What do you find boring to tears in a story/book?

Rules in writing are only general guidelines. No matter what the rule there will be some author who will break it and still make the story interesting.

Don't forget James Bond discussing the rules and strategy of baccarat in Ian Fleming's CASINO ROYALE, and the lengthy descriptions of his bridge game vs. Hugo Drax (MOONRAKER) and his golf match against Auric Goldfinger (GOLDFINGER).

"Rounders" was pretty much centered on the Texas Hold'em showdowns between characters, IMHO the film wouldn't have worked effectively without considerable focus on the game... --C.K.

Too much descriptions of the weather when it is just inserted to fill out. Repeated onomatopoeticons Whap - whap etc.

Repeated onomatopoeticons (thanks Yenz) really irritate me, I've never yet read a story where they add anything.
Its just about acceptable in the context "swish,swish,swish, swish,swish,swish; the cane crashed into her bottom at ten second intervals making her cry out ...." But individual lines of "Swish, thwack, yaroo" -are really not on -unless it's a comedy or parody.

Now Flopsy, no plagiarising this wonderful onomatopoeia from Jimsim...we will all be watching your next works with eagle eyes. I think the yaroo will give you away if you try.

BTW, I just spell-checked this post and yaroo is incorrectly spelled.

Long, detailed descriptions, especially technical ones, that don't further the story, but serve only as filler or as a way for the author to show off what he knows. However, I do like word pictures that paint the scene and delve into the characters' emotions.

I hate it when the same words or phrases are used repeatedly. I barely finished SOG because of that, among other reasons. If Anastasia had said "Oh my!" one more time, I might have given up. When the reader notices things like that, it is too much.

Quite right, gail - everyone who remembers Billy Bunter knows it it spelled 'Yarooh!'

Gail. Myrkassi:

Profound apologies, but it is over 55 years since I last read Bunter.
However I retain many fond memories of Bunter and similar stories such as Jennings- most memorable quote after a caning-"That one really hurt-he must have sharpened his cane" or words to that effect. Those and the school stories with their inevitable canings or slipperings in such comics as Hotspur must have had a memorable influence.
For such a heinous crime I would willingly allow Gail to make me "Yarooh!" but regrettably at least four thousand miles separate us.
BTW when I was about 11 or 12 I went to see Billy Bunter in panto in London with a friend and his Dad.
It was very funny-the actor who obviously had plenty of padding in his trousers to get a Bunteresque figure was given a hard 6 of the best by Mr Quelch, with plenty of Ouchs and Yaroohs.
It raised loads of laughs but in those far off days it was considered to be the natural way of things that a schoolboy would be whacked!

There is this fantasy series that I enjoy reading called The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. Most of the books that I've read in this series have been fairly fast paced with a strong emphasis on character description and development (plus there's more than a fair share of spankings and spanking threats for a mainstream fantasy series). But as much as I enjoy reading the books, I do remember a book or two where very little happened to further the story. Instead, it seemed to be a way to say, "here's where the characters are and here's what they are doing at this very moment." While this is all well and good, the fact that very little at all happened left me wondering what had been the point of this book other than to be a way to squeeze out yet one more book for me to buy. At 14 books total in this series, you can bet that there's a ton of description. Most of the time I find it to be enjoyable, but sometimes I find myself yelling at the author (who isn't actually in the room, so what does that say about me?) to just get on with it and do something.

For my own writing experiences, I tend to be somewhat straightforward and say what I want to say without a lot of descriptive elements, which is why I'll probably never publish the great American novel.

I stopped reading the series after I hit one of those books.

Yes, I've enjoyed other Jordon books. Many of his Conan's had spanking reference, but once I left the Wheel I couldn't get back on it.

To get back on topic - another thing that I find boring are knots. Yes, I was a Boy Scout and learnt how to fasten several different knots, but I've read stories that involved 50 or 100 feet of rope being used to secure one girl. Maybe if I was more into bondage I'd have enjoyed those stories more, but most of the time I'm okay with "And he tied her up" or "He bound her wrists behind her" as oppose to page after page of rope work.

Goodgulf