in and of itself. But it’s so unsatisfying when really big problems (especially life-threatening) are only caused by simple misunderstandings.
Crossovers. Its fine for Smash Brothers, but not for work you want to take seriously.
This is more of a fanfic thing, but being "picked up bridal style" is the silliest thing I've ever seen. Might as well Tony Hawk 360'd your pussy.
"Their tongues battled for dominance."
Calling eyes "orbs"
Adding a woman character just to pass the Bechdel test. I can always tell when a character is shoehorned in there. I'd rather you be a bad feminist than a bad writer.
Comedies that mainly rely on embarrassing scenes. I’m not laughing, I feel bad for the characters! This is why I could never get into The Office. The whole shtick is characters embarrassing themselves and others.

I’ll be adding to this list as I think of things. I wish I had a working comment box right now, I want to know other people's peeves too.