NASHVILLEZINE

Okay, Nashvillezine, breathe! C’mon, baby, breathe! *gives CPR* A pulse! IT’S ALIVE!

Everything is going to be okay.

I’m going to start off by admitting three things: I am a recent transplant Nashvillian, I am a writer, and I am a nerd. I love computers, fantasy stories, can quote the Princess Bride (“Have fun storming the castle!”), love anime and Hayao Miyazaki (a Japanese animated filmmaker of epic proportions), and even shrieked with joy when the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was Rickrolled…and subsequently had to explain it to my parents.

If you didn’t understand one or more of the references above, hi, nice to meet you! There is a whole world of subculture that many people will only brush by in their lifetime, and I will be pausing to (hopefully) clue you in on things that won’t necessarily be common knowledge. But if I stopped to explain everything I mentioned above, it would take away from what I am actually here to talk about, which issss…..

Writing. Particularly of the fanfiction variety. This topic is one I’ve really wanted to talk about for a long time, and I won’t harp on it: I will simply state my opinion.

The Urbandictionary.com (often not work-safe) definition of “Mary Sue.” [Brackets are my add-ins.]

See Mary-Sue. A female fanfiction character who is so perfect as to be annoying. The male equivalent is the Marty-Stu [or Gary-Stu]. Often abbreviated to “Sue”. A Mary Sue character is usually written by a beginning author. Often, the Mary Sue is a self-insert with a few “improvements” (ex. better body, more popular, etc). The Mary Sue character is almost always beautiful, smart, etc… In short, she is the “perfect” girl. The Mary Sue usually falls in love with the author’s favorite character(s) and winds up upstaging all of the other characters in the book/series/universe.

Often, the Mary Sues do not see their good qualities and are always putting themselves down, so you have someone incredibly beautiful saying how ugly they are, and the constant whining and “woe is me”-ing can get old really fast.

All that being said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with writing a Mary Sue character in fanfiction (fiction written in some sort of context of your favorite, book, movie, TV show, etc.) Again, there is nothing wrong with this. At all. That is why people write fiction about their favorite fandoms (your favorite book, movie, TV show, etc): it’s fun! You enjoy it so much you want to be there, and everything that happens to you is totally over the top and complete wish fulfillment. Give your character green hair, purple eyes, spots, and let them ride around on a flying striped jaguar. YES! Do it! Don’t expect people to proclaim it as great literature, but that’s not the point anyway.

BUT. It’s when authors PUBLISH Mary-Sue stories that the criticism worms its way out. Notice I did not say, “WRITE Mary Sues,” but “PUBLISH Mary Sues.” Big difference. And Mary Sues in online fanfics bother me a lot less than Mary Sues that end up in books sitting on shelves, trying to get me to buy them…yeah.

And even then, I’m not a hard and fast critic: I like leaving wiggle room. I know as well as any other writer that every bit of an author’s work contains their essence in it. They can’t escape it. If you write what you know, you’re bound to include more of yourself in it than you realize! Plus, when creating a main character, it’s easier to write as a person who is most like you: their reactions to the plot will be more natural and honest than if you were to write from the point of view of someone with a totally opposite personality. (It can be done, but it’s hard.)

So you’re sort of walking a knife’s edge here. You can’t please everyone, so ultimately you have to please yourself…but even then, at least consider your audience. If an author resembles the main character too much, it can create sort of a disconnect–or maybe too much of a connect–to the point where the reader gets suspicious. This is why authors try to hide their morals, so readers won’t feel like they’re getting beaten over the head. With Mary Sues, people don’t want to read a story where the underlying message from the author seems to scream, “Love me!”

I know lots of people love Twilight, but this image is a great example.

See? It really degrades her credibility, and even though I don’t knock anyone for liking the Twilight series, as a writer, it just seems sloppy and, frankly, rather needy. People tend to get irritated when they realize they are reading someone else’s fantasy. It’s almost like it’s too  much information (TMI), and when you reveal it for the world to see, not everyone is going to share your opinion. People don’t want to know that much about people’s intimate fantasies, unless the writer has made these dreams integral with the characters and the story so you can read them seamlessly.

As with everything else in life, the gray areas are harder to navigate, and authors who are willing to put themselves out there really need to remember this.

It might sound like a snobby writer thing, and I’m going to apologize right now to all you beginning writers out there, but I’m just telling it like it is.

Besides, every writer is a bad writer at the beginning: it’s a jumping off point to get better.

And don’t let people’s criticism stop you if you have a story burning inside you. Even if it includes a character people dub as a Mary Sue. It seems that this has become a huge pride thing among some authors, where they like to look down on books where the main characters seem to mirror the writer too much. In fact, there has even been a backlash where some authors are afraid to make their main characters anything like themselves, for fear that they’ll be labeled as “Mary Sues.” I know I’ve subsequently looked down on and feared that, but all I can do is be as real as possible. Ultimately, it all comes down to opinion. Plus, not everyone has the same level of writing expertise either, but you can’t let that stop you. Don’t be afraid. Let your mind soar and enjoy the fantasy, but “Don’t throw your pearls before swine.” If you don’t want people to tear apart your baby, then only show it to people you trust.

If you’re worried you might have created a Mary Sue, you can run your character through a litmus test like this one, which is very helpful. And like Wikipedia says about these tests, in its very insightful angle on Mary Sues:

Most such tests include a disclaimer noting that even characters with extremely high scores can be executed well enough to yet still avoid being considered a “Mary Sue.” The test is primarily meant as a guide for better characterization.

So, in a nutshell, when introducing your lovingly-crafted Mary Sue to the public, especially the book-buying public, remember that good writing isn’t just a compulsion, it’s a practiced art.

But there is no such thing as a bad character or a bad story, just a lazy author.