I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, not so much about Mary Sues but what "I" consider good-quality vs. what "I" consider to be bad quality writing. Apparently, it's the bane of being obsessed with writing - wanting everyone to be obsessed with writing. The control freak in me does not tolerate being subject to what I consider to be bad writing.
But I've been trying very hard not to give into said control freak. Yes, I will still occasionally complain on my LJ (under friends lock), but these days I limit any overwhelming need to complain to E-mail and a friend who is willing to listen, because I have anger issues and venting helps. If I don't vent, I'm left feeling ill and miserable all day. But I'm conditioning myself to absolutely refuse to vent in public.
It's very much a reader vs writer thing, I think. The writer in you who understands the need to be able to express yourself freely wants to say "Write whatever your heart desires." The obsessive reader in you who wants to be able to have the cake and eat it, too, wants to scream "No, no! You can't do that!" For myself, there are days when I totally sympathize with writers getting hounded by the "readers," and days I want to slap "writers" upside the head for reminding me that "people have the right to write whatever they want." Which they do, but the reader in me is selfish and irritable, and when really irritable doesn't care.
And it's hard, it really is, sometimes to separate yourself from the "reader."
Hope that made sense. I think I may have degenerated into rambling. It's something I'd been thinking about for a while, but thinking is one thing and putting it into words is always another.
no subject
But I've been trying very hard not to give into said control freak. Yes, I will still occasionally complain on my LJ (under friends lock), but these days I limit any overwhelming need to complain to E-mail and a friend who is willing to listen, because I have anger issues and venting helps. If I don't vent, I'm left feeling ill and miserable all day. But I'm conditioning myself to absolutely refuse to vent in public.
It's very much a reader vs writer thing, I think. The writer in you who understands the need to be able to express yourself freely wants to say "Write whatever your heart desires." The obsessive reader in you who wants to be able to have the cake and eat it, too, wants to scream "No, no! You can't do that!" For myself, there are days when I totally sympathize with writers getting hounded by the "readers," and days I want to slap "writers" upside the head for reminding me that "people have the right to write whatever they want." Which they do, but the reader in me is selfish and irritable, and when really irritable doesn't care.
And it's hard, it really is, sometimes to separate yourself from the "reader."
Hope that made sense. I think I may have degenerated into rambling. It's something I'd been thinking about for a while, but thinking is one thing and putting it into words is always another.