Lesson 1: Mary Sues and Gary Stus
You've seen it, the beautiful girl with a tragic background who only wants the best for everyone, the extremely handsome boy who doesn't know it and just so happens to fall for said girl. The girl with every power in the book and yet struggles with her sucky life, the boy who's always telling joke and making others smile even though he's wrestling with indecision and self-doubt.
Sound familiar? Well, these are what we call Mary Sues and Gary Stus. They're everywhere on Fanfiction and most of their creators probably don't even realize it.
In this lesson we will learn how to recognize a classic Mary Sue and Gary Stu. Now, if you've created a character for your own story or for an SYOC, here's a good way to tell if you've created a good character or those annoying little Mr. and Mrs. Perfect.
1) Incredibly beautiful/handsome but doesn't know it.
-This is incredibly common. The girl with stunning big doe eyes you can get lost in and long wavy hair that shines like silk. Okay maybe that's a little extreme but not untrue. Make your character believable, no one, and I repeat, NO ONE is that beautiful and even if they are, you'll know it. Denying it just makes you seem like an arse. Humanize them; they're not supposed to be flawless.
2) Has a tragic background yet only wants to make people smile.
-Another common one. The seemingly perfect guy has a secret, tragic past that pains him deeply God forbid anyone find out. He only wants to make people feel good even though he doesn't because he's just so saintly that way. WRONG! If your past was really that bad then it would reflect on who you are now, it's unavoidable. Hints of your trouble will always poke through—no matter how strong you are.
3) Incredibly powerful.
-Pretty self-explanatory. You've seen them; I've seen them, OCs with so many powers that you need more toes and fingers to count them all. Let's get something straight: there is no character that powerful okay? No matter how much you want them to be.
4) Never makes mistake.
-Nobody's perfect, yet some OCs seem to be. They always know exactly what to do and leave everyone wondering exactly how they pulled it off. Let them do some things wrong, make bad choices because that's what really happens. You don't always make the right decisions so neither should they.
5) Multiple DNA combinations.
-A lot of characters have more than three mutations. Some people seem to think that the more the merrier applies to everything. Well not in mutations, yes they're cool but have you ever heard of 'too much of anything is bad?' If you have almost 5 other types of DNA in your character then they should be barely human at that point which I highly doubt you want.
5) Based on you.
-Most authors here on Fanfiction want to include themselves in the story one way or another, I do too, but some authors modify themselves. By modify, I mean make themselves so impressive that even Max herself is on her knees begging for their help to save the world. It's true! While, yes, you have every right to include yourself in the story that doesn't mean you should make it revolve around you or your OC for that matter. People read fanfics for the characters they grew to love in the books, not to read about you. It may sound harsh but it's true. You can give you or your OC a small role or even a secondary one but don't go making yourself better than the Flock or whatnot. It's not going to happen, okay?
Okay, there are loads more but I think I've got enough for now. Now take a look at your story, whether it's an All-Human or with powers, and look at your characters. Do you recognize them here? If you do the change them! Humanize them! Give them flaws! Let them make mistakes! Don't let them be perfect in every way possible. Make them do something stupid, let them be yelled at, get in trouble, whatever because in real life I bet you don't do everything right. Before you make a character do anything, ask yourself: is this something you would do? That's a good way to incorporate yourself in the story, make your characters make mistakes that you yourself would make. That's a good character, one that's believable and maybe even the kind we would want to root for.
You're character(s) is one of the most important elements in a story. Without good characters you won't have a good story. It's as simple as that; and Mary Sues and Gary Stus are definitely not good characters. They're a major turn off in a story and makes readers click the exit button. This doesn't only apply to Maximum Ride fanfiction though, it applies to any story you write. Make sure your characters are human (or as human as they can get in Maximum Ride.)
There you have it, a guide through your Mary Sues and Gary Stus. I sincerely hope it help improves your characters.
Next lesson: Flames and Constructive Criticism
Sincerely yours,
Indy
