Inspy Romance

Inspy Romance—Fall in Love With a Good Book

Do You DNF?

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Until I became a published writer, I had no idea what “DNF” stood for.

I didn’t belong to Goodreads. I’d never heard of BookBub. I didn’t check reviews on Amazon or Barnes & Noble before I bought books.

After I signed my first publishing contract, though, I quickly made a Goodreads profile. Then I started reading the reviews of books friends from my graduate school creative writing program had written. And I came across a one-star review that only stated, “DNF.”

What in the world? I wondered, scratching my head.

I tried looking it up online. Do Not Forget. Does Not Function. Data Not Found.

None of those fit in the context of a book review.

Then I found this explanation on Goodreads: “DNF is the acronym for: Did Not Finish. This shelf can be used for books started, but not read to the end. Commonly used in sports, when a participant didn’t complete a race, event, etc.”

I was shocked. I never stopped reading a book before the end. Maybe it was the perfectionist in me, but once I started reading, I had to know how the story ended.

Had. To.

I couldn’t read two books at one time because I’d be distracted by the one I’d started first.

Now, though, things have changed.

As a writer, I read a lot of books. I like analyzing them to see how they include the various tropes and elements that are popular in Christian romance.

But if the writing doesn’t grab me at the beginning, or the characters are shallow, or the story seems silly, or if there are zillions of typos or grammatical errors, I will DNF those books. I don’t record them as DNFs anywhere because I only review books I love, but those unfinished stories don’t haunt me anymore.

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older and my time is more precious to me now. Or maybe it’s because, if I don’t like a book, I know that my energy is better spent writing one that I’ll definitely enjoy.

How about you? What makes you DNF? And do you let other people know about it in your reviews?

Meghann Whistler (24 Posts)

Meghann Whistler is a wife, mom, and Christian romance novelist who loves writing sweet, happy stories that WON'T make your grandmother blush! When she's not writing, reading, or jamming out to Christian rock music, you can find her enjoying a relaxing evening with her rocket scientist husband (seriously—he's a real, live rocket scientist!) or playing with her three kids.


Comments

  1. Yes, I often DNF. If there’s bad language in the first chapter- that’s it! But sometimes I will be half way through a book and I am just bored, maybe because I can guess the ending or I am not enjoying the style of writing or the book is going in a direction that makes me uncomfortable.
    Not only do I DNF but I delete from kindle.

  3. Yes, I DNF. The reasons vary. Sometimes it’s because I couldn’t get into it, other times I’ve grown impatient with the story progress and gave up on it. I’ve also discovered books on my kindle that I started and never finished because another book grabbed my attention, and I forgot about it. When that happens I usually try to revisit the story. If it engages me that time I finish it, if not I let it go.

  4. I takes a lot for me to DNF. Other than for language, I hardly ever stop reading a book. And no, I don’t record it anywhere.

  5. Ha, I didn’t know what DNF was either until you said!
    It’s really rare I DNF any book – but I usually select quite carefully, and read some reviews beforehand, so I know the writer doesn’t use bad language and it’s a sweet/clean read. Often if it’s a new writer I go by recommendations from blogs like this or writer’s newsletters so I know what I’m getting. Like you said, I only leave reviews for books I’ve really loved as I don’t have much time, I would also feel bad for the author reading that someone didn’t even finish their book!

  6. I occasionally DNF but more often I start a book that maybe doesn’t keep my interest at this time — but I always go back to it and give it another shot. Sometimes it just doesn’t fit my current mood.

  7. It takes a lot for me to not finish a book! However, there are a few I haven’t finished, and I don’t put it in reviews. Just because I didn’t like the book doesn’t mean someone else won’t like it. There have been a very few books that I gave three star reviews to, and I explained exactly why I gave them that rating.

