How to Avoid Creating a Mary Sue

A Mary Sue (often called a Gary Stu or Marty Stu) is an author-insert character used for wish-fulfillment and/or a character who has no meaningful flaws but is idealized.

They are often portrayed as being very competent in many areas, and may be physically attractive, but they usually have no personality. The problem with this is that it can make them seem like they have no life or personality at all, which can lead to a lack of depth in the character.

The Mary Sue is a derogatory term that is used to label author-insert characters, especially females. The term is primarily applied to characters in fanfiction, but it can also be used to describe original fiction written for other reasons. The term can be very derogatory, and a Mary Sue can be a waste of time for writers and readers alike.

In the past, authors would create “Mary Sue tests” to determine whether their character was a Mary Sue or not. These tests were meant to help writers improve their work, but they weren’t perfect. They tended to only look at certain traits, but the reality is that whether or not a character is a Mary Sue is largely determined by context and framing.

If you want to avoid creating a Mary Sue, try to make your character’s personality more defined. For example, if you’re writing a romance novel, try to give your main character at least two love interests that they’re compatible with. This will keep your story from becoming a one-sided affair.

Another thing to consider when creating your character is to be sure that they have a backstory. This will help you determine if they have a personality or not and will help you decide how you want your character to be. If you want your character to be very socially awkward, you’ll need to give them a background that will make sense for that.

You can also make your character more relatable by giving them a backstory that will help the reader relate to their character. For example, if your character has a tragic past, you can use this to show the reader that they’re going through a lot.

Finally, you can also give your character some defining characteristics that will make them more interesting to the reader. For example, if your character is a girl, you can give them a unique appearance or something that sets them apart from other characters.

A third trope of a Mary Sue is that they seem to be able to do everything in the world. This is a very common way of creating a Mary Sue, but it can be avoided by making sure that your character has some defining characteristics to them. For example, if your character is an art student, you can give them some artistic talents that will help them stand out from the crowd.

Aside from these four points, there are other ways you can avoid creating a Mary Sue. For example, if your character is very shy and reclusive, you can make them seem more social by giving them some defining characteristics that will make them stand out from the crowd.