If you find something that looks promising on RRL, when do you decide that it's not for you, if it's not for you. As in, are there any signs that you look out for early on (even as early as the Introduction)  that you feel are flags that a novel will not be something you are interested. Specifically, I'm asking about things aside from the concept of the story, ie. oddly specific titles that leave little to the imagination.

I would imagine story is by and large the most frequent reason users find to leave a story, but I find myself being turned away by other things, too.

If the synopsis does not jive at all with what I experience in the first few pages, the author is going to loose me - unless those pages are phenomenal; then I'll just be confused on the back end why the synopsis didn't mesh with it.

On the topic of the synopsis, another thing that can sometimes make me click away, is if it's gratuitously long. Give me enough to understand what I'm getting into and why I should care, then let me dive in at my own pace. If I see a synopsis that's more than two or three short paragraphs, I'm already hesitant and reading it with trepidation. If it doesn't hook me in the first of those multiple paragraphs, I'm likely to move on.

What do you mean?

A book is not for you when you decide the moment that it is not for you.

I know of novels that I have little expectations and I 'm just reading because I have the time and next thing I know I finished reading the latest 299th chapter and waiting eagerly for next week's update. Then there is the novel on the top listing that everyone swears is good and after I read the first few chapters I agree with them, and after a few more chapters I decided, with no real reason, to just drop it. 

There should be no science to it, the same way that there is no reason for you not to return to it if you do decide that it's not for you.

I give up on novels when there is no character that I care about~.

If you're not invested in what the character is trying to do, why the hell would you read something??

[Deleted]

number one reason i drop any story is premise. if i am promised a sexy ninja bot on a quest to reclaim her kingdom from intergalactic cupcakes evolved from bears, and i don't see anything relating to that in the story from the first few chapters if not pages, i just drop it, no matter how good the writing is. basically i dislike writers promising something and not delivering on it.
the number two reason i drop stories is because of forced plot. i don't care how bad the writing or how bland the characters, but just something about forced plot puts me off. and by forced plot i mean rushed change of setting with no prior warning/foreshadowing and no logic behind.

there're just so many reasons to not stick to a fictions -_-
-genres, sub-genres
-quality, whether it's translation quality or writing quality
-quantity
-story/plot line
-writing/story style
-update/release schedule
-settings,premise

^and that's already generalized 'much'

for example
i dont like galatic empire sci-fi, with all the space-jump and all that, since well, the idea of bending space, time, space jumping, etc. don't really sit well for me, there's also the technologies stuff in this type of sci-fi too, while, i like 'medieval stuff' more, things like military maneveur, medieval pollitic, diplomatic and stuff, since to me, modern or futuristic theme fictions/books 's 'strategies' seem to be too dominated by technological superiority, like it's all about some kind of 'alien's OP airship' and all that

i don't like Time traveling sci-fi either, since i believe in the 'probability multiverse'(among others), which means that all the 'traveling back in time to modify the future' and 'changing the past affects the future' don't appeal me

i don't like repetitive series, something like 'How to Avoid Death on Daily Basis' for example, not to mention, this type of series is also long 

a long series is generally tend to be either repetitive, plot-stretching, maybe both, and that doesn't appeal me a tiny bit

i don't like the tropes of most of the traditional fantasy books/series, the 'winning by will power', 'dramatic fightings', 'reinforcement in the nick of time', 'repetitive power relevation', 'dramatic/up-and-down plots/story line' for example, something like 'Dragon Ball', 'Naruto' ,'Fairy Tail', 'One Piece', and so much more, so a fiction or series that ultilizes a lot of those stuff, doesn't sound nice to me

as i'm also inclined in realistic fictions/series, a fiction with worldbuildings, settings that make no sense 'd be big-ass minus

litRPG with all those 'attribute modification' notifications appear every few sentences no longer sit well to me anymore nowadays, before, i'd be pretty much indifferent about it, not now though, i 've had a fair share of them, that's why i also like something like 'SAO', 'Log Horizon', 'Goblin Slayer' and many other nice JP litRPG LNs, since those litRPG elements 're always kept 'offscreen' most of the time 

a fiction with no stable schedule, be it Translation schedule for Translated fiction or Release for Original one, means a big-ass chance that it's likely to be dropped, halted, and i like a fiction/series i can enjoy til the end, or at least, 'know' the end of it


for a translated fiction, if its translation quality is bad, i'd rather wait longer for a better translate version rather than suffering hurting my brain figuring out some alien communicate secret code, similarly for Original fiction/series with its writing quality

 there're so many many many more, but yeah, it's hard to list out all the reasons(and/or categorize them) why i decide something that's not for me, it all depends on my reading experience, as the more i read, the more'll be on the list of things that don't appeal me, then maybe, sometimes in the future, i may end up being interested in something that i currently feel like a waste of time 

'Tanaka Tomoyuki' pid='831470' dateline='1514832801' Wrote: Because it's interesting and entertaining, and you're more invested in the plot and bigger events than the character.

I can't care less about the world and what happens to it if the characters are bad, imo

I even root for the villain when that happens~~.

If the series is freaking long, chapter after chapter of nothing happening or repetitiveness.

Another big one for me is disliking where the story is going or how the character isn't what I hope he/she to be. There been a few stories that I like it at first but goes into a direction where I wished it didn't. The premise is great, I like the characters and the world, the writing is good, but it didn't go the way I would like it.

For example is a reincarnated dungeon story. I like it when she develops her dungeon and interacts with her monsters but she became a friendly, peaceful dungeon MC. Once it became more and more following that peaceful route, drop! No fault in the author's skills, the story wasn't for me. I kept it bookmark just in case I want to go back for a change of pace or change of perspective.