  9. I think there’s only one book I didn’t finish that I reviewed, and that was way back when I first got my Kindle. Someone had recommended the book, and I didn’t like it at all. I reviewed it, mentioned that I DNF and why, and then deleted it from my Kindle. Since then there have been books that I DNF, but now I just don’t review them. I read a book recently from an author whose other books I’ve enjoyed. This one was “meh” and enough people had reviewed it on Goodreads that I decided just to not review it, especially since I wasn’t sure how to articulate what I didn’t like about it :-)

  10. Good morning, no I had no idea what DNF meant, thanks for sharing this with us. I usually finish all the books I read, unless it is not a very nice book and I didn’t actually know it was. I usually finish all the books I start reading though. Have a great day and a great week. I enjoyed reading this post.

  12. I do DNF sometimes. There are 3 books I remember, but can’t remember the title of the first one. That one, I just got bored. The last 2 were part of series. I just wasn’t following the story or the characters. I may go back and read them if I start to read the series from the beginning.

  19. Definitely, Trudy—reading is so subjective! That’s why, as an author, I don’t leave negative reviews. I’d hate for my personal opinion about a book to negatively impact another author.

  21. I can definitely relate, Margaret! It’s hard to write a review when you can’t quite articulate your thoughts! And with a book I don’t like, I don’t want to spend the extra time figuring it all out—although I’m happy to spend lots of time thinking about a book I love :)

  24. I have did it a few times if I couldn’t get into the book or if there was too many bad language or if it states it a clean romance and it isn’t. I am kinda a new reviewer so I only review books that I receive from authors as arc or from a giveaway but if I don’t finish it I don’t leave an review.

  25. Hi, Meghann! It is rare that I DNF. Usually, it is a matter of boredom either with the story or the style. I have one in my downloads right now where the story bugs me (the heroine is being very manipulative with her brother’s dating and spiritual lives) and the style is rather bouncy-flouncy. It’s probably going to be a DNF, maybe :). I usually lean hard to the other side. I recently finished a story where the mechanics were atrocious, lots of typos, lots of reused words and phrases. However, the story was engaging. I wanted to know how the whole thing worked out, problems and all. That, I finished.

    And sometimes it’s just a matter of feeling guilty when I look at the thumbnail in my library and it says 34%. It’s like I didn’t get my chores done or finish my mashed potatoes before dessert. Probably something deeply rooted in my subconscious.

    I am much more likely not to start (NTS?) a story that I know is likely not to appeal. My wife loves Carol Moncado’s stories about royals. I don’t particularly enjoy the royals setting. So, they are in the library but I just don’t go there.

    This is a fun topic to mull over. Thanks for the post!

  29. Ha ha — I can so relate to the feeling of “must finish what I started,” Lincoln! Typos and grammaticos drive me batty, but I’d probably suffer through a book like that if the story was great, too!

  31. Quite often I DNF!! But come back to it maybe months later, and enjoy it! Very few have actually been discarded. If I’m not sure that I ‘m going to be interested in a story, eg it’s an unfamiliar author, I get the sample, and it’s enough to make a decision.
    I never leave a review if I haven’t finished the book. To me, that’s just rude.

  32. I always read to the end of the book. It depends on if I am on an ARC team whether I share that I have written a review. I always review on Goodreads, If it is for an ARC, I then review other places. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.

  33. I had a few DNF books. For many reasons some are cos of the subject. After mum passed away I started reading 2 different ones dealing with someone dying and it was too soon. Another had a hero who was very self centered and thought others were beneath him and I just couldn’t handle his idea the way he was so critical of those he considered beneath him. Others have been triggers like a book with bullying It brings it back so I tend to avoid them. Several years back I had a review book that used a word considered cussing here but is fine in America. in one chapter it was used 20 times and I just couldn’t read it. But I also knew many people here in Australia would also struggle with it so I did put up a review explaining that while it was ok in America, Australians may have an issue with the slang used. Without the word I would have enjoyed it but just couldn’t keep going. I have been tempted to on another DNF that also had language, this time blasphemy in the book. Instead DNF the book and won’t be buying anymore books from this author.

  34. I do have a DNF shelf on Goodreads. It’s not very common for me, but I have so many more books waiting for me on my bookshelf, that I do occasionally DNF a book that is just dragging, or the writing is not good, or my style.
    I’m not sure how long I have been using Goodreads, probably 7 years of so, I have 640 books marked as ‘Read’ and only 13 ‘DNF’.

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