See, I agree with you! But! The big issue with me is that I'm shooting for pro quality with my own writing. I'm hard on myself; I set the bar high. And I read with an eye for craft, and on how to apply it to my own craft - sometimes by design, but more often because I have trouble shutting off that part of my brain. I've internalized this as part of my own value system because I want to end up good enough to make a living selling novels, and because I love the feeling of challenging myself and then succeeding: the wind in my hair, etc, etc. I'm definitely not there yet, but I want to be -- I want to make those fucking words sing for me.
The problem is not being able to turn it off. The problem is switching back and forth between working my ass off to make myself better, and then reading a story that's where I was 20 years ago and being as polite and supportive as I'd have hoped other people would've been with me. Flipping that mental switch - from making myself hyper-aware of cliches and lazy writing in my own work in order to root them out, to making myself unaware of the same things in someone else's writing - is hard for me! I think one reason why so many published writers are egocentric jerkwads is because of that problem - you have to push yourself so hard that it's difficult to shut it off when you're dealing with other people.
So the basic thing is that I agree with you totally - putting a moral judgment on good writing is stupid, and backwards, and counter-productive. Doing anything other than encouraging a newly fledged writer is a total dick move. But knowing that is one thing; the hard thing is gearing so much of my life towards being the very best I can possibly be in this particular area (*disclaimer: am not anywhere near there yet), and not doing that around other people. Especially in a social climate that encourages it. I am aware that it's something I need to fix about myself, and I've certainly heard enough stories from people who were discouraged from writing by teachers and friends and relatives that I absolutely do NOT want to be that person! But again, I'm not there yet.
I think it was reading these essays that made me decide that getting there is also a priority for me, and one that's not any less important than honing my writing skills.
no subject
The problem is not being able to turn it off. The problem is switching back and forth between working my ass off to make myself better, and then reading a story that's where I was 20 years ago and being as polite and supportive as I'd have hoped other people would've been with me. Flipping that mental switch - from making myself hyper-aware of cliches and lazy writing in my own work in order to root them out, to making myself unaware of the same things in someone else's writing - is hard for me! I think one reason why so many published writers are egocentric jerkwads is because of that problem - you have to push yourself so hard that it's difficult to shut it off when you're dealing with other people.
So the basic thing is that I agree with you totally - putting a moral judgment on good writing is stupid, and backwards, and counter-productive. Doing anything other than encouraging a newly fledged writer is a total dick move. But knowing that is one thing; the hard thing is gearing so much of my life towards being the very best I can possibly be in this particular area (*disclaimer: am not anywhere near there yet), and not doing that around other people. Especially in a social climate that encourages it. I am aware that it's something I need to fix about myself, and I've certainly heard enough stories from people who were discouraged from writing by teachers and friends and relatives that I absolutely do NOT want to be that person! But again, I'm not there yet.
I think it was reading these essays that made me decide that getting there is also a priority for me, and one that's not any less important than honing my writing skills.