Basically personal preferences. That's why we write stories how we imagine it in our own way, right?

First turn off is the title, if its something too over the top like "Eternal Celestial Demonic Conqueror Dragon Shattering the Earth and Rising to the Heavens and Devouring the Firmament on Phoenix Golden Wings" or other Xianxia nonsense like that.

Characters using japanese suffixs like kun, chan, sama after names or adding Ne to make sentences sound "cute"

When the author instead of showing the readers how mature and inteligent the mc is by having him take mature and or inteligent decisions just goes "he was only 3 years old, but he was very mature for his age and his inteligence was at a level that would allow him to get a perfect score on his SAT's" followed by an endless chain of inmature and stupid decisions.

Stupid moral codes. Don't mind moral codes, only idiotic ones. Example: Orcs are bad so its ok to kill them on sight, but humans are inherently good so you cant kill them no matter what atrocities they commit , so when a human gathers a party of starved orcs and guides them to a human village to kill, rape and plunder because of some resentment against a girl from the village that rejected him, the MC butchers the orcs, but just captures the human and takes him to trial.

I cant put up with  bad grammar and spelling if i enjoy the writers vision

Heya,

I don't like it when characters get too overpowered. If you can take whatever you want without any repercussions the story loses its meaning (unless it is focused on obtaining something immaterial like love). I like to put pressure on my characters. I have even let main characters die on several occasions. When it comes to reading stories I like characters who have to struggle to get what they want. On Royalroad this means that I drop stories when characters gain too much power. I also dislike flat characters.

Cheers,
-Verus

I might sound like a hypocrite here... but I don't like tl;drs
I would rather jump onto hundreds new novels, bookmark the ones that I like, then follow them over time than get myself to read a long, mainstream novel.

This is why I fail.

What a weird custom ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'll probably get rid of it after I get more free time or run out of things to read.

Things I've learned as a reader (of a lot of things) and a writer (mostly of fanfic) through the years:

A blurb or description is an introduction. The ideal one should be glimpse at the story -- its characters, its plot, its setting. Concise, but with just enough information to create a hint of mystery about where it is all going. By the end of it, the potential reader should have a decent idea of what this story might be about and how it will be told. For instance: the description of a dramatic space opera is going to be vastly different than one for a fantasy with romantic comedy elements.

A first sentence is a first impression. Tone ought to be established here: serious, comedic, dramatic, what have you. As a note, other things can (and should) be introduced here, of course, but setting the overall tone while catching audience attention is vital.

A first paragraph is an exchange of greetings, the small talk by which you get a better sense for the story you've just met. For example: the story looks dramatic from that first line, but the subsequent sentences reveal a vein of dark humor.

The first chapter is a deeper conversation, and a chance for any awkward or strange first sentences or paragraphs to redeem themselves. But never count on the first chapter to save a lackluster first sentence or paragraph. Most readers will not "wait for things to get good," they'll just dump the story. And rightfully so.

Reading is an investment. The time poured into a book can't be taken back, and no one wants to waste more on something that's failed to pique interest from the outset.

That all said, I usually know by the end of the first page if I'm going to keep reading or not. If something is "meh" but shows a little promise, I'll wait it out for 10 pages, or to the end of the first chapter -- whichever comes first. If someone fails to hook me after by that point, then I have no reason to read on.

Also, If it's a long novel, I would often pick a random chapter and then decide.

(tbh many new - often reincarnation - novels have cliche or repeatable prologues and it's very hard to judge anything until they end)

'SackOfSnails' Wrote: Also, If it's a long novel, I would often pick a random chapter and then decide.

This is a good method, too. If a story can still manage to be interesting despite a lack of context, then it's worth checking out.

If it doesn't feel like the story has any "direction" it's heading toward, then I lose interest and can't be bothered to keep reading. Sadly, that's been my experience with almost every web/light novel I've tried.

[Deleted]

Well, mostly a good story can overcome a lot of other negatives. I have to admit there are things that will chase me away before hitting chapter 3. A quick list of things that set my I-am-wasting-my-time-on-this-crap radar into alert mode.

• When the title and the cover seem childish, or in no way match the synopsis.


• When every paragraph is one sentence long.


• When there are too many POV changes, and or superfluous characters.


• When it feels like the MC is being hammered through a certain plot, like a square peg in a round hole.


• When the novel starts out describing how the MC life is absolutely miserable to the point anyone else would have killed themselves five times already.


• And since I am the supreme-godly-celestial-SSSSSSS-ranked-triple-double-grand-master-of-the-ultimate-martial-art of aggressive-passive-aggressiveness, when characters are painted into a corner, I find it hard to believe any normal person would not throw their hands up and quit.  I pray for the day a MC will look at some god/goddess or manipulative video game company and say the following.
  

• MC: "eat me".
  

• god: random threats
  

• MC: "double eat me"
  

• god: "But you will die!"
  

• MC: "Don't care. Aint putting up your shizzel ma gizzel"
  

• god: "You have to save the world!"
  

• MC: "You're the god. Isn't that your job?"
  

• god: "You shall know pain!"
  

• MC: "Yeah, yeah. I'll be here taking a nap until y'all start tell me the truth, help me out, and RESPECTING my arse."
  

• god: "You will do as I command!"
  

• MC: "zzzZZZZzzzzzZZZZzzz"
  

[*]Hehe. Wow. I may have been awake too long. But that's funny right there. I don't care who ya are.