The Mary Sue: How Not to Create a Character When Writing Fiction

Not many people in the wide world know what a Mary Sue (or her male counterpart, Gary Stu) is, or why she inspires such fear in those who do know of her. Originally, the term 'Mary Sue' was used on fanfiction sites - that is, sites dedicated to stories about established worlds and characters. Here people could write out new adventures for their favorite characters from television, novels, movies, and more. (See www.fanfiction.net, for example.) Many of these writers would create OCs - Original Characters - to go along with the established characters. Many of the OCs were fanciful representations of the author's own character. The problem arose when people would make their characters too perfect and too unique to be real.

In short, a Mary Sue is an OC gone terribly, terribly wrong.

She has perfect hair, long and flowing, and gorgeous gem-colored eyes, with pale skin and the body of a dancer... or maybe she has short hair streaked with bright colors and eyes slanted like a cat. She is the bravest, the smartest, and the most popular girl around, or else she is so horribly sad and alone that no one can resist rushing to her aid. She knows just what to say to make things turn out right, she knows the answer to every problem, and she has all of the guys falling at her feet, eager to prove their undying devotion. She also has a frightening tendency toward special skills or powers that set her apart from everyone else.

The Mary Sue is perfect... in a perfectly terrifying way.

And to make matters worse, she's begun worming her way into mainstream novels and media as well. Far too many writers and directors have attempted to create the fabled 'strong female lead' and instead turned out yet another too-strong, too-smart, too-perfect Sue to add to the infestation.

In order for a character to be a well-written character, he or she must have flaws. All humans are flawed - we are greedy, cruel, stubborn, lazy, stupid, or all of the above! While we might dream of being perfect, we are all a long, long way from truly achieving it. To make a character with which people can empathize, one must make the character human and therefore flawed.

A large problem with the Mary Sue comes from character growth. One of the things that makes a story mesmerizing is watching the characters grow and overcome their flaws and weaknesses. So, if a character has no flaws, what can she possibly grow to become? She will remain the same character the whole way through, and at the end of the story, what was the point?

Make your character brave. Give her that long, flowing hair. However, make her vain or lazy. Does she speak with animals? Don't make it an exclusive skill; who else in your world is able to do the same thing? Make her athletic, but give her big feet or acne. Give her fears and regrets and flaws. Make her human, and then watch her grow.