A matter of taste

I'm getting started on my personal essay for Craft of Poetry, which includes a section on my personal tastes in poetry, and it reminded me of an pre-NaNo exercise: you write down two "Magna Cartas", as Chris Baty describes them, one listing characteristics of a novel you enjoy and the other listing novel characteristics you dislike.

At the same time, I was going through one of my notebooks and - surprise! - found the two novel magna cartas that I wrote while my mom and I were getting a flat tire fixed. Because I think they're an interesting window into what I like to write, they are included below. Note: by no means does this mean that I automatically hate novels including the "bad" char., it's just an indication of my preferences.

Likes

• Humor (especially dark humor)
• Emotionally damaged/stunted characters (especially guys)
• Flirting and banter, eventual romance after difficulty
• Action (as in battles and chases)
• 1st or 3rd person
• Happy endings
• Kickass heroines
• People who've worked for what they have
• Characters with unusual mental/physical features (synaesthesia, heterochromia, one hand)
• Weird family dynamics/dysfunctional families
• Foreign locales (not necessarily other countries, just places/cultures I have little experience with)
  
• Lots of food

Dislikes

• Novels that try too hard to be edgy or hip
  
• Graphic or gratuitous abuse
• Novels where nothing happens (I don't mean "quiet" novels, I mean novels where nothing happens)
  
• Unhappy endings
• Non-endings
• Characters who get everything easily
• Weak, whiny girls who need guys to do everything
• Gratuitous drug use (see above re: edgy/hip)
• Perfect families with no hidden issues

See, now if I could just make myself do some editing...

No, wait, I have finals. Blast. At least I've finished and turned in my Japanese final; all that remains is my poetry final essay, my history final, and - gulp - my English final.