What I'm about to talk about is something that I will go to any length to avoid as a writer:
The infamous mary-sue character.
When I create a character I usually spend a very long time making them the way I want them to be. I use a 3 page word document full of things that I need to know about my character, which I will post at the end. After filling out she document as extensively as possible I use this link to make sure my character hasn't become a mary-sue: http://www.katfeete.net/writing/marysue.html
I love making characters that I will never end up using just so that I can have some characters thought up... just in case.
I really can't stand characters that are 'perfect' I just want to yell at the book/screen (depending on what I'm reading) about how this character ia really boring.
Lets have an example (with some equally bad writing)
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Aaliyah jumped as her alarm clock went off, she realised she'd set it an hour late and ran around in a panic, getting ready for school. She threw on a pair of black boots, a mini skirt, fishnet tights, black tank top and leather jacket. She admired herself in the mirror, she had flowing black hair and piercing blue eyes. She had a tribal marking on the left side of her face from when she was young. She had been marked by her hippy parents as special, an hour before they were killed. She walked out of the door and into her mortal enemy, James.
"Ugh... what are you doing here?" she sneered, glaring at him.
"Just admiring this fine girl here" he smirked, closing the distance between them.
"You're a jerk!" she yelled, pushing him backwards and running away...
*3 hours later*
"I forgive you for what you said earlier, I realise that it's due to a tragic accident in your past" said James, smiling.
"It's ok James, I'm sooo sorry! Let me make it up to you?" she smiled.
"Come over to my house tonight and we'll see what we can do" he grinned
*later that night*
Aaliyah sauntered over to James and kissed him, smiling at him. He pushed her back on to the bed, where she stayed for the night....
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There it is, the worst story extract I could think of. Unusual name, Special marking, leather, thinks she's cool, no parents etc.
I HATE characters like this...
So, this chapter is over now! If you don't want to see the character sheet you can stop reading now!
Basic Statistics
Name:
Age:
Nationality:
Socioeconomic Level as a child:
Socioeconomic Level as an adult:
Hometown:
Current Residence:
Occupation:
IncomeTalents/Skills:
Salary:
Birth date:
Siblings (describe relationship):
