Writing a good character means that it feels real and is often relatable. Making a “Mary Sue,” on the other hand, often guts the story and usually leads to a loss of interest. But what is a Mary Sue and how do you avoid writing one?
The short answer is that it’s all about growth and change. The character at the end of your book should be different from what he or she was when it started.
I’m not talking about morphing the character like a werewolf. Change can come in a variety of ways as long as it’s realistic to the story and engaging to the reader.
What is a Mary Sue?
A Mary Sue is a character that is virtually perfect and flawless from the beginning of the story. Usually, a Mary Sue refers to a female character, hence the name. If the character is a male, it’s often referred to as a “Marty Stu” or “Gary Stu.”
These characters often have no weaknesses or negative traits, which makes them unrelatable and unrealistic. If there is no struggle or growth, it’s difficult to get the reader to care what happens to them.
They usually exhibit some unrealistic talent and are perfect at everything they do without effort. And some believe these characters to be more of wish fulfillment on the author’s behalf, inserting themselves in the story as ideations of what they want to present.
I’m not sure how much stock I have in that sentiment, but I have seen a lot of authors use perfect beings in their stories. If there is no risk to the character, the story isn’t going to be a page-turner.
Why Does it Matter?
What makes a great character is one who has something major change throughout the story. For example, a character who prefers to work alone winds up relying on friends at the end. Or, an orphaned moisture farmer living on a desert planet who winds up saving the day by destroying a powerful weapon.
A Mary Sue is hard to follow because there is no real risk to the character. It is perfect and has no flaws, which means the reader can’t follow along as the character learns the value of something.
Writing a good story involves change as well as the character’s needs and wants. Characters could want something at the beginning but find out they need something else at the end.
Good narratives rely on these story and character arcs to keep them going. Without that arc, the character becomes bland and level throughout the story. There’s nothing to get excited about and nothing to keep the reader interested in what happens next.
Sure, there will be some people who don’t mind Mary Sue characters. However, the majority of people would rather see a real struggle and a flawed character making decisions that are realistic to their behaviors and mannerisms.
At the end of the day, you want readers to care about the characters and what happens to them. If they’re perfect, then there is less of an emotional connection. As an author, you want to pull those emotions out of a reader.
6 Ways to Avoid Writing a Mary Sue or Gary Stu (with examples)
The more relatable and likable your character, the more people will want to continue reading your book. Ask anyone who has found a page-turner and ask them why they enjoyed it so much. I am willing to bet that most people fall in love with the characters themselves. At least I know I do.
Part of that emotional connection is based on characters having real human traits and aspirations. You don’t want someone who is perfect spearheading your story.
So, what can you do to avoid writing a Mary Sue or Gary Stu?
1. Give Characters Flaws
Perhaps one of the most common pieces of advice from authors is to give your characters flaws. No one is perfect, and a flawed individual can have an interesting storyline. Of course, this depends on the severity of the flaws and how the character adapts.
Flaws can come in a variety of forms, but making them relevant to the story can make a greater impact. For example, smoking cigarettes is viewed as a flaw in today’s society. But if it’s not relevant to the story, it’s a bit of a weak flaw.
On the other hand, a character who smokes and winds up leaving butts behind at a crime scene, eventually leading to his or her capture, is more engaging.
2. Realistic Behaviors and Mannerisms
Creating realistic behaviors and mannerisms can help bring a character to life. It makes them more relatable and enticing.
For instance, in Shadows of Atlantic City, a character starts as a loner because he would rather not have the safety of others on his shoulders. He is also aging and doesn’t have the stamina he had in his youth, which affects the story.
Of course, you want to list behaviors and mannerisms that are relevant to the story. For example, I didn’t care to write down what my character’s favorite Starbucks coffee flavor was because there wasn’t a Starbucks in 1874. It’s not relevant to the story in the slightest.
3. Include Challenges with Risk and Difficulty
Challenges that come with great risk to the character engage an audience. If there is no challenge and the task is barely an inconvenience, it reduces the impact of the scene.
While you want to avoid using ridiculous forms of plot armor, there needs to be something at risk that the character can lose if the wrong decision is made. Those decisions should be based on the character’s behaviors and mannerisms – even if it gets them potentially killed.
It’s the challenges the characters face that wind up sucking someone into your book.
4. Changing from Start to Finish (Character Growth)
Change is one of the pillar elements of a good story. Both characters and the plot should evolve throughout the book. How you start characters should be much different from how they end.
A Mary Sue usually has very little growth and makes few changes, which is why most audiences don’t like them.
For instance, Rocky Balboa spends the movie building himself up from a nobody to throwing down with Apollo Creed for the Heavy Weight Championship. The movie didn’t start with him stepping into the ring.
Side note, Rocky lost that first fight, by the way – demonstrating that victory is never a guarantee.
My point is Rocky is a fan favorite because the audience was with him every step of the way, going from a nobody in Philadelphia to closely losing a fight against a boxing celebrity.
5. Put Them Through Hell
A lot of authors don’t want to put their “darlings” through hell. I throw everything at them, including the kitchen sink. They either grow from the experience or perish.
Most of my characters grow – just to put it out there.
Take a look at the movie, Die Hard. John McClane is put through the wringer. By the end of the movie, he can barely walk but still manages to outthink Hans Gruber in the end, despite being a physical and emotional wreck.
6. Devaluing the Mary Sue
One way you can make a Mary Sue work for you is by breaking them down throughout the book. Start that perfect character, but chip away at those perfections until the character is humbled by the experience.
If you don’t want a main character to display Mary Sue or Gary Stu traits, you can do this with a side character to give it more depth.
In any case, breaking down the mighty is often relatable as it can be a metaphor for so much in today’s society. Or, perhaps you just want to exact vengeance on a narcissist in your life. Either way, it’s often a fun concept if structured correctly.
My book on Wattpad, VII, does this to a lot of characters in various chapters.
Make Characters Real and Relatable
When all is said and done, you want the story and characters real and relatable to your audience. The more engaged you make them, the better.
In fact, it’s one of my goals to make a couple of people I know cry at least once from reading each book. If I can get them to tear up, then I know the story is just about done.
The majority of readers won’t cry over a Mary Sue or Gary Stu. There is virtually no risk-to-reward ratio and there is often a flat storyline.
Add personality and realistic traits to make your characters stand out. It helps your readers fall in love with them.
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