OC's in the House Verse

[bebopgirl]

I've had a House based OC living in my head for weeks and now I want to give her a proper fic. Is there a way to keep her from becoming a Mary-Sue?

Right now her connection is Chase, who she met at a conference and they became email friends.

Comments

[jack_magic]

Well the best way that I know to prevent Mary Sueitis is to make your OC as human as possible, with flaws and pimples and eye color that actually occurs in nature.

Then again, sometimes you just gotta embrace the Mary Sue and call her a metaphor for something or other. Up to you!

[bebopgirl]

She's a total WIP but she's quickly turning human.

Right now she and Chase are old friends and have been in touch via email for about a year.

[bironic]

This may be an obvious thing to say, but I think the best way to prevent an original character from becoming a Mary Sue is to think about what makes a character a Mary Sue in the first place, and then avoid those pitfalls. There's a great essay floating around the intarwebs somewhere about Mary Sues' most common characteristics; I'll see if I can track it down for you. Warning signs include the character being the focus of the story to the point that (s)he overshadows everyone else -- for instance, outsnarking House or out-ddx-ing the fellows -- , and having him/her save the day instead of the regular cast. You might want to ask yourself questions like, Is your OC believable as a real person? Why did Chase become friends with her? What is her purpose in the story?

[bironic]

Also: Mary Sues don't have to be perfectly perfect in every way, but they are usually obsessively described. So even if you give your OC her share of flaws, you still want to make sure you're balancing her with everyone else.

[joe_pike_junior]

IAWTC. You beat me to most of this stuff.

I've noticed that Mary Sues are, as you've said, often described in excruciating detail, especially clothing. If you're simply bringing in an OC that has a well-rounded personality and doesn't overshadow the action -- ie, they fit well into the story, not stick out like the only pop-up in a pop-up book -- I don't think there'd be anything to worry about. Read a bad Mary-Sue story and go from there, perhaps...

[bebopgirl]

Why did Chase become friends with her? She's nothing like the team and she's actually close in age to him. Plus she's a shrink and has a life outside of work.

Her purpose seems to change the longer she lives in my head, right now she's just the old friend to Chase.

[delphinapterus]

A conference connection sounds plausible as does the email friends. I think the most obvious mary sue traits to avoid would be making her perfect, more brilliant than House and his team combined, or too young for her specialty/level of expertise. From what you've said it sounds like a good base to start from.

The big thing about Mary Sues is that they take over the story for no real reason and don't have any flaws/character quirks. They get written as being special for no real reason and get loved by all the "right" characters without any explanation.

[bebopgirl]

I'm tucking her into a different field(right now she's a shrink) and she's mid 20's. Just working on a way to bring her into the hospital, right