Avoiding Mary Sue

Have you met Mary Sue? Chances are, you've seen her multiple times in many stories and movies. While she may be a tried and true character trope, you'll find a lot of audiences aren't too keen on getting to know her again.

If you've not come across this character-type, Mary Sue is the perfect template the audience can project themselves onto. She's usually naturally powerful, though she isn't aware of it, so she's also boring and unassuming. I don't mind if you want to add her to your story, but I'd prefer to give you something different.

In my novel, Into the Other, the one character I want to stand out is Ralla. While her mother, Josie, and her choices propel you into the story, it's Ralla who's our heroine. She is flawed with no real confidence, much like a Mary Sue can start out as, and she has a strong determination to uncover the truth about herself. While she has book-smarts by way of being well read, she's still kept in the dark by Calder. Her identity and descriptions had to steer clear of cookie-cutter. She should be someone a reader looks up to, rather than someone they can step into. She's meant to be cheered on. As her confidence grows, so does her wit. A reader might want to be like her, rather than be her.

Meanwhile, Josie is the more flawed of the two. I'm expecting people to resent her as much as she does herself. But I'm hoping my villain, Calder, attracts the most disdain. In the first version of this story I wrote many years ago, Josie was originally portrayed as a much more cantankerous character, and I don't believe she was entirely likeable. I've tried to give her a more redemptive arc and make her more sympathetic this time around.

And while Seth might be churlish, he's still the most sympathetic of the three main characters. His thoughts and choices may paint him as someone almost as sinister as Calder, but he finds his own humanity from his ordeals. Seth isn't your standard geek, but he's very much a typical boy in a small town, bored and disillusioned with his own existence. He's full of suspicion toward Josie, close to learning truths that will upend his world. He's also into role-playing and dirt bikes, is incredibly resourceful and tries to put up with his lot in life without too much complaint. When he and Ralla finally cross paths, questions come up as to who they are to one another, and their relationship isn't a common boy meets girl scenario, either.

The original versions of these characters were vastly different in many ways. Josie is now less resentful and more guilty about the choices she's made, Ralla has more agency and cunning, and Seth has a more rounded and believable personality. Stereotypes can sometimes be useful in character building, but what I've learned from role-playing is that the more creative you are in your descriptions and backstory, the more compelling you are to the other players and the campaign, and you'll have a lot more fun. I've been told I write very human characters, and even in fantasy, characters should seem real and identifiable enough that you're willing to stick with them to the end.

Sometimes a writer may put more of themselves into their characters, or more of others. But if the characters are fleshed out into believable people, no matter what race or gender they are, and you are engaged by their actions, then the writer has made a solid, and hopefully more memorable, character.