Mary Sues: Bane of my existance

[bookworm51485]

I don't know what's going on but it seems like lately I've been bombarded with Mary Sues. Are they becoming more popular or is this just bad luck on my part? And then when you point it out, your a flamer. I actually read a story by an author recently who spent more time developing her blatantly Mary Sue original character (which she used in every story she wrote) than she did actually developing her story.

I've noticed more and more lately that any constructive criticism is brushed off as flaming. Not just criticism coming from myself but from anyone giving criticism. It's like it's getting to the point where if you find an author who can take and accept any criticism your lucky.

And I find that when I find these stories (and even other badly written stories whether they include Mary Sues or not) that I think back to things that I hear about fanfiction as a whole, or even certain 'genres' of fanfiction. I've heard so many people talk about fanfiction like it's a joke. 'Oh, I've read some fanfiction and the stories are just such crap.' And 'they're so badly written'. And it just frustrates me that there are such crappy stories out there with authors who aren't interested in hearing anything that could help them improve. I know a lot of people say that if you don't like it just move on, but it just bugs me that there are such badly written stories by authors who are content to keep their stories that way and that these stories are what a lot of people are basing their impressions of fanfiction as a whole on.

Any thoughts? Even if it's just that I'm taking it too seriously.

[Leonhart29]

I don't think you're taking it too seriously. I don't know about others, and I wouldn't speak for them, but I personally want constructive criticism. Now there is a difference between constructive criticism and just plain malice. The trick is to tell the difference and roll with the punches.

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

Honestly Bookie, depending on which categories you go in, Mary-Sues and generally horrible writing are prevalent while others have a higher rate of good stories, yet very few stories compared to other areas of the site. Take, for instance, Harry Potter. Back in the beginning of it's fame, there were better stories. Now, however, there are FAR more stories with horrible Mary-Sue characters and just bad writing in general.

Certain pairings within a particular fandom are very good bases for this as well. At the moment, there are an increase of Gaara/Naruto fics when only a year ago, there were very few. Now, while most of these fics are very good so far, I'm noticing more and more bad fics with used up plots and bad writing. This can only mean that soon, GaaNaru will soon go the way of the SasuNaru fandom and be chock full of atrocious, cliche abusing, grammar-less stories.

Face it, when a fandom gets popular, the fanfiction gets horrible. Why? Likely for the same reason that many "otaku" are so annoying. You get a little fangirl who decides she LOVES an anime. Then, she goes crising for fan sites and comes across fanfiction. Then, inspiration strikes.

This is likely how most fanfic writers start. However, for a good many of use, we develop our skills and become great writers, honing our creativity and relative talent. However, there's another group who wont listen to anyone and act like those 75 year old women you see on the train with far too much (badly applied) makeup on with a "I look good, and no one can tell me different" attitude, incapable of taking helpful advice as to how they may improve themselves.

EDIT: Now, to think of it, shouldn't this go in the "Writer's Corner"?

Edited April 6, 2007 by Alien Pirate Pixagi