Weak Writing

I write poorly on a weakly basis.

When writing in fiction is lacking in a way that's too serious to ignore. There are countless ways Weak Writing can ruin a story and worsen the overall experience for the audience. The severity of these problems can range anywhere between tiny, honest mistake to recurrent and pestering issue. UnTrashes, roles, and plots all have potential to Annoy, Anger, Bore, or Confuse The Audience. Weak Writing in any form makes the creator seem amateur and clueless about how to properly conduct a story worthy of public attention.

The UnTrashes to involve or be considered Weak Writing are those that lack innovation or Entertainment Value. Big names in this category are the Eye Roll UnTrashes, namely All Just A Dream, World Domination, Soul Is The Price, Suh Kuel, and even Good Always Prevails. Whereas the audience would place high expectations in the franchise at hand, the writers decide to take an inferior route by playing these overcooked and vapid UnTrashes in place of high-quality picks like What A Twist or a well-placed and -timed Character Death.

Weak Writing in roles can be attributed to those with glaring flaws. The Idiot, Ego Flaunt, Pest, Vermin, and Weakling all count as roles in this group. The audience doesn't care for leading characters, either protagonists or antagonists, who reinforce tired role types rather than rejecting them. Heroes who are good to be good or Villains who are bad to be bad fail to leave even the slightest dent of impression in the audience. Familiar franchises come with their own set of problems, like the Snot-Nosed Kid, Cute Girl, and less obvious picks like the Nerd and Bully. Though these roles all have potential for quality, they are generally handled poorly by less creative writers. Regardless of resonating more with adventurous or familiar franchises, these low-grade roles share universal troubles that cause the audience to lose respect for the ones who made them. If a role is centered on one element, such as an emotion or trait, there is a harsh reduction to their flexibility they must suffer. The One Note is the embodiment of this, just as the Fix is the personification of a changeless role. Some roles, like those in the tertiary character cast, aren't meant to change. However, the closer to the center of attention they are, the more a person must be willing to evolve with the advancing story. This rule also applies to the Mains of episodic franchises that are no stranger to the Reset Button. In the little time each mini-story plays out, the Main should usually have a temporary transformation in attitude or belief to keep them interesting. At the same time, they shouldn't change so radically that nailing their core personality becomes confusing. Inconsistency in a character is one of the most frustrating errors a writer can cause in their cast. Audience members, particularly those invested in the canon, will not care about somebody who struggles to adhere to one set of personal rules and behavioral conditions. This reduces their believability and messes with the audience's Suspension Of Disbelief, making it painfully clear how this person isn't real.

Weak Writing factors in the specific actions of the characters as well as it does their overall everyday behavior. The way a person speaks can heavily influence how the audience judges their quality. High Speak is a great way to shatter Suspension Of Disbelief if placed on the wrong role. The King, Queen, Scientist, and partially the Brains can get away with this, but the Idiot, Comic Relief, and Main can't. The three latter roles are closer to people the audience would be likely to meet in Real Life (especially the Idiot), so they need more casual speech patterns to not feel off. Mind-Boggling Vocabulary is a gag that painfully exemplifies this problem. Not even the smartest person on the planet would talk this way. Another example is children who sound more like adults. A child calling their mom and dad by the names Mother and Father is tastelessly inaccurate. Kids are also more likely to use informal words like "yeah" than they are conventional words like "yes". It also helps that all characters have a consistent vocabulary matching the expectations of their role. That isn't to say a Scientist who sounds like an average person is doing it wrong. They just have to continue talking that way when it isn't done for a Rule Loophole like a seconds-long gag. What else departs from natural dialogue is directly speaking on somebody's own emotions. Saying "This pisses me off so much" is acceptable, but "This makes me mad" counts towards Weak Writing. The difference is the first line only references the person's feelings while the second is a dart toss at those feelings. Subtlety is key when someone shares what they're thinking. What's even more effective than dialogue is no dialogue at all, letting the scene do all the talking for them. The audience can take from clues how somebody feels by observing their actions like them balling up their hands or scowling at the person who angered them. This type of broad discussion of a matter is very similar to Exposition Dumps. Here, instead of yammering about how they feel, the characters do the same thing to the story. Lightly going over plans on what do to next is passable as it informs the audience of what will happen later. Once the Main Cast begins to do nothing but stand around and talk at each other about what they want to do so solve a problem, the audience will reach for the nonexistent fast-forward button on the story. It isn't uncommon for unnecessary dialogue to be mixed into these moments. In addition to dragging on about where the story went and where it's going, the Main Cast may feel brazen enough to babble about bullshit that adds nothing to the plot. Any dialogue that provides no helpful information to the audience would probably be best discarded permanently.