Magna Carta II

Here's my second novel-writing Magna Carta:

Magna Carta II: Stuff I Dislike

• (With some notable exceptions) fantasy and sci-fi settings, e.g., totally invented races, worlds, names, etc.
  
• Unending descriptions of technical minutiae
  
• Unending descriptions of anything
  
• Little dialogue (or lots of terrible dialogue)
  
• Really long chapters
  
• Stories about gifted retards
  
• Totally insane characters you can’t relate to
  
• Propaganda or preachiness of any sort
  
• Completely materialistic/atheistic outlooks
  
• Historical settings more than roughly 100 years ago
  
• Sappy, drippy, maudlin sentiment (think Nicholas Sparks)
  
• 100% formulaic bullshit
  
• Excessive mental masturbation that results in totally opaque plots/themes
  
• Pretentiousness
  
• Cardboard characters who exist to serve the plot, and not the other way around
  
• Happy endings (not always, but often)
  
• Rural or otherwise boring settings
  
• "Chick lit" or other fluff based on a decidedly shallow worldview
  
• Pat explanations
  
• But also no hints to real explanations
  
• Stories about criminals, hardcore drug users (I make exceptions for tortured alcoholics), and other lowlifes (think anything by Quentin Tarantino)