Writing Tips

Mary Sues/Gary Stu

This is a major issue in our modern time, and extremely bad on Wattpad.

Mary Sues are an OP (Over Powered) character that's "perfect" and the world revolves around them and falls into disaster if Miss Sue is removed from it. They are also very common in FanFictions and will make the canon characters act out of character (Also known as OOC) and do things they'd never do in canon.

And for those of you who can't figure out what a Gary Stu is, it's just the male version of a Mary Sue. Pretty simple stuff.

Most Mary Sues are self-inserts where the author perfects themselves and writes them the way they wish they could be.

If you really want to know the difference between a normal character and a Mary Sue, then look at the photo I have provided. The girl on the left is a normal character of placed into a Neko story, she has a good bio that shows she's average but still has her individuality. The girl on the right is our beloved Mary Sue. See all the things she harbors? And look! Her father is Prince Vegeta and her mom is Queen Serenity! They're from two different shows and Vegeta only has a child with Bulma. This is a major flag for a Mary Sue. Know your canon people, especially when you do fan fiction crossovers.

Here are some tips on knowing not to make a Mary Sue:

1. Know the fandom/subject

Fan Fiction: 

People, please don't make a FanFiction when you've only seen two or three episodes or have read only one chapter. Watch/read the entire series first, and if you're too lazy for that, then do some research. We have internet, don't we?

Original:

Make sure to research what you're basing your story on. Is your story revolved around the character being a doctor? Then do research on medicines and other common sense a doctor would need to know. Maybe you're writing a fantasy, that's where you can mess around a bit and create your own world boundaries, but don't make everyone OP.

2. Don't make them related to a canon character

FF:

It's okay for maybe characters with vague pasts, but characters like Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, other major HP characters, Tris Prior, Katniss Everdeen, and others should not have a sibling that just randomly pops up out of nowhere when the canon character never mentioned them in the books or movies.

Now, if you're relating them to a character like Percy Jackson, Annabeth, etc, then it seems easier to believe that they are half-siblings since they share the same mythological parent. But do not make them a full sibling with sharing the same mortal parent! MS flag if so!

Original:

Now, your characters are the canons here, so the rule is more of a historical one if you're writing a historical book or maybe writing a mythological one. Make sure that you're aware this is the same type of rule. No making a character a descendant of Edgar Allan Poe, President George Washington, etc. (those who never had blood-related children), it's just not appropriate since they never had them. There's also the simple rule that you shouldn't make them related to a historical figure as well, nor should they be the parent to that figure either.

3. Don't make canon characters revolve and obsess over your OC.

FF:

Make your character a small part, they weren't in the movie/book were they? You need to make it seem like your character wasn't even existent in the series, sure, they could be that one kid in the group running away from the dragon or whatever happens in the story.