Character Development-- The Yeses and Nos

2: Mary Sues

Mary Sue, defined by Google:

   "A Mary Sue is an idealized and seemingly perfect fictional character, a young or low-rank person who saves the day through unrealistic abilities. Often this character is recognized as an author insert or wish-fulfillment."

However, it could also be defined as a character whose world revolves around them. In this sense, Mary Sues can both be overly perfect or overly flawed characters, and any where in between.

A Gary Stew is the same as a Mary Sue, but male. For simplicity's sake I will merely say Mary Sue.

These are not good. The most common examples are perfect in every sense, and in the rare occurrence where there is a flaw, it is simply that they are clumsy. At this point, being clumsy isn't even a flaw!

So, how can you avoid it? The best way that I've found is to ask yourself "What are their flaws?" and make a list. Another way is to make the flaws the first part of their personality when creating them. This comes as the first step- creating a well rounded character with a near balance of flaws and positive traits.

For example, J.K. Rowling's Hermione Granger is at first thought of as a Mary Sue. She's smart, brave, and has excellent magical abilities. But then you think, and she's seen as a know-it-all and has to study around the clock to ensure she is the top of her class. Additionally, she has other, less obvious flaws.

The next bit is the hard bit- making sure the world doesn't revolve around them.

Yes, they are most likely the main character of whatever work they are starring in. Yes, the plot, in all cases that have occurred to me, will revolve almost mainly around the main character. However, this is different than the world or universe of the book revolving around the character.

Are there characters whose existence have little to no affect on the character?

For example, look for named background characters. Perhaps they are mentioned in passing by a supporting character. Look for mentioned drama of references to others' lives or characters who really have nothing to do with the plot.

For an example (again, Harry Potter related) you can look simply to Lavender Brown. Lavender Brown is a background character. She is mentioned throughout the books, but the most important she is to the plot is helping develop Ron and Hermione's side love plot.

Another example could be almost any teacher in Harry Potter, such as McGonagall. She is an important character, mentioned frequently. However, she is more of a supporting cast character. She supports the main characters, however her life does not revolve around the main trio. She has interactions where she confronts, helps, comforts, or has other such interactions with characters of lesser importance to the plot. Her life does not revolve around Harry and his friends.