Writing Pet Peeves/ Personal Opinions

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Updating: This blog
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Disclaimer: These are by no means rules to follow by. They are simply my opinions that I wish to share with Mibba users.

1) In several stories I have read that contain sex, not once did the couple use protection, this was pertaining to straight couples. Now, I understand that just because a man cums inside of a woman doesn't mean she'll get pregnant every time he does that, but to me it seems a bit unrealistic for a woman who isn't trying to have children to let the man she is dating or not dating cum inside of her. I think, it'd be more realistic if they were to use a condom. It was invented to help prevent pregnancy and the transmission of stds. Recently, I was reading a particular story where after knowing each other for a short time the man and woman became an item. Not long after they had sex, plain and simple. In the story it was described that the man came inside of her. There was no mention of protection and a chapter or so later the woman was talking to her friend and the prospect of children was brought up and she had no plans for that.

Now, I'm a firm believer that everything that happens in a story has meaning of some sort and purpose, as I believe the same is true with real life situations. If she wasn't thinking of children, why didn't she have him use a condom? If the female character in your story is adamant on not having children any time soon, I'm sure she would be adamant about using a condom. Adding that small detail doesn't take much time. You can simply say...

Once he had gathered his barrings he rolled off of her to pull the sticky condom off and toss it in the trash.

It doesn't have to be those exact words, but something to show a sort of consistency in the story. If that character doesn't want to do something and is firm in their beliefs, keep that consistent.

My main point for this peeve is; if you don't want your character to get pregnant have them use a condom. It only makes sense since someone who doesn't want to get pregnant would want to use a condom to prevent that.

2) Someone who has had even just a single bad experience with a relationship will most likely not fall in love immediately with someone they've just met, and they more than likely won't have sex with someone they've just started dating. If they are terrified that they're ex, who happens to be some psychotic bastard, is going to find out about them dating someone else, they won't jump into a relationship within the first few chapters of a story. No matter how comfortable around this new person they are, they won't be spilling their thoughts and emotions so easily for fear of being caught. A relationship developed after something as traumatic as an ex beating them, raping them, or what have you, will take time. The person will have to gain their trust and they will have to slowly learn how to trust again. Something like that doesn't happen over night, not if something truly terrible has happened to the person. It's just not realistic .

3) Pertaining to fan fiction and original fiction stories. Consistency. Consistency with the plot, the characters, the setting, everything. Stay consistent, I just can't stress that enough. This is a pore example, but if your character loves baseball one second and then the next page they hate it, there's no real consistency or transition. I have stated this earlier, but I believe that everything in a story and a book must stay consistent and must flow easily. Stay true to the characters you've created. Even if writing is simply a hobby, it's still good to stay consistent. I know many employers want employees who are consistent in their work ethic, how they handle situations, and their attitude. Readers are the same, they want it to make sense and flow, at least I know I do. If it's a hobby or even something you wish to make your career, stay true to your characters and learn their ends and outs. That's the least you can do for the people you've created.

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Alright. Now that I've mentioned a few things that I believe to be a little annoying, I think it's only fair to point out a flaw of my own. Verb tense. It has always been my biggest issue. I've always struggled with keeping the same verb tense throughout a story. I find myself wanting to lean more towards past tense, but somewhere along the line it'll switch to present tense, as you have probably noticed from this blog. It's aggravating and I know that if I wish to be an Editor I should learn how to stay consistent with my verb tenses.

Do you, my fellow Mibbians, have an suggestions on how I can do this?

Also, one last personal opinion. I think writing fan fictions of books, movies, comics, and the like, are good for teaching one how to at least stay consistent with how a character is. Yes, they are pre-made characters, but no fan wants to read, in a serious scenario, that Batman is wearing a tutu and waving a wand around like he's the fairy princess of Gotham. Unless he's under some sort of mind trick, he wouldn't actually do that. Just food for thought.