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So You Want To/Avoid Writing a Mary Sue: Difference between revisions
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== The accidental Sue ==
First, we need to establish a distinction between an intentional [[Mary Sue]] and an accidental one. Characters like [[The Girl Who Lived|Rose Potter]] or [[My Inner Life|Jenna Silverblade]], for example, are very clearly [[Mary Sue|Mary Sues]], but that's what the author ''wants''. Oh, [[Most Fan Fic Writers Are Female|she]] doesn't want the criticism of the character being called a [[Mary Sue]], but it is clear that the author has deliberately written one. This guide is not intended to deal with that kind of [[Mary Sue]].
The second thing you need to understand is what a Mary Sue is. A Mary Sue is an audience reaction to a series of events that strongly suggests that the author herself is unduly favoring a character by changing other characters or the environment in inappropriate ways. When the audience calls "Mary Sue" on a character, the author has shattered their [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]]. There are a number of subjective points here, which naturally means that everyone's Mary Sue threshold is different. But it does suggest some places to look.
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* [[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]].
* [[Purple Prose|Overtly flowery descriptions]] of original characters. Most Mary Sue-based fanfiction is poorly written, and thus will contain lavish descriptions of original characters. Avoid doing this early on in a story.
=== Original fiction triggers ===
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