Maybe you've spent all night working on a story, just to find out "your characters need some more flaws". Or even that "I couldn't identify with your character".
This is both puzzling and troubling news. How does one go about putting in flaws? Or making characters more identifiable? Because, come on, that fight scene in which your main character slaughtered sixty ninja assassins all at the same time was pretty sweet.
And he's got great hair, too. And a hot college girlfriend. Not to mention that he volunteers for the humane society in his spare time, because the pain of the animals just speaks to him.
Who wouldn't love his heartfelt poetry, that reveals the lake of sadness and despair in the pit of his soul?
*raises hand* Sorry, bud. I wouldn't.
Perhaps your character isn't quite this exaggerated, but you still need some way of making sense of this Flaw Business. And even if you just want an extra boost in this Hell pit we call character development, you'll want to know what a Mary Sue is, why they are horribly wrong, and what you can do to prevent further Sewage.
First, a definition:
MARY SUE/GARY STU: According to PotterSues, this is a character that's "beautiful, powerful, has a perfect personality, falls in love with the author's favorite character, and generally pisses the reader off."
Basically, it's the perfect girl you hated in school, or the reason you refuse to watch Disney Channel movies. This is the character that never seems to have anything wrong with them and is terribly beautiful.
If you want some examples, pottersues.livejournal.com is absolutely amazing. I'm kind of addicted to it, personally- but it limits itself to Sues in the Harry Potter fandom.
How do you know if your character is a Mary Sue if it's original fiction?
This my favorite Sewage test. Just click the pretty boxes and click 'submit' and you it'll give you a score and an explanation.
The test isn't exactly infallible, but it's a good measure of your Sue potential. You might be wondering- why does this make my character a Mary Sue? Why can't I have an angsty past AND a beautiful character?
Will anyone want to read my work if I don’t have these things?
Answer is: everyone.
A DISSECTION OF THE MARY SUE LITMUS TEST
NAMES: Many of these things are self-explanatory. No reader is going to want to read a story about a character's name they can't pronounce, and I have personally read eight million stories (for reals) that include characters with the names Hunter or Raven.
Additionally, naming a character after yourself is just plain weird. If you don't have a problem, there's something wrong with you. What's more, it'll hinder your ability to make an original character, because there's a lot of power invested in names. Names come with a pre-disposed feeling that you can't quite shake, no matter what you do. If you have a character with your name, they're probably going to end up a glamorous, fictitious you.
APPEARANCE: Having an incredibly beautiful character is one of the worst things you can do- especially if you describe their beauty. Why? Everyone has different views of beauty, and you lauding what someone else thinks ugly just gets to be hollow and annoying.
Additionally, incredibly beautiful people do not occur often in nature. Especially if you are writing about a character who lives in a place with a lot of racial diversity- the gene pool is wider, with trillions more possibilities for the eyes that aren't quite the right distance apart, for hair that gets frizzy when it rains.
And when you have an incredibly beautiful character to deal with, other people are going to have to deal with him or her, too. Other characters, that is- people who could potentially fall in love with them. Falling in love is one of the hardest things writers have to deal with, because everyone views this differently. Many a Sue has developed Multiple Boyfriend Syndrome, in which they angst about which boy/girl they should choose because everyone seems to like them.
You've probably been to high school. And what's more, I bet you didn't have this problem. I don't. I'm a lonesome nerd. Most people are.
Love makes people act irrationally, and your characters are probably irrational enough as it is. You don’t want added distractions.
CLICHÉ-DOM: There are oodles of cliches contained within the Litmus test. To name a few:
Genius Syndrome: The character just seems to intuitively know things and is additionally incredibly smart. Bonus points if they're lonely or angsty!
Mulan Syndrome: Member of an oppressed group (women, racial minority) makes a positive contribution to society and proves that their group can do everything just as well as white men can. Bonus points if they're raped or abused by a man or member of an opposing group!
Angst Syndrome: Your character has had a lot of literary crap thrown his way- and the best way to deal with this is to slit his wrists. Bonus points if there's attempted suicide!
Damsel in Distress Syndrome: Whew, what an awful childhood. Your character was locked away in a tower and forced to eat rats whilst being beaten and sexually abused. Bonus points if it's incest! Double bonus points if they have amnesia, and then flashback to their childhood in moments of introspection!
Superhero Syndrome: Your character is just cool. They speak Polish, Urdu, Russian, and Afrikaans, not to mention they play the flute with the best of 'em and serenade their love interest with opera music. And of course, there's the computer hacking, and the telekinesis, and all of their assorted interests. Bonus points if they're a secret agent!
Why are all of these things bad? I personally don't know anyone who fits into any of these categories. You might, but I represent a majority of the population. And just because you do doesn't mean you have to impose your view on the rest of us.
It's America, darling, Majority rules.
They key to avoiding Mary Sewage is to write for readers. This is kind of counterintuitive, because a lot of people write for themselves, but if you're writing to post on YWS, you're going to have to think about your readers. Who are they likely to be? What will they like? What will they despise?
One of the difficult things about fiction writing is that you have to have your readers care about your characters, but you can't overdo things. How does one keep a balance?
- EVERY ACTION HAS A CONSEQUENCE. The main problem with your dangerously sexy Mary Sue is that their dangerously sexy actions have repercussions, which you probably didn't bother to describe. Does your character drown their Sue Angst in alcohol? Cirrhosis is fun.
One of my most difficult Sue Tendencies to deal with is a character I've got who's incredibly beautiful. Ethereally beautiful. Problem? He's gullible, and this beauty attracts the wrong kind of attraction- Stepmother Attraction. Hoo-rah, conflict appears! I had to tweak his character, though, to avoid Sewage. If he were beautiful and smart, he wouldn't do such a thing and there wouldn't be any consequence. And when he does have a little more fun with his stepmother than he should, there's amazing, snowballing consequences that pretty much ruin his life.
- REALITY CHECK. Could this happen in real life? If not, don’t write it. There are special exceptions for fantasy, of course, and then it's up to you to figure out whether or not it counts as Sewage in your universe.
- EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING. Everybody has had something good happen to him. If everything goes wrong, you end up with a buttmonkey. Buttmonkeys are incredibly annoying, unless you do them right. Best thing to do? Ensure that your character leads a balanced life.
___
As with most things in writing, Mary Sues are easier to avoid with another pair of eyes. Find someone knowledgeable whom you can ask if you character has too many Sue-like tendencies- if worst comes to worst, you'll be glad you did.
She might not be one, but just so you know.
I'll be sure and check them out... What's fun is when you deliberately set out to make a Sue and then you feel really smug when you're score is uber-high. I do, anyway.
Gender:
Points: 6090
Reviews: 1258