# Things your favorite authors do that annoy you **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [June 27, 2025, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201 "2025-06-27T17:23:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2025, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/61 "2025-06-28T23:42:05Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Or how his stories seems to always have some random and not necessary for the plot reason to have sex. Wish fulfillment? I haven’t read the compleat Niven, but I seem to recall several characters in Known Space all having the same fetish of ripping - destructively, tearing fabric and the like - the underclothes off of their partners as part of foreplay. I considered this a rather odd (and expensive) kink. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2025, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/62 "2025-06-29T00:15:38Z")
Musical fruit! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2025, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/63 "2025-06-29T00:18:17Z")
M-O-O-N spells burpo. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2025, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/64 "2025-06-29T00:21:34Z")
If they remake _The Stand_ two dozen more times, they will never improve on Bill Fagerbakke as Tom Cullen. ---
**Author:** ![MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/65 "2025-06-30T01:12:10Z")
My favorite author is Robert Greene (48 Laws of Power, Art of Seduction, etc.). In all of his books, his ideas are broken down into “rules”. He then backs up his ideas with examples. I’m annoyed how he frequently references historical material. People buy 48 Laws of Power to get ahead in the workplace, not to understand politics in some castle 500 years ago. And people buy the Art of Seduction to meet women/men at bars, we don’t give a damn how Cleopatra charmed men in 20 BC. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/66 "2025-06-30T01:25:19Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > Who was reading the books? I don’t think there are any instances of RAH reading his own work anywhere? Maybe the tics were somewhat an artifact of the speaker? It has nothing to do with the reader (I have Heinlein audiobooks read by three different readers, and have heard many more) – these are WORDS that Heinlein has put in the mouths of his characters. The readers have to say them. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/67 "2025-06-30T01:38:25Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > I absolutely love Stephen King, and although I recognize the things mentioned above, none of them bother me. There’s a writing software called Pro Writing Aid. It’s designed, as far as I can tell, to make writers paranoid as hell about every word they write, pointing out excessive adverbs and sentence structure and whether you have too many “glue words” and you can even customize it to flag your own most common pitfalls and all kinds of crazy shit. I started feeling so demoralized about a scene I wrote I finally pulled it out and imported my favorite Stephen King short story, _1408._ Pro Writing Aid didn’t like Stephen King, either. I felt a hell of a lot better. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/68 "2025-06-30T01:44:43Z")
1. In every book he writes he finds an excuse to refer to a woman’s breasts as “dugs.” 2. He takes a hiatus between books and each one is at least five years longer than the last one. At. Least. GRR Martin, of course. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/69 "2025-06-30T06:41:38Z")
what irritates me about Micael Connelly in his Mickey Haller books is having the movie references about Haller which of course happened in real life but seems too grand-standing or ego pushing, but unnecessary ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/70 "2025-06-30T13:44:54Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > My favorite author is Robert Greene (48 Laws of Power, Art of Seduction, etc.). > … > I’m annoyed how he frequently references historical material. That’s such an integral part of what he does, that I’m a bit surprised how these two statements can go together. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/71 "2025-06-30T13:53:54Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > How about Larry Niven seemingly having to have a mention of frictionless toilets and Baked Alaska in every story (well, it seemed like every story!) Don’t forget Navy Grog and Irish coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/72 "2025-06-30T14:04:30Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > what irritates me about Micael Connelly in his Mickey Haller books is having the movie references about Haller Bosch, too. The reason he has his expensive cantilever house is from the proceeds of a movie made about him. But that was before the Bosch series, so having Haller reference Matthew McConaughey is too much. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/73 "2025-06-30T14:07:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I have Heinlein audiobooks read by three different readers, and have heard many more Been a while since I read any Heinlein, but I can’t immediately bring to mind any particular verbal tics? The habit of his main character to begin a rebutting speech with an interrogative “So?”, perhaps. What are examples of the ones that irritate you? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/74 "2025-06-30T14:21:35Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Iain M. Banks went to the rape-revenge plot well a bit too often for my liking. Robert Conroy was another author who had a rape scene in all of his books. He always depicted the rape as a negative event but it was always there. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/75 "2025-06-30T14:23:39Z")
Margaret Mahy (excellent NZ children’s / YA author) writes short sentences! With exclamation points! Far too frequently! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/76 "2025-06-30T14:29:16Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > The habit of his main character to begin a rebutting speech with an interrogative “So?”, perhaps. > > What are examples of the ones that irritate you? That’s one of them. Every time someone says it in the audiobook it annoys me. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/77 "2025-06-30T15:20:07Z")
The nerve! 😁 ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/78 "2025-07-21T20:08:51Z")
and also seeing his face on cover like he’s one of the characters in book ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2025, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/79 "2025-08-19T01:55:49Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > Mercedes Lackey loves the phrase **sighed gustily**. Stop it. Stop it now. And Taylor Anderson is all too fond of having his characters speak “lowly”, rather than “softly” or “quietly”. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2025, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/80 "2025-08-19T05:02:16Z")
Heinlein, as I recall: Variations on, “Uh, further deponent sayeth not.” Today I donated my GRRM books. I’m not taking up the shelf space for someone who can work on other books but can’t finish his series. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201.md?page=5)