Here's another question:
Now that we've talked about our pet peeves etc..
What do you think you do that can be a peeve for some when it comes to your writing? Is there something that you get called out a lot on? And do you tend to agree with them or disagree?
I guess I kind of just answered that in my reply to Steph's post, but for people who prefer more subtle, vague, open-ended stories, my stories are probably too detailed and tend to wrap up in big shiny bows, even if the endings aren't always happy. The long ones, anyway. I'm more willing to leave things open-ended in a short story, although even that is tough for me. Some of the stories I've done for monthly challenges here, like Hybrid and Watch Me as I Bleed, I left open-ended, but it was hard because I had this whole back story in my head that I wasn't sure people would get if I didn't explain it. But I do think they were better left open-ended.
With the super long ones, though, I feel almost a responsibility to both my readers and my characters to resolve the story and give it an ending that's worth all the time the readers invested in reading it and all the shit I put my characters through to get to that point LOL. That's my preference as a reader, too, though; I love long stories that take me on a journey and leave me feeling satisfied at the end. If Harry Potter had ended at the moment when Voldemort Avada Kedavras him in the woods and left it up to my interpretation as to what happened, I would flipped out!!! I like resolution.
I'm sure the fact that I write long stories is annoying to people who don't like to read long stories LOL. I know I'm wordy, but when I compare my writing now to my writing ten years ago, I much prefer my writing now, so I make no apologies for writing in detail. 817,774 word BMS did teach me to stick to one storyline, or at least parallel storylines that go together, instead of veering off on every subplot that comes into my head LOL.
A lot of my stories include female characters and romantic subplots, which I know is a turn-off for some people (Mare). And I make banners for all my novels, which is also a pet peeve for some (Mare). LOL So I know what I do that annoys Mare! I'm not sure about other people's pet peeves, but feel free to let me know! LOL
I just write what I like, and if I can go back after the fact and reread one of my stories and feel proud of it instead of embarrassed, then I'll stand by what I've written, even if it doesn't appeal to everyone. I'm not going for universal approval; I don't even think that's possible!