Eleven things I will strive never to put in a fantasy novel unless I am trying to undermine them, and in fact could do without entirely from now on, thanks:
1) Lonely, misunderstood children waiting for their bit of magic to arrive who don’t have anything going for them except that they’re lonely, misunderstood children.
2) People who claim they’re too rational to believe in magic, even when the magic itself can be clearly, rationally, and repeatedly observed.
3) Magic systems that are so systematic I can work out the dice rolls attached to them.
4) Countries, peoples, planets in which everyone thinks the same way or has the same goals.
5) Overweight characters who are overweight only to show the reader that they are lazy, evil, or corrupt.
6) Failproof birth control herbs or amulets.
7) Sex without consequences; sex with nothing but consequences.
8) Evil that believes it is evil.
9) Parents who are cruel without believing (rightly or wrongly) that they have good reasons for needing to be cruel.
10) Characters who quickly excel at things that others take years to learn, simply because they have lots of heart and believe in themselves. (Though heart can help, certainly–it just can’t do the whole job.)
11) Anyone who is destined to be anything.
Three things I’m not quite willing to promise to leave out, even though I possibly should:
1) Telepathic animals
2) Elves
3) Things that sparkle or shimmer in unnatural ways
(Eleven things meme via trupenny and limyaael; three more things tossed in just because.)