Re: [xmenmoviefanfic] What is a Mary Sue?
- Mary Sue is a blatant author surrogate. She's a character created to be
the love interest and often saves the day with her amazing abilities. The
most common Mary Sue is stunning, petite, strong, intelligent, witty,
sexy, and everybody loves her/wants her. There are subspecies of Mary Sue
as well, like the damsel in distress (who gets rescued by the hero), or
Mousy Sue (who can't believe the hero would fall for someone like her).
Now, some people like Mary Sue. Others don't. There's nothing wrong with
writing Mary Sue so long as you realize it and acknowledge it. Just
realize that the people who don't like Mary Sue generally have a very
*strong* dislike of Mary Sue.
If you want to avoid writing a Mary Sue, make sure your original female
character has normal human features, normal human flaws, and isn't just an
idealized extension of you. Don't have your male hero instantly fall for
her charms, or be obsessed with her, or what have you.
There's some more info on Mary Sue at "Bad Fanfic, No Biscuit" -
http://www.englishchick.com/badfic . If you want to read a parody of Mary
Sue, read my story "My Dark Lover."
layla@... / siubhan@... / http://www.siubhan.com
Gore: I'm my own man. I may not be the most exciting
politician, but I will fight for the working families of
America, in addition to turning the White House into a lusty
pit of marital love for Tipper and me. - Debate Transcript #3