# What do you want to read (non-sexual version)



## sunandshadow (Feb 18, 2011)

I was thinking, I don't get as strong of a feeling of community here as I do at some of the less-serious fanfiction forums I visit.  And the reason is, no one here talks about their enthusiasm for reading.  I mean, isn't that why we go to the effort of writing, because we want people to enthusiastically read out work?

So please post here describing what you would love to read if people posted it to FA. :grin:  This thread is for non-sexual stories, please go to the sister thread to post a sexual story idea.

Example: I like stories where the main character bonds with a mount or pet, but original, not fanfiction.  So, I'd like to read some original stories similar to the Pokemon "adventure begins" trope, or Anne McCaffrey's "dragonrider Impresses a dragon" trope, or "student is accepted into mecha pilot training program, then meets the mechas who turn out to be sentient"...


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## TakeWalker (Feb 18, 2011)

I would love to read stories where anthros are not a stand-in for the author's persecution complex.


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## Altamont (Feb 18, 2011)

TakeWalker said:


> I would love to read stories where anthros are not a stand-in for the author's persecution complex.


 
I second that notion wholeheartedly.

And I sure wouldn't mind some more speculative fiction, or perhaps some neo-noir.


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## M. LeRenard (Feb 18, 2011)

I like works where the characters are smart and act like reasonable adults.  I like works that show off an incredibly enthusiastic imagination.  I like works that have intelligent plots that can't be figured out completely in the first two pages.  I like works that are scientifically accurate when they need to be, else see point number 2.  I like works that are emotional without being corny.
Ummmm.... that's probably about it.
Is anyone else pissed off that they're talking about canceling the show Lie To Me?  I love that show.


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## buni (Feb 18, 2011)

I like stories in which the characters are allowed to grow and evolve over time.

I like stories in which I don't feel like I have to lecture the characters on their life choices unless other people in the story are doing the same. I don't mind when people do dumb things in stories. I mind when people do dumb things and no consequences befall them as a result. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I like stories in which characters screw up and then have to pay for it, whether that's in suffering for their mistakes or having to apologize to people. I like characters that aren't perfect.

I like stories in which I don't find myself doubting the veracity of the world in which they live. This makes reading "generic furry slice-of-life" difficult for me, but it's a curse I bear.

I like stories in which the plot feels like an emergent property of the characters interacting with each other and the world. I don't like stories in which the plot feels primary and the characters do what they do because "that's what advances the story line."


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## Altamont (Feb 18, 2011)

I like stories where it doesn't feel like the author is trying too hard; where the voice of the story flows naturally and with confidence. 

I like stories where even the most saintly of characters have moments worthy of disgust, and where the most flawed of characters can have their moment of redemption.


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## Scarborough (Feb 18, 2011)

I love stories where the author has fun with the words, and just puts so much truth behind what s/he's saying. I want to read stories that are about everyday life, but written fantastically.


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## sunandshadow (Feb 18, 2011)

You all have such abstract preferences.    Nothing inherently wrong with that, but not really a helpful starting point for a writer who wanted to write something to please you.


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## M. LeRenard (Feb 18, 2011)

Well, you know... that's just how it is, I guess.  I've enjoyed books ranging from _The World According to Garp_ to _The Vermillion Gate_ to _2001: A Space Odyssey_, so I can't really nail down exactly what it is I want to read in fiction.


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## â™¥Mirandaâ™¥ (Feb 18, 2011)

I like reading stories in which the author's intelligence shines through.

The more artsy-pretentious the writing, the better. Big words, complete abstract notions, a unique wavelength that we as readers are thrust into, forcing us into mental agility just to find out what the author is trying to say.

I'm kind of a freak like that


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## sunandshadow (Feb 18, 2011)

It's always interesting how different people are.  Personally, I regularly go to the book store with the urge to read a particular story, then mentally swear and whine at the spot it ought to be on the shelves if there isn't anything like what I want to read.  Similarly I'll go to online story archives and try to keyword search for what I want to read, and be sad and frustrated if there isn't anything relevant.


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## Term_the_Schmuck (Feb 18, 2011)

Stories that are more grounded in reality, where problems aren't fixed by super powers/magic/special talents that have no worldly business being there.  Where the author puts his or her protagonist in a situation where moral and ethical choices come into play and the decisions they make, even if with the best intentions, don't play out as they hoped.  Where a story that has a happy ending feels like it wasn't forced to that point, that the characters actually had to work to get there.  Where romance isn't something that just happens to get to an arbitrary sex scene, or for that matter using sex for no other reason than for it to be in the story to grab attention (I realize non-sexual is in the thread title but I felt this was necessary to throw in).  And finally, where the author doesn't tell me that a character "feels sad" and instead shows me by having them pace the room, sulk, watch tv for a whole day without showering.


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## Tabasco (Feb 18, 2011)

Good horror or dystopian, with a subtle but powerful spook factor.


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## Daisy La Liebre (Feb 18, 2011)

I like stories that test just how low humanity (anthros, whatever) can fall, and what happens when they do. Pain infliction and drug addiction. Degredation and violence and depression.

Yep, I'm a happy writer.


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## TakeWalker (Feb 18, 2011)

sunandshadow said:


> You all have such abstract preferences.    Nothing inherently wrong with that, but not really a helpful starting point for a writer who wanted to write something to please you.


 
Ya can't please everyone, and I wouldn't recommend trying. :3

To add a slightly more serious reply, I want to read face-paced stories with fast-talking protagonists, whose plots are so intricate that I can just barely keep a handle on everything while flying through the action, before all the threads come together.


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## reian (Feb 21, 2011)

I want to read more emotional stories.  Whether it be sad or heart-felt, I'm tired of dead characters and shallow story lines(which I'm quite sure I'm also guilty of).  There is a strange lacking of moral complexities also...


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## reian (Feb 21, 2011)

I have a couple of stories like that...mostly involving violence and depression, but also with 'happy' endings


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