What keeps you reading a story?

Community Episode Fan Community
1

Hi everyone :hugs: , I am currently working on my first story.
If you don’t mind, can you share what keeps you reading a story after the first chapter?
And what makes you want to stop.

3 Likes
2

I wanna say cliffhangers make me wanna read more. Also good conversation, and diversity in characters. One more thing is no like characters looking the same unless they are family. Hoped that helped! :cowboy_hat_face:

3 Likes
3

What keeps me reading a story:

  • Good directing
  • Decent grammar
  • Proper use of zooms and overlays
  • Even use of overlays
  • Intro at beginning of the story is a big bonus
  • Realistic dialogues
  • Character development
  • Point system and choices that matter, (this is very important to get me to stay)
  • Background characters that don’t just stand there
  • Diversity in characters
  • No unnecessary use of dialogue

What makes me stop, no matter what:

  • Authors apologizing of episode length or content, and promises it will be better
  • Bad grammar
  • Character and author talking to each other. This is just weird…?
  • When the first chapter only is CC or is very short
  • When the dressing “games” take forever. I don’t mind that much what my character wears…!
  • Many spelling errors, in particular words that are very common
  • When the overlays are all over the place and glitches
  • When the chapter looks “tacky”
  • Unnecessary drama that just don’t make sense
  • Stereotypes such as nerds, mean girls or the gay bestfriend

This is my personal opinion, and I hope this will help you at least a little bit. :sparkles: :relaxed:

18 Likes
4

Good plot, good grammar and punctuation, backstories to the characters etc.

2 Likes
5

Wdym by tacky chapters? :joy:

1 Like
6

I was about to ask this too😂

1 Like
7

What makes me STOP reading:

  • If the description is really cliché or poorly written, I will not even open the story.
  • Poor directing.
  • Poor grammar, especially no full stops on the end of sentences. Like, c’mon… full stops are one of the basics of most languages. :full_moon_with_face:
  • Unnecessarily long author introductions.
  • Characters that just don’t look right, like really odd colors and features that don’t seem to mix and match well, especially if it’s NOT a sci-fi story.
  • Height differences. I will leave if every or most male characters are seemingly so much taller than all of the female characters, it’s just weird and unrealistic.
  • If the bubble placements are bad on a regular basis.
  • If MC likes to slap people, especially if it’s just for “for fun.” If she slaps someone for assaulting her, that’s different, but I hate MCs who thinks it’s okay to physically hurt people because she thinks it’s cool or whatever.
  • If all of the characters have similar features because it looks like the author favors specific features and cannot venture outside of them. Also unrealistic for everyone to look the same.
  • Really short chapters.
  • If I feel the story has been dragged out for too long and should’ve ended quite awhile ago.
  • If it’s classic - I exit immediately…
  • A super duper toxic love interest, unless I have other options or it’s a thriller.
  • If the story focuses too much on the author rather than the characters. :skull:
  • If the characters never seem to change their clothes. I saw a story once where the characters were still wearing the same clothes at the end when they got married as they did when they met… without changing outfits through the story. :joy:
  • Inaccuracy. If a place, culture, religion or people are portrayed inaccurately to a severe degree and it shows that the author doesn’t know what they’re talking about - in most cases, I’ll leave. Sometimes, I’ll stay if it’s brief.
  • If the humor is so consistently cringe that I have to turn away.
  • If CC pops up for almost every character that I meet.
  • Really fast pace.
  • Really slow pace, unless it’s a slowburn story.
  • If the story seems to be similar to an unpublished story of mine, particularly if it’s a dramedy or romcom - I will normally not read it because I don’t want to be accused of copying.
  • If I feel like the story focuses too much on advanced directing rather than the plot and character development.
  • Too many choices, especially choices of no importance to the plot.

What KEEPS me reading:

  • Decent directing at the very least.
  • Great pacing.
  • Good bubble placements.
  • Good grammar.
  • Diverse characters and backstories.
  • Compelling storyline.
  • A story doesn’t need nice aesthetics to keep me, but it’s a bonus.
  • Good description.
  • If I can really relate to the MC or LI.
  • Good chapter lengths.
  • Great humor.
12 Likes
8

I’m encouraged to keep reading a story if hints of something bigger are dropped early on and there’s an air of suspense. It sounds kind of basic, but I’ve read many stories where any notion of an overarching plot wasn’t established until episode five or later (so with that, I guess good pacing matters a lot as well). Twists and cliffhangers help too!

3 Likes
9

you covered pretty much everything for me :joy:

and also in addition to this- while playing the dressing game the camera panning up and down for every outfit just really annoys me, simply zoom out on the frame before the dress game so that we can see the whole character is good enough :sob:

4 Likes
10

Cliffhangers always get me past the first episode :laughing:

3 Likes
11

something else i wanted to add is-
art scenes that take way too long :sneezing_face: i essentially dont even need art scenes to enjoy a story and i’ve found that many people are of the same opinion. so no need to pressurise yourself to get an art scene!

3 Likes
12

For example if the backgrounds are very bad and blurry… :see_no_evil:

1 Like
13

for most stories, I’d read to at least chapter 3 (even if it’s not my particular cup of tea) if it has witty dialogue, good directing, and is relatively short (7-8 min).

1 Like
14

Ok wow this is the first time I’ve seen this thread so here are some things from me:

  • Punctuation.

  • No author intros at the start. Trust me, loads of people loathe it.

  • Interactive mini games.

  • A good story intro.

  • Flawless grammar.

  • Advance directing. Don’t get me wrong, basic directing is good too, but advance just takes the cake.

  • Music and sound. If the music is looping, make sure it’s a soft kind of music. Not the action/adventure kind of music. Eventually you’ll get sick of it.

  • Character introductions in the 1st episode. I did that for my story and people seem to love it.

  • Omg ok, this one applies to only me, but, I’m a sucker for fantasy related stories. Say magic, witches, vampires, you name it.

  • And finally, diversity. It’s fine if you’re representing a country with little to no immigration, and hence why there’s a lack of diversity. It’s understandable. But any form of cultural appropriation or mocking another race/enthincity is a straight report and exit for me. I’ve seen it happen far too many times, so do try to prevent this from happening.

5 Likes