I have seen topics about the things we would rather not see in episode stories all the time. These typically talk about problematic themes, bad boys, and Mary Sue Mcs to name a few. But this thread is about what you would want to see more of instead. For example . . .
I would like to see realistic relationships shown more in episode stories because I don’t think they are shown enough. Relationships aren’t all bad but of course that doesn’t mean it is all smooth sailing. People disagree and I would love to see more episode couples handling these disagreements in a civil way rather than it being blown out of proportion or ignored completely.
As an author I want to know what to avoid of course! I would also like to know things the community would like to see as well and I felt like that wasn’t shown enough and I hope this thread helps other authors to get a feel for what the community wants to see.
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S l o w b u r n s
I love slowburns but there are barely any in episode, a slowburn means that it’s kinda takes forever for the MC and the LI to be together but it’s development and I love it.
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I don’t normally read many romance stories but that being said I find some once in a while I like and they are all slow burns. They keep you reading and really make you care about the story more. Especially if the LI has some added character development while the relationship is developing.
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Healthy relationships, slowburns, characters actually starting a relationship during the story and facing conflicts that aren’t “he loves me… he loves me not… he loves me… he loves me n- hold on, is that his ex? 
”, just well-written relationships in general.
I love romance done right. 
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I also like bad boys that are not actually bad people. As in maybe they’re rebellious against authority, kind of chaotic, etc., but they don’t punch down - as in they will never pick on the vulnerable - and won’t behave abusively.
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There are a lot of slowburns but I like the really slow ones when the characters don’t kiss until episode 40 or smth like that 
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I think a coherent plot is something I would want to see more. This always seems to happen with some stories, but they get dragged out too long. Like I don’t enjoy seeing when the character does another dumb mistake, causing you to question why they did it or even thought about it. I remember asking myself why did this character listen to someone they hate? Why does this character not ask more questions or for clarification? Why am I still reading this when the characters are acting like chickens with their heads cut off.
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I agree. A lot (not all) of the longer stories tend to do this. I understand why, it does keep most readers reading but character development is needed. Characters learn from their mistakes and have common sense and that fact tends to be ignored to continue a story longer than it needs to be.
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I stay away from bad boy stories completely because I have always seen them in the negative light but if more authors wrote them like how you are describing I think others (myself included) who have ditched that trope would read it again.
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I think once you developed the character as far as you logically can based on the parameters of the plot, you should probably end it. Once the plot is concluded and wrapped up, I feel like that’s when a story should end. It gets tiring when you see this large amount of character development be thrown out because the author wants to continue the story in an artificial way.
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I agree. Can’t recall more than a handful of stories at best that have this kind of character and each time it was a pleasant surprise.
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I wanna thank you for creating a thread about thinking positively about these things.
Definitely more healthy relationships like others already said. Pretty much any conflict other than an ex or homewrecker, or in the case of mafia or billionaire stories something other than Batcrap insane crimes which the LI saves MC from.
If you want to make LIs heroic or likeable, make them have other people they care for and actually have conversations with people that doesn’t involve shouting or ignoring their advice
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I agree with that last point. LIs are people too, so they’re not always going to be concerned with the MC. I don’t like when the MC gets frustrated when they don’t pay attention to them, but they’re leading their own lives.
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Or if the author still wants to continue they could always do a spin off. I have seen authors make spin offs from the pov of a fairly relevant side character. It gives the side character their time to shine and shows how they grow while also giving the idea of something new to the reader.
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I like spin offs because they could also flesh out the world and expand on mentioned things that weren’t fully explored. I do have this question though. Does it make sense to allow customization of the side character in their spin off, but not do so in the original story?
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@ParkLow_G
I love the treads about problematic things in stories and things that are over done. I think they are super important to have. I just noticed they were generally more negative to the problems and there wasn’t threads out there talking about things we would like to see replace these problematic and/or overly done story ideas. Some authors are writing these things we don’t want to see but they don’t see many other ideas to go off of. Also I totally agree. Saving someone is alright but it is always used in Mafia stories especially. People don’t fall in love that easily. Empathy is attractive! If a character can show that they care for others that is so much more important than saving someone once because they were pretty.
@Phoenix_11037
It doesn’t make sense to me to make a character customizable in the spin off but not the original. I understand that an author would want the reader to feel like they are placed in the story and most times the author didn’t plan a spin off when making the original story. That being said if an author wants to let a reader customize a character in the spin off I would probably go back to the original and give the option to customize the character in the spin off too.
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I am sorry this turn out to more of a dont want then want. was not my intension
stories with out romance. like your a reading a horror and the romance take up half the story, its often in the way. often feel like MC prorites is with her love interest and not the fact someone is out to kill her.
I dont mind couples in stories. Harry Potter as an example he dated but it wasent the mane focus of the story because it was not a romance but fantasy.
other example college of eternity reminds a lot of Harry Potter. but its mane focus is romance. if you removed that most of the story would be gone. where if you removed it from Harry Potter the story would barely change.
Dont get me wrong I really like college of eternity I just used it as an example
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I know what you mean. A lot of stories have romance even though that isn’t the genre. A lot of people really like that and it gets reads so I get why authors do it. That being said people won’t go to the horror section looking for romance so there really isn’t a need for it in the first place. By getting rid of romance in stories that aren’t listed under the romance section it gives the author the ability to show more about their plot instead of using their time to create a romance. It also gives the readers the chance to enjoy the plot more.
Edit: I was working on a fantasy story and felt the need to add love interests even though I wasn’t to thrilled about it. This really made me decide I’ll ditch the love interests considering I didn’t want to add them in the first place.
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correct atonimy.
I so often open a story and I dont see cc, so when the parents and siblings dosent look like MC I am very confused.
I just read a story where MC is blond with blue eyes and her brother is a ginger with brown. as far as I know no one is adopted
just make sure the looks fit please
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Family relationships. I want to see more stories focused on families and their struggles, or MCs that have a special bond with someone in the family… whether it be a cousin, parent, grandparent, sibling, nephew, niece, aunt, uncle, or a person who isn’t related to them but is considered a part of the family.
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