Question Your dropping policies or rules.

I'm wondering what your stance on dropping novels and your reasoning behind it are.

I know some people have a no drop policy when they will push through the novel even if they don't like it. Or some people might have a rule of XX chapters when they drop a novel if it could't stir their interest in a certain number of chapters.

Please, share your opinion on it

 

I don't know if this is going to make sense but if a novel is just too unrealistic to the point where I can just constantly point out major plot holes and other stupid stuff I drop it.

For me there just has to be a certain amount of realism, doesn't matter if the genre has to do with fantasy or the like.

One of my main rules for dropping novels.

 

Sometimes, a couple of chs is enough for me to make up my mind. Usually, I'd give them 10-20 chs, but if they still fail to engage me, then off to the bin they go.

Then what about those super slow starting series that purportedly get amazing after they cross the three digit ch mark, you ask? I don't stick around to find out. No giving it a chance because it gets awesome later on; that remains an ironclad rule.

Ofc, if I'm deep into a novel which I feel is beginning to fall apart or lose my interest, I typically give it a chance, a small window of time for it to redeem itself, but if it doesn't get any better, I unhesitatingly drop it, despite the amount of time I had spent on it.

 

My drop policy keep changing tbh
1) Rape and only rape with no retaliation in the entire novel even though it's supposed to be romance (this is one that hasn't changed from the beginning)
2) So OP MC that it doesn't make sense like she is an expert in music, art, martial arts, medicine, business, dance basically everything (I used to read such books but I find them too meh and unrealistic right now)
3) QT lmaooo (I used to read a lot of QTs, have many on my list but the current me finds them boring and repetitive other than for some few gems like FOD and Trash bin)
4) Poorly done horror (some novels in horror aren't actually horror but just ML and MC romance)
5) General cliches like racism, sexism, over-dramatic plot points like some 16 y o chick hiring a bunch of thugs to 'rape' another 16 y o chick, judgemental asshole ML etc etc
6) Harem (tbh I am a hypocrite coz I like reverse harem but don't read much of those either coz it's full of rape)

 

The only novel I believe I dropped was ATG. It was the arc where main character gets involved with some phoenix princess. Can't remember what exactly happened but from what I know, mc spared the father of his harem phoenix girlfriend even though that father orchestrated a mass genocide on mc's people. For the sake of the girl, he ignored all of the suffering he has witnessed and just forgave the man. Makes no sense.

 

If it's JP inspired I drop it. I can't stand the vast majority of tropes associated with JP novels from the protagonist to character interactions. Of the many I've read I only really enjoyed two.

 

Rape -- drop
Belittling sexual assault- drop
Lolicon- drop
Harem- drop
Romance- drop
Too many untranslated honorifics and other terms left untranslated- dropped like a mic


PS Comedy - there is a time and place. Some stories disregard tone , character growth and everything to tell a joke.
It's not funny. I don't get how a dude who has had sex can say talking to a woman is worse than going to war.
No shit! That's why all the female characters are so underdeveloped

 

If I don't like the main character is the most common reason. I have come to expect almost no character development in most stories I read, so having to "share" the ride with a person I don't like I'd not something I would do.
Then it'd be racism, misogyny etc. Chinese novels and Korean ones to a lesser extent have such faults surprisingly often.
Then it'd be poor writing style - something I rarely encounter as I have low standards for prose I read but it has happened a few times.

Oh, and too much Japan bansai thingies (you know what I mean).

 

I used to have a no drop policy when I was still reading books. But ever since starting webnovel and stuff, I realized it's not feasible. I have a splurge someday reading list where I put novels and wait for chapters to stack. Then, one day, I'd realize that I'm not interested anymore so I move them to the dropped list.

I mostly drop a novel for 2 reasons: 1) The novel dropped me first by being in a sudden hiatus or slow chapter release, 2) The story became bland, the characters got boring, there's no proper development in the near future.
The number of chapters doesn't matter to me. If I don't like it, then I don't.

 

I like romance in all genres so i look for that in all series.
When it comes to chinese series, early romance usually doesn't bode well for me. The usual bullshit with the female leads never have had any interest in men, but for some reasone on the first meeting with the protagonist, they become curious.
As for Japanese series, depends of how they handle jelousy, because i cant stand those scenes when even though they've only know the protagonist for like 3 days or so, they're so possessively jealous.

I also agree with 12300, that was the exact same reason i dropped ATG also. And as Parth37955 mentioned..... f*ing nationalism.
Ah, and also lolicon tag/appearance, that can get me to drop it instantly without any considerations.

 

Less than 30 chapters when starting out - not gonna bother
Blatant racism - dropped
Ridiculous Nationalism (CN and KN are usual offenders) - dropped
Lack of plot or stupid plot change that throws away arcs of characters and plot development - dropped
Sexual assault and sexual assault that tries to rationalize it (JP + slavery and that "when in Rome" attitude drop their morals) - dropped
When the plot gets into a rinse and repeat set-up ("falls in love" with some random chick, get beat down by arrogant YM, treasure/power up, beat the first dude, somebody bigger comes, power up, beat them all up and become top dog, ascend or head to new area, repeat) to milk out as many chapters as possible - dropped

 

*rape that does not end with the perpetrator in jail
*sexism, racism, nationalism
*pedophiles
*novels where the author fails to do even the most basic of research on the subject their MC is supposed to be an expert in.
*long novels that get repetitive

Other than that it is just if the novel fails to hold my interest.

 

So happy to see like minded people on here.
It turns out I am not crazy.

I forgot to add:

Comedy - there is a time and place. Some stories disregard tone , character growth and everything to tell a joke.
It's not funny. I don't get how a dude who has had sex can say talking to a woman is worse than going to war.
No shit! That's why all the female characters are so underdeveloped

 

If I'm reading this right, then there's a term for this, "suspension of disbelief". We go into a work of fiction knowing it's not real, but the author has to do the work to make it believable, at least within the confines of the world they've created. Even if it's off-the-wall, could-never-happen-in-reality stuff, as long as the author writes it in a way that's believable, we will go for it. We will suspend our disbelief. If they mess up, then the readers will be constantly in a state of "but that doesn't make any sense!". It's an important concept by the way, for any would-be authors out there.

I'm right behind you on that by the way. I have some leeway before I get fed-up, but I'm already recalling some stories with the problems you're talking about that really bugged me.

 

Translators inserting their comments repeatedly and giving their takes on interactions is just as bad in ruining immersion

 

Mood

 

Precisely what I was referring too, you explained it beautifully!

 

I can't really say that I have many specific rules for when I drop a story, most of the time it is either due to the story being uninteresting or by it being annoying due to failed suspension of disbelief.
Those can be hard to gauge though since it can be a lot of small problems that compound to be something entirely unenjoyable, and the breaking point will vary a lot from story to story, so I see no point in having a rule on how many chapters I'll read before dropping.
That said though, the one thing will make me drop a story quicker than anything else is if I get a sense of that the author is either belittling, promoting or fetishizing horrible things such as murder or rape.
I don't mind if a story has horrible things in them if done well, but it is a whole different thing if the author is pushing them as something good.

 

What about websites that force you to use a VPN to access and you need to contact the website via discord to gain access ?eg Active Translations