The 1 Phrase That I WISH Authors Would Stop Using!

I have never written a book. I can’t even imagine how hard it ust be for authors to find words to convey to the reader the innermost thoughts and emotions in characters. That being said, there is 1 phrase that I WISH authors would stop using. I cringe every single time I read it and authors use it OFTEN.

Authors: STOP DARKENING THE EYES OF YOUR CHARACTERS.

Examples:

“His eyes darkened”

“Darkness spread over his eyes”

“His eyes suddenly went dark”

Like…What does that even MEAN? He intently stared? His eyebrows furrowed? He frowned?

The Oxford Dictionary’s definition of the work “darken” as a verb :

VERB

2 Make or become gloomy, angry, or unhappy.no object ‘his mood darkened’
1. 2.1 no object (of someone’s eyes or expression) show anger or another strong negative emotion.‘his face darkened and he lunged away’
2. 2.2 with object (of anger or another strong negative emotion) show in (someone’s eyes or expression)‘misery darkened her gaze’

Thanks Oxford. Still a stupid verb.

“His eyes got wide”…Ok so THIS I can understand because it actually is something physical that can happen. But…how does someone’s eyes go DARK?

Eyes suddenly darkening is my #1 most hated phrase in books and for some reason authors use it ALL THE TIME. I notice it each and every time and I hate it so, so much. It takes away from whatever scene I’m reading because all I can think is, “UGH! Not again! Whyyyyy???”

Other examples of things that I wish authors would stop doing can be found HERE and HERE!

Do you agree with me? What is an expression that authors use that you hate? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Xo,

Jenny

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The ultimate list of my top book suggestions can be found HERE

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I SO Wish Authors Would Stop Doing This {Part 2}

I love authors and I have an incredible amount of respect for all they do.

However, there are certain things that I so wish they would stop doing! You can read Part 1 of this series HERE.

Part 2 of this series will focus onnnn….drumroll please…

TOO MANY CHARACTERS!

Omg this is SUCH a pet peeve of mine.

I would so rather read a book with a handful of well developed characters than a book with so many characters that none of them are developed or even mentioned enough to make significant contributions to the story.

I hate, hate, HATE when I have to flip back through pages (I only read paper books) to try to figure out who a character is because there were just too many to keep straight.

I find this especially frustrating while reading thrillers. I get it…there needs to be a fair amount of characters introduced so the “who done it” isn’t completely obvious. However, it’s more than annoying to find out that the “who done it” turns out to be a meaningless character who I never even had the chance to get to “know” in the first place. Nothing worse than a huge plot twist at the end revolving around an insignificant character.

What do you think? Do you agree with me? How many characters is too many?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

And just an FYI because a few of you have asked…yes, I’m still reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo! I usually finish reading books must faster than this…but…I’ve been spending any and all of my quiet time on a Bachelor BINGE. I was 5 episodes behind and it was time to just sit and BINGE so I would be caught up for the finale. I’m alllllmost caught up but not quite so until I do, Evelyn Hugo is taking a backseat. As soon as I’m all caught up to Bachelor nation, I will finish Evelyn! My 2 spolier free thoughts on this season:

This is the first season in the history of The Bachelor that I don’t have a favorite contestant and I haven’t had one all season.
Peter has made some absolutely HORRIBLE choices. Like…throughout entire time.

Do you watch the Bachelor? Please NO SPOILERS and NO PREDICTIONS if you do!

**Winner of the Spring! Time to Build a Nest, A Story About Trumpeter Swans Giveaway:**

Xo,

Jenny

This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:

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I SO Wish Authors Stop Doing This {Part 1} and our Family Getaway to Great Wolf Lodge

I find that as I read different books, there are common thoughts that run through my mind. Things that I wish authors would stop doing and things that I wish authors would do more often are always among those thoughts. I present to you a new series I’m calling “I Wish Authors Would Stop Doing This” which will highlight some of these common thoughts. Aaaaand just for fun, a little glimpse into our fun family getaway to Great Wolf Lodge at the end of this post 🙂

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw in my stories that I recently started reading this book.

I don’t have much of an opinion on it yet as I’m not very far into it but I do have one opinion on something that I instantly loved…

SHORT CHAPTERS.

Oh how I love when books have short chapters! I just love flying through short chapters! It holds my interest so much better than long chapters do.

I HATE when I decide to “read just one more chapter”…and find that means I will now be reading 30 more pages. More often that not this means I won’t even begin reading the next chapter and the entire book will therefore take me longer to finish.

I SO wish more books could be written with shorter chapters. I understand that sometimes stories simply won’t allow for it at certain times in the plot…but how wonderful if they could! Break up that scene! Leave the chapter with a cliffhanger that won’t allow the reader NOT to continue reading!

The best example of a book with perfect short chapters (some even just 1 page) is THIS BOOK. There are over 100 chapters in that book…but each is only between 1-3 pages! I literally FLEW through that book because those short chapters held my interest in a way that 30 page chapters simply never could have.

I SO wish authors would STOP writing lengthy chapters!

I personally believe that the perfect length of a chapter ranges somewhere between just a few pages and maybe 10-15ish?

How about you? Do you like it better when books are written in shorter chapters? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

And now I’ll leave you with some pictures of our family getaway last weekend to the Great Wolf Lodge (Gurnee, IL). There were 15 of us total, we all wore matching wolf t-shirts, and we had the best time.

My sister-in-law gave this to me a few months before I got married. It has come with me on every single vacation, overnight stay, getaway, etc. that I have taken over the past 10 years!

My little wolves:

Check out this video…I did the ropes course! It was terrifying.

Have you been to Great Wolf Lodge? We are big fans! This was our 5th visit 🙂

Hope you are having a great Wednesday!

Xo,

Jenny

This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:

*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*

*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*

*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*

*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*

*Follow me on Instagram*

*Follow me on Twitter*

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel*

*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*

*Leaving a positive review on my Facebook page*