Original Characters and Mary Sues

[featherxquill]

God, posts like this one piss me off. I mean LOOK at that list. Is there anything interesting an original character IS allowed to be or do without being a Mary Sue?

It might interest some people to know that there are people in the world who are attractive, and have relationships with interesting people. There are people in the world who have this and also have power and charisma. There are people in the world who have overcome unhappy pasts to live functioning, happy lives. Interesting, though. Even in the real world they are the ones most often hated by others simply for being the ones to succeed.

Is it just me, or are there others in the world who are also disgruntled by the dismissal of all fandom OC's as Marys and Garys, simply because a writer had the originality to develop a character of her own.

Comments

[princesslucia.livejournal.com]

>waves hand< Me disgruntled!

[galaxianomiko.livejournal.com]

*raises hand*

So tired of the Mary Sue lists, mostly because everyone forgets to add that pretty much all of the things on the list can be done WELL--in which case there is no Sue (or at least less of one).

[elysianmusings.livejournal.com]

Everything is a Mary or Gary to these people. What's really funny, is that most canon characters fall under the category of 'Sues' based on their criteron. Heh.

What they tend to forget, is that readers don't want to read about an ugly average person with nothing special about them who really has nothing to do whatsoever with the main characters.

I guess I define a Sue as any characters that is 'perfect.' No flaws in character or appearance. There must be some tragic flaw or quality to the character. That and naming a character after yourself is generally bad form.

I've been chastised for my current characters not having much for flaws in Daughter of War, but as I explained to the insipid suggestor of such comments - I'm writing about gods in Greek Mythology. Some of them gave the impression of perfection, and had they bothered to read the actual story they would find that she does indeed have flaws... much like the rest of her family.

[nema-rasa.livejournal.com]

In their defense, most litmus tests of this variety work on a cumulative principle. One or two features alone do not a Mary Sue make.

Chances are, if you're a writer who's capable of writing an original and well developed character of her own, then she'll read through the list with a healthy sense of irony and add corralaries in her mind because she knows the hows and whys of her own creation.

For fanfic writers just starting out, I think they can learn from taking a Sue litmus now and again. The authoritative tone of them grates if you already know yourself what it is you're doing, but for a new writer some of those points might be a real eye-opener.

The term 'Sue' may be flung around too indiscriminately at times, but it is true that the vast vast majority of original characters are badly written. (Of course, that goes along with the fact that the vast majority of fanfiction is badly written, I suppose.)

You've got to be so much more careful with an OC in FF than in original fiction, because the readers' symapthies are already engaged with the canon characters. Most are going to be hostile to any character, even a relatively well-formed one, who upstages them.

It's very hard work to integrate an OC into a story without jarring your readers - like a sleight of hand in a magic trice. Litmus tests like the one you linked to are a very crude way of keeping OCs in check and of little use once you get past the blatant Sue stage, but I honestly do think it's important to be constantly aware of how your character is meshing with the 'stars' of the fandom. A Sue is very very easy to write, an good OC very very difficult.

[nema-rasa.livejournal.com]

My apolgies for the pronoun abuse in the first paragraph and the use of 'trice' for trick.

I was either being terribly post-modern, or I pushed 'post' when I meant to push 'preview'.

[beatricepeabody.livejournal.com]

I'm just kind of angry that a name my parents gave me (Kathryn) is considered strange, unusual and cause for a Mary Sue example. Last I checked that was actually the English spelling.

Anyway.... It is people like these as much as the horrid writers who have driven me from fanfics and given me some incentive to work on my original stories.

[sir-broodalot.livejournal.com]

In my eyes a Mary-Sue is perfect to the point of boring; no matter, she is still a central character for god knows what reason.

I agree with you whole-heartedly.

[corvus-coronis.livejournal.com]

I'm betaing for an SS/OFC, mature writer, quite good style, her first fanfic. Her character is a sue by no means, but I know I'm going to have to prepare her for the shite she's likely to get, without putting her off in the process.

(ps - notice in the link someone suggested she post her litmus test to ff.net - posting a 'non-story' like that is likely to get the post removed & a cumulative strike added against her account, along with a period of upload restrictions ... I know, since it happened to me when I posted a parody in script format. Wonder if I should warn her ... or be mean & just sit back)