7 Things NOT To Put In Your Story

There are lots of posts I could do on what to put in your story, but here are 7 things not to put in your story (revised from an earlier post I did here) 

1) I beg you from the depths of my heart - do not, please, for the sake of any movies made about your book or for just the fans of your story, do not make the main character or one of the main characters die just for the sake of shocking us. PLEASE DON'T! Unless there is an absolute good reason.... Take Marian in Robin Hood BBC for example on why you shouldn't......


2) Don't make evil clearly labeled. Not all evil seems dark - not all sin seems like sinning, but it will have consequences. Take the white witch from the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe for example 

3) Don't make your characters all guys or mostly girls... it just is sometimes annoying that way. No matter if you're writing a book for a girl or guy, make diverse characters

4) Don't make your characters perfect - it just isn't realistic, unless it is how it's supposed to be in the story. Give them flaws. Show their weak points. No one is perfect and your readers know that! Making perfect characters could ruin your whole story!

5) Don't give every single villain in your story be the stereotypical villain (thank you Miss. Lilly Marie for this amazing #5 =). What I mean by this is that evil guy who wants revenge, has no back story, and has no purpose except to kill lots of people and then be killed at then end of it all. Be unique in your story building, and perhaps let us as the readers began to feel a bit sorry for your bad guy (by all means not endorse his actions), but seeing his side of things

6) Give your characters back stories! This is so important for character building at times, because you get to see where your characters have come from and the readers begin to understand them as well. In movies and books I find this highly interesting because it leaves me with a better sense of who a character is. Also perhaps give your villain a back story and shake things up a little bit. 

7) And last but not least - don't always throw in a female character simply because some dude in your story "needs" to fall in love. Let her be a warrior - let her be unique, strong, the one to stand up for what she believes in!


So what do you think? Do you agree, disagree?