Wattpad 101: Your guide to the world of Wattpad

The Mary Sue and Female Inconsistency Syndrome

This chapter is dedicated to a very specific type of character which we all lovingly know as the Mary Sue. Maybe you've heard of her, maybe people have accused your character of being a Mary Sue. Maybe you had no clue what that meant. This chapter is here to fill you in on two of the most common characters I see on wattpad. One is the Mary Sue, the second is what happens when someone's desperately trying to make their character NOT a Mary Sue.  

So what exactly is a Mary Sue? It's a type of character that people insert into a story. She's an idealized character who functions as the protagonist. The Mary Sue is the female romance equivalent of "the chosen one" that you've probably heard of in all those fantasy novels. She has a perfect life, with a perfect job. Whenever she attempts to do anything within the novel, people are quick to remind her how amazing she is, and how when she does it it's so much better than when they did it their first time.  

Mary Sues are inherently perfect. This doesn't mean she can't have flaws, but either those flaws are completely ignored by everyone or only function to make her more likable/charming. Of course, not everyone will love her. There will always be that one girl, her enemy, who just won't see how wonderfully wonderful she is. Every single guy in the story will either have a crush on her, or treat her like a little sister to their big brother. If this character is starting to sound familiar, it's because you've seen it before. Bella from Twilight is most definitely a Mary Sue. So was Rose from Titanic.  

She is otherworldly beautiful, but otherwise doesn't realize it unless pointed out by the male lead. She'll often have a large quantity of money, or if not, then will come into a large quantity of money from the male lead. She may also just have a wealthy best friend instead. Most Mary Sues seemed to be accompanied by a dedicated friend, who loves to throw parties and "force" the Mary Sue to act like a lady in her stead. It's not required for the Mary Sue, but her internal monologue can sometimes be deprecating to everyone around her. In these cases, the Mary Sue will spend time thinking about how annoying her friends are, will slutshame any girls interested in her love interest, and will find herself quite territorial with everyone.  

This doesn't mean the Mary Sue can't kick arse, or have mood swings, or be an interesting character. However, just like the perfect blond blue eyed hero with no faults, the Mary Sue can become very predictable and very bland. How can you sympathize when the story calls for it (let's say her bf just left her), if she has such a perfectly perfect life? You find yourself rolling your eyes and wincing at how entitled and whiny she's being. How can you care when she succeeds, when that success took no effort and accounts to someone with everything being handed a little more?  

That leads to the second part of this chapter. Many people know about the Mary Sue character, and some people are desperate to not end up with one in their story. As a result, they try to make their character dark or edgy. What they end up with is a little condition I like to call the 'female inconsistency syndrome.' Although, in truth, 'Female inconsistency syndrome' (FIS) doesn't always spawn from trying to prevent a Mary Sue. I've also noticed it often shows up when young female authors try to write mature female characters. It's also most prevalent when they try to make a woman dark, dangerous, or evil (ie, the anti-Mary Sue) although I've seen the syndrome affect mother figures as well.  

So what is FIS? The symptoms are usually an incredibly inconsistent character. One might even call that character bipolar, because their actions are less like a real person and more like a cartoon. They jump around, performing sometimes ludicrous and dangerous actions. When someone makes them angry, they don't snap at someone, they leap at them like an animal or slap them across the face.  

A lot of FIS strange inconsistencies come from awkward dialogue. A FIS character will be dark and brooding, but suddenly find themselves in fits of hysterical laughter at jokes that weren't even funny. They'll snap, attack, or throw venom at their love interests in ways where there could be no question that they hate them, only to suddenly show a softer side full of concern and care, usually after they themselves have hurt their companion.  

A FIS character will attack you for making a single comment they don't like, then move to crying, then laughter, then admiration. You never know where a FIS character stands at any second. And these mood swings don't occur over the course of chapters, they occur over the course of sentences. Yes, these females are so inconsistent, they go from manic raging, to straight out violently attacking people, to laughing, without any real rhyme or reason.  

The logic seems to go that since a Mary Sue is a predictable sweet girl, that if you can create a character that is unpredictable and frequently rude to the male lead, this will create a well layered and interesting character that isn't a Mary Sue. Sadly, this doesn't happen, and more often than not, you end up with a character that is both a Mary Sue and a FIS, since even her manic craziness gets ignored because she's just so darn special. 

So why does this happen in writing so often? The easiest answer is simply weak writing. Limited vocabulary mixed with a strong desire to show your character isn't a Mary Sue or some two dimensional construct by giving them an emotion tied to every action or dialogue. However, this just makes a mess of a character.  

The other reason I think FIS happens is as a result of trying to create a mature character when you're not grown up yourself. Thus, you try to emulate responses that you've only seen. This is why mom character's act angry all the time for reasons that don't really make sense and "adult" characters will fly into temper tantrums or pouting.  

Strangely enough, this syndrome never seems to affect guys. They are rarely inconsistent or nonsensical when people write them. That's not to say the guys make sense within their own narrative or act like they should, but they aren't manic and bipolar about it... usually. It almost makes me want to write a joke about women being confusing and guys only thinking about one thing, but I'll resist the urge.  

So I guess, if you're looking to avoid creating a Mary Sue, don't over compensate and end up with a FIS character. While a Mary Sue can be frustrating to read, even annoying when you get down to it, a FIS character can almost break a story. So, like the 'clichés are not bad' chapter preceding this one, you need to understand when things go too far and think about how you're going to prevent it from happening. Good Luck, and Happy Writing!