What's In a Sue?

Author's Note. Please Read-This essay was written as a guide to helping avoid the terribly annoying Mary Sue and all of the clichés that go along with it. This is in no way meant to insult, offend, or point fingers at anyone. This is meant to be used as a tool for author's old and new to help explain what a Mary Sue is, why they are not appreciated by many members of Fan Fiction, and how to avoid them. Thank you, and Happy Writing.

Introduction: Why we have the Sue

Let's face it: Romance has not the main point of the Harry Potter series. Many of our favorite characters end up marrying people that we were never introduced to in the books or only met in passing once or twice throughout the series (examples being Draco/ Astoria, Luna/ Rolf, Neville/ Hannah, and George/ Angelina, in some cases). Some of us have actually never discovered what happened to our favorite character after the Battle of Hogwarts (in my case, Oliver Wood). Or maybe we just hate the significant other of our favorite character (most famously, Harry/ Ginny). So, to compensate for the lack of romance, development of relationship, or closure, we create our own OCs, which, more often than not, turn into Mary Sues.

As many Fan Fiction authors know, Mary Sues are annoying and not all that fun to have to experience or deal with. Their overly kind, yet aggressive in times of need, demeanor annoys us to no end. Their ravishing beauty, often complete with naturally changing or pink eye/ hair color, makes us want to puke, and their brilliance, yet flirty stupidity, makes us stop reading then and there and leave a nasty flame. Yes, many people do not like reading a Mary Sue story. However, there is one thing worse than reading a Mary Sue story: getting a Flame about our beloved OC.

Let's face it; we think that everyone should love Miss Mary and we aren't exactly pleased when someone doesn't. We call them a "Hater" or a "Flamer" and then respond to their reviews in all capital letters and tell our loyal readers that we were flamed. And we all know that we've all been there. Maybe you were like me and didn't actually publish your first story on Fan Fiction, but instead, gave it to your older siblings to read and were laughed at by your childish character that managed to sweep Harry and Draco off of their feet. Or, maybe you did publish it on Fan Fiction and then deleted your account in shame after receiving one flame too many about how it was completely unrealistic to have a working iPod at Hogwarts in the 1970's when the Marauders were there. Either way, any honest author has to admit that they've been there, done that, and would really prefer not to go back. So let's make an agreement right here and right now: let's not be the flamer that made you cry when they called your very first story a piece of shit.

Instead, we should all be that one kind author (maybe we had one, maybe we didn't) that said, "Look, I'm sorry but this isn't very good. You have great spelling and grammar, but your character is a Mary Sue. She just seems too perfect to be real and people didn't even have Walkmans in the 1970's. I would take a Mary Sue test and revise her if I were you. You have a lot of potential as an author, but you characters need some work. Happy Writing."

We can all at least say "I'm sorry, but your character seems to be a Mary Sue. I'd revise her a bit if I were you." That takes just as long as typing "This story sucks and makes me want to kill myself." It take even less time then typing out those long reviews about how much we hate your story and how many ways we can make fun of it.

Those are the worst and we all know it.

But what's also just as bad is when an author trying to be helpful is brutalized back and called a "Flamer" because they mentioned the words "Mary Sue". These words have become an argument creator and have put tensions in the Fan Fiction community to the point that it almost makes the Cold War look like a friendly competition. It doesn't matter how they are said, these can turn anyone into a flamer and any good story into an outcast on our site.

So, what is a way to avoid getting into these arguments and avoiding nasty reviews? Simple- have a well rounded OC.

For those of you that are having trouble accomplishing this, here is the outline of the following essay that will hopefully help you improve your writing and story.

's in a Sue? Personality, heritage, names, and family history
2. Plot is everything! Common plot lines often associated with Sues and why they should be avoided
3. Oh, brother, Oh, Sister! Why cannon relatives are not a good idea
4. Mirror, Mirror… Self inserts and why they should be avoided
5. Who's the fairest of them all? Beauty and looks
6. CATCH this book! How to find a balance between smarts, sports, and musicality
7. Historically speaking… why characters need to fit in, in their time period
8. . Goffic vs Preppy... How to avoid Enooby along with the big "S" word
9 Ginny is a Biotch… why a well balanced new love interest is best
10. Cannon Sue: when Hermione attacks and a guide to OOC

This will be split into four chapters: this chapter will be point one. The next will be two and three. The next will be four, five, and six, chapter four will be seven and eight, and chapter four will be points nine and ten along with a short note on grammar and spelling.

So first, What's in a Sue?

1. What's in a Sue?

It is perfectly understandable to want to make your character likeable, but everyone has flaws.

Now, if you're thinking "She does have flaws. She's clumsy" then I hate to tell you, but that does not count as a flaw. Clumsiness is often considered cute and not the fault of the actual person. A real flaw is something like vanity or a short temper. Being a push over can also be considered a flaw, as can having unwavering prejudice against Muggle Borns, Half Bloods, or Blood Traitors.
Note- it doesn't count if your character changes his or her mind. Maybe they learn to deal with it, but don't have them just wake up one morning and say "Oh, I support Muggle Born rights!" That just adds to their Sueness.

Another commonly overly used trait is their personal history. This can be just as annoying- if not more so- then a perfect personality. It's sad, because you can have a pretty well rounded character that people hate just because he or she has had a hard past. You should attempt at almost all costs to stick to the following guide lines:
No orphans, and if they are please don't make their new caregivers overly cruel.
No abusive parents.
No sketchy past.
No foster kid sob story.
No seeing the tragic death of a loved one.
No causing/ not preventing death of said loved one
No unknown fame or royalty. Just look at Mia from the "Princess Diaries".
No- and this is a huge killer- rape/ sexual abuse. This will result in a lot of brutalization from anti Sue activists.

Now, I know that just because a character has a past that mirrors one of the following it doesn't make them a Mary Sue, but be aware that the more of these common clichés you use, the more likely you are to get flames, whether they be deserved or not. Also, the more of these clichés that you use, the easier it is for your character to start becoming a Mary Sue. Try to keep this in mind when creating a personal history for your character.

His or her heritage can also be important, but keep in mind that this should not be his or her most interesting trait. For instance, in real life I am a Mormon living in Utah with blonde hair and blue eyes, but one of my great grandparents was a Native American and another was an African American. My grandmother is also Jewish too. Now, do I go around advertising this to the world? No, I do not. In fact, the only people who know about this are you and people that have seen very old family photos or met my great grandparents or grandmother. I am not embarrassed about this, but I don't think that it is all that important about me. So keep this in mind when you are deciding the heritage of your character and how much of it you want to put into the story.

Half human/ half creature stories should just not be attempted in general, though, because there are so few that actually turn out well.

Names are also a HUGE turn off for many readers. If your character's name is more than ten letters, requires you to insert symbols, strikingly similar to a canon character's name, a nickname with no connection to their real name, or is just random letters thrown together, it needs to be changed.

Exceptions:
Your character is foreign, therefore has a common foreign name with a lot of letters or symbols like an umlaut
Your character was given the nickname in childhood or at birth for a reason such as… Being born on the same date that so and so died or eating this plant as a small child (only applies to nicknames like Lily, Daisy, ect.)

This should help solve many immediate problems that are most easily identified and picked upon. Even if you follow only this first rule, the amount of flames will be far less than if you don't, but follow other rules.

Hopefully this helped at least a little bit and the next chapters should be up soon.

If I forgot to add anything, please tell me!