How Not to Write a Book: “I have four really amazing guys who all like me, but I’m not that special.”

Not an expert talking. Just a rambler.

Ah, the bane of every writer. Mary-Sues. Or, in my case, the male counterpart, Gary-Stus. So, if you don’t know what a Mary-Sue is, let’s copy-paste a description off TVTropes.com: “She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing… In other words, the term "Mary Sue" is generally slapped on a character who is important in the story, possesses unusual physical traits, and has an irrelevantly over-skilled or over-idealized nature.”

(I almost lost myself in there. That site is addictive.)

So she’s the vision of perfection. You’d probably think these characters would be easy to spot. They’re not. They’re easy to spot if you’re an objective reader, but it’s damn hard to realize it of your own character.

I actually didn’t realize I had Mary-Sues and Gary-Stus (oh, the fuck, I’ll just keep calling them Sues, applicable to both male and female) until I took the Mary-Sue litmus test. I recommend it. Or, you can just read through my post. I recommend that more.

Let’s take Character A. Character A’s not that great, I mean, he has flaws– he’s cold and cruel, he can’t love anyone, and he has no problem manipulating and controlling people. Now, just try and look closely– do you really think those are flaws? How many can you look at and actually frown? Do you not secretly believe those are all really cool attributes?

You might want to try writing down each specific trait of your characters. Don’t bother separating the traits into good or bad, just write them down. Sues will usually have an unbelievably long line of good qualities, usually about how gorgeous or smart the character is.

Sues are usually characters we’d secretly like to be. For female authors, this usually means their Sue is strong and independent, sexy and alluring to men. Female authors are usually the culprits of Gary-Stus (like… me). These are male characters we’d love to date. They’re very good-looking (obviously!), intelligent and strong, with an inner romantic side. Male authors also create Mary-Sues quite frequently, though I’ve hardly come across Gary-Stus created by men. Unless they’ve been created specifically to appeal to female audiences.

Ah, fuck it. Just go to the Mary-Sue Litmus Test, because I couldn’t even recognize my own Sues without it.

Identified your Sue? Okay. Now it’s time to fix your Sue. And believe me, all Sues need to be fixed. Well, unless they’re background characters, and don’t have much screen-time. If not, time to fix.

One of the Sues I’d discovered was Rinna, younger sister to Ruki, who I mentioned last How Not to Write a Book post. She got the most points in the test, even more than Ruki (who I suspected might be a Gary Stu right from the beginning, but refused to admit it). Mainly because she falls in category A of Sues– she’s the one I’d love to be. She’s the most beautiful woman, with long, shiny black hair and purple eyes. She’s pretty enough to be considered flawless by Shay, who’s unbelievably picky and has really sharp eyes. She’s intelligent, and rich, and she’s good with swords and herbs, as she and her brother are deadly assassins– the best in the land. She’s sickeningly good, but as most of the Mary-Sues I’d encountered before were usually the strong, tomboyish type, I really didn’t think Rinna was one.

You can just decide right then which qualities you’d like to change or dump. After failing the Litmus Test miserably, I decided right then to scrap Rinna’s skill with sword. I then looked at her ‘flaws’– the nice traits about her that I’d tried to hide as flaws. Okay, so she’s supposed to be really close to her brother, and be close to no-one else. How about making her really dependent on her brother? Not just jealous for her brother’s affection or anything like that, but really dependent? Unable to properly function without his orders.

If you’re writing a Sue that you’d like to be, you should consider writing in your own flaws. You should be able to name at least three right off the bat. Prideful, lazy, bitchy… those would be my three big ones. If you can’t name even one without thinking hard about it, then doom on you. Doom on you! 

I can’t write more on this subject just yet, since I’m still struggling with it myself. If you have any tips, then please leave a comment. Thank you!