Things You Love in Stories

What are things you love to see in stories?

+ I'm a fan of a great layout that matches the theme/tone of the story.

+ I like it when poetry is incorporated into a story. Not, like, original poetry but things you would read in a book of classic poetry or modern/classic. Poe, Shakespeare, Dickinson, etc.

+ AU. I absolutely love alternative universe.

+ Eating disorders/boy. I'm a sucker for a well-written story in which a boy has an eating disorder.

+ Non-glorified sex. A first time sex scene where the character isn't making it all flowers and perfume and is talking about staring at the wall or how much it hurts.

+ Original title that doesn't give the whole story away.

I like when a story is just plain well-written, when the author obviously has talent.

When it has a lot of good description about things that actually matter.

I love when the plot is amazing, and the author has enough talent to execute it properly.

I'm a hopeless romantic, and I love romances that have happy endings.

I love it when they use these really big sweeping similies and metaphors that are just flat out poetic and beautiful.

I also like stories that actually show the character realistically, and they have as many hopes, dreams, failures, quirks, history etc. as a real person.

I really love when there’s a balance between metaphors/poetic writing and simplistic writing. And I really like a mixture of long, flowing sentences and short, choppy ones if it creates an atmosphere and has a positive effect on the tone of the story.

-double-

I love stories that don't just have twists, but have a final twist at the very end as well; something I'd never have expected, but makes perfect sense.

^I really like that too. :D

When the dirt is dirty.

Like it's not all picturesque the entire time, when it feels real.

I prefer it when writers don't describe things in an incredible amount of detail, so much so that I get bored and stop reading. As in, their paragraphs are incredibly long and slowing down the story.

I get impatient. To me, words have more of an impact if they're clever, dramatic or straight to the point. I love it when writers write like that.

There are exceptions to the rule, however.

I love alternate universe too. It's just so... yeah.

Author with the slightest talent that can make up a decent, cliche-proof plot.

AU. I almost only read AU. I know it's unfair but they can get me more sucked into them. And AU with the characters being all grown up and have a decent life (or life-style and job). Like, not alcoholic, drug addict, something like that.

Story with age gape but with characters that had the decency to really think about it before doing anything to his/her partner. Of course, also require an author who can describe the whole thing beautifully.

Sex scene that wasn't described all the way.

Great layouts.

I mean, I'm a sucker for people who suffer from all kinds of problems (mental/physical/social). Just, don't ruin it by making it all too cliche.

Stories that has an acceptable length and number of chapters. Some stories are way too long. I'm talking about like, 550,000 words. That's A LOT. I'm sorry, my problem. God, I'm so lazy! :shock:

A decent and creative plot with decent characters. Decent characters maybe not be considered by many people, but I take that quite seriously. And Slash.

Brotherly love. I honestly just fawn over them. :XD

Poetic but not overly descriptive writing. Sweet, simple, sincere.

Overwhelming, real emotion portrayed in words.

Bittersweet endings. Like, it's not too sad, but there's no way to have a happy ending. Also, good execution.

Witty lines.

Good titles.

Poetic style, metaphors and gut-wrenching plot lines.

Angst. Really, really fucked up people. :]

[I think I saw a Things you'd like to read on Mibba thing ages ago. XD Or I'm just crazy]

I don't want to make a list because it would spoil it all, but talent is usually nice in stories. Also I'm a sucker when it comes to kid characters. I love characters that are still really really young. Their world and their kind of views. It's just amazing. I'll read a story with a horrible plot if it's about a child. Teen characters on the other side.
I also love[ stories about families.

And as a bonus I love stories in which the author makes smart references. Authors that actually read that's a thing to wish to see in stories.

Oh I just got an other one. Stories about writings stories/books.

Lovesick.:

[I think I saw a Things you'd like to read on Mibba thing ages ago. XD Or I'm just crazy]

There is one but they're not quite the same. That one's more for things you don't see and this one can be for things you see all the time.

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I add canon pairings to my list and meth!pairings that involve sex.

good titles & sad endings.

hard drug use. (properly researched, too. i can tell when people don't know what the hell they're talking about when they say "and then they got all doped up and it was so good but the needle hurt" i'd like to know more about their drug habit than that. what kind of addict are they?

real hard times. not just arguments on a tourbus.
prostitution, drugs, low wage, late payments, college dropout, etc.

lots of metaphors that flow well.

story graphics that don't make me want to gouge my eyes out with a white hot spoon.
i'm a little on the high end with graphics. i cannot stand it when it's not perfect.

When you can tell the writer is really trying their hardest, even if it's not the best. There are times I've come across stories that aren't particulary the best grammar and spelling wise, but you can tell the writer really cares about writing, and wants to improve.

Humorous characters will always win me over.