So You Want To/Avoid Writing a Mary Sue: Difference between revisions

* '''The Big One:''' lot of examples on this page can be summed up as ''your character must fit within the established world''. Don't create a special character to your personal liking and just plunk her inside a story; you must cultivate her out of the world you're writing. When you start creating a character, instead of thinking, "What would be a cool character?" you should ask yourself, "What would be a plausible character already living in this world, and how can I make her interesting and exciting to read about?"

* Entitlements. If your original character starts getting things, whether actual possessions or simply respect, from actual canon characters too soon after his or her introduction, this will have readers leaving in droves. Even if there is some explanation. Avoid this until some level of trust is formed (ie: keep it out of the early chapters).

* [[Remember the New Guy?|Backstorying in an original character]]. This is always suspicious to the cynical fanfic reader. ''Especially'' if it is a romantic relationship. Speaking of which:

* Romancing canon characters. If the story is all about an original character romancing a canon character, people are generally going to call Mary Sue on that. And those who don't certainly will if a canon relationship is broken up to do it. If any romance is going to take place, it needs to be relevant to the overall plot and contribute to character development, and it can't [[Romantic Plot Tumor|overwhelm the rest of the narrative]].

* Redeeming the villain is not out of the question, but don't use [[Easy Evangelism]] or [[Redemption Equals Sex]]. Try to keep it within how it would fit in the story. Perhaps your character just incidentally, or accidentally, does the things that could help the villain when the other characters didn't in the canon story. Perhaps your character sees some good in the villain and makes it a mission to save him or her. Your character's arc could revolve around this idea, but make sure the villain's portrayal has grounding in the canon...and that a canon character didn't already do it. [[Star Wars|Luke saved Vader]]; your character doesn't need to do it again.

* A [[Princess]], or other kind of royalty, could work as an Original Character so long as such a position fits in the setting.

** Similarly, if the other characters master an ability said to be very rarely mastered, don't let ''your'' character have this ability. Just... don't. It's easier that way.

*** And if she is ''trying'' to learn it, do ''not'' give her instant success. Rather, you may wish to show minimal success. Summoning, for example: let her pull an obedient canary out of thin air instead of some [[Crazy Awesome]] monster. Something like this can make for a good [[Chekhov's Gun]] later down the road. For example: Character is in a prison cell, the keys are in another room, she can just send the bird after them (but for your character's sake, do not abuse it and have this happen on the very next page). BUT, give her more failures then anything else (canary comes out with razor sharp talons, three heads, and a thirst for human blood) to show that she is far from perfectly skilled at it. You want her to master it? Save it for the sequel, if you get that far.