Mary Sues

To the Mods: I don't think these topics are innaproppriate as we are discussing the fanfiction elements, but if they are offensive to you I understand (somewhat) if you remove them. I just want to discuss these elements with my fellow writers.

I'm posting these sort of topics to get authors talking not solely about their stories, but the elements inside and behind their stories as well. Plus, they are helpful to the novice writers who are unsure of how to go about writing a fanfiction.

Mary Sue.

By definition a perfect OC character. She has perfect hair, perfect teeth, a beautiful singing voice, no bad qualities, abnormal powers, long lost relative of lead character, and/or has the lead man fall in love with her quicker than popped popcorn. They are portrayed as unrealistic people and are flawless in every way possible.

In turn, awful reading for the reader.

Given, there are real life Mary Sues (I was one in high school) but real people still manage to have flaws that are not normally portrayed in fiction written by us. We've all probably written one of them in our time and we have certainly read them.

I cannot stand to read Mary Sues anymore. I read them for awhile (And wrote one or two in my other genre) but they get so annoying so fast! I mean, what fun is it to have the answer to everything, perfect as all get out and is a key ingredient in the Horrible and Dreaded INSTA-LOVE!. They are a normal starting point for green romance writers who don't know any better, but if an author spits out story after story of that girl who just so happens to one day meet Billie Joe, have him fall in love with her, (blonde hair streaked with pink and perfect Hot Topic attire and all) leaves Adrienne and starts a new life with her in Sweden where she is queen and the smartest brain surgeon in the world, something is wrong. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!!!

So, what are your opinions on Mary Sues, also known as Mary Stus for perfect men (Which some of us portray the Green Day guys as and which is no fun at all.)

Mary Stus...

That's only funny cos I know someone named Stu but still..

That's why I sometimes like to add little quirks to the characters to show how dorky they are, like she has a booger hanging out of her nose or is dumbfounded about what anyone's talking about and would much rather be doing her own thing than what GD is doing. Stuff like that. I try to base my OC females and males off myself and people in my life, because Lord knows they (and myself) are a far cry from perfect Mary Sues (and Stus).

Exactly ThisIsGreenDay. I feel the same way and I try to use a similar tactic as that.

Pickle:

Exactly ThisIsGreenDay. I feel the same way and I try to use a similar tactic as that.

You can call me Holly.

Or 'Future Mrs. Pritchard.'

I wish.

Okay, Holly.

Wish on babe!