: Re: Traits of Bad Writers - Analysing Popular Authors I realise that this question can fall in the scope of personal opinion but I am looking for something concrete. Very often, not only on this

@Welton431

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It's not quite as simple as how you seem to view it. All authors (that I am aware of) are humans, and therefore have limitations and weaknesses of some sort. So, if they are rally good at something, they will likely be really bad at something else.

So, like all things in this world, there will be pros and cons. Some value the pros enough to ignore the cons. Some focus on the cons and ignore the pros. And sometimes it's only about hype, and that irritates people.

Concrete examples.

Sarah J. Maas, and her Throne of Glass series. The fact is, she is really good at what she does: writing fantasy romances. What she is horrible at is writing believable characters, and strong romantic interests. So, in point of fact, the main romantic pairing (ignoring the poorly written love triangle) is toxic together. They'd be great at being just friends, but as a romantic couple, they suck.

J. K. Rowling didn't think her magic system through, has plot holes the size of planets, and didn't consider her audience at all in one book that no one even talks about. But she is a master storyteller. She dances from one scene to the next, seamlessly switching from summary to scene, and brings the world of Wizarding London to life in a way few have managed.

Jenna Moreci (less known Indie author, published Eve the Awakening, and has The Savior's Champion coming out soon), suffered from what a lot of authors do in their first book--she figured that she can gloss over her weaknesses, but playing into her strengths. And her strengths really do shine in her book, but in the totality, it wasn't all that good (if you look at technical stuff, believability in contrast to the suspension of disbelief, etc).

Or how about Christine Feehan. She's a prolific Erotic Fantasy writer. Her work is detailed, and draws you in, and frankly she knows how to turn even handling a flower (a literal flower) into something erotic and sexy. But she's given to insta-romance (no matter how her mythos in Dark Lycan explained it away, insta-romance is beyond suspension of disbelief).

Jon Skovron (I've only read Bane and Shadow, which is weird, given it's book 2 of a trilogy, but that aside). He brings this gorgeous world to life, offers it culture and customs and politics and brainwashing (all the good stuff). But what he utterly failed at, is making me believe the two main characters are good for each other. Even though they never meet in this book, which is a good thing, they clearly know nothing about the other beyond surface mannerisms. If they'd met up and fell back in love, I would have hurled all over the book. Sorry.

Then there's Lynsay Sands and her novel (using the word loosely) About a Vampire. Now, don't get me wrong, she has her strong points. I'm drawn into the world, and the world building is... decent (for Urban fantasy, she's really skimpy on doing much of anything about this, other than mentioning airplanes and city names, and having the crew drive to this one location before I stopped reading). Where she succeeded a little too well, is making the main character (not even kidding) the love interest that does the inciting incident and is supposed to be 'the perfect man' for the female lead... she makes him an utter ass. He's vain and egocentric and...

Anyway. She also gave me literary whiplash, repeatedly. I have this thing (and I'm hyper aware of it in my own writing) where if the flow and rhythm of the story is easy and relaxing, and something that doesn't challenge me intellectually. Say 6th grade reading level. Nothing wrong with it, and it makes for an easy time to just unplug my brain and enjoy the book. Then suddenly there's talk of bouncing up and down an erection, or getting octogenarian wrong... That skyrockets my blood pressure. That isn't what I want in an easy-going read. So yeah. That happened.

The point is. People get some thing right in their book. Sometimes they get it so right, their focus is so enthralling, that everyone wants to read it. But there are always flaws. All you need to do is look hard enough to find it.

So it's really about, do you like this story, crafted with tender loving care from the bosom of the authors and writers who breathed life into it one word at a time. Do you like it enough to overlook the flaws? If yes, you have yourself a great book. If not, then you have to find one that does.

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