Also, purification of motive can occur in a story.
But, yeah, one good way to have me never pick up your story again is to ensure there's no reason to cheer for the main character because at best it doesn't matter whether he wins. (Worst is when you really wish both sides could lose.)
Hear hear! I've read books where the hero just randomly butchers guards and other mooks because they're in his way. Then I sit there and go, wait a minute. Did the author think about this? The mook was just doing his job. The hero just murdered him in cold blood. Whatever happened to knocking them out and hiding them in a closet? Why the huge trail of bodies?
I mean, I'll tell you why, and it's Hollywood plus videogames, where it's customary to leave a trail of bodies that fade from existence in a few seconds. I tell you what, I finish that book with doubts that that hero was a hero, and that he/she deserved that happy ending. I've read some that they did NOT deserve a happy ending, they deserved to marry the villain and suffer torment for the rest of their short life because their motivations and choices were SO BAD. Or it'll be a cliffhanger I don't care about, because I'm hoping they'll die and I know they won't. Ugh! Thank you for highlighting this problem.
Motives can be mixed.
Also, purification of motive can occur in a story.
But, yeah, one good way to have me never pick up your story again is to ensure there's no reason to cheer for the main character because at best it doesn't matter whether he wins. (Worst is when you really wish both sides could lose.)
Hear hear! I've read books where the hero just randomly butchers guards and other mooks because they're in his way. Then I sit there and go, wait a minute. Did the author think about this? The mook was just doing his job. The hero just murdered him in cold blood. Whatever happened to knocking them out and hiding them in a closet? Why the huge trail of bodies?
I mean, I'll tell you why, and it's Hollywood plus videogames, where it's customary to leave a trail of bodies that fade from existence in a few seconds. I tell you what, I finish that book with doubts that that hero was a hero, and that he/she deserved that happy ending. I've read some that they did NOT deserve a happy ending, they deserved to marry the villain and suffer torment for the rest of their short life because their motivations and choices were SO BAD. Or it'll be a cliffhanger I don't care about, because I'm hoping they'll die and I know they won't. Ugh! Thank you for highlighting this problem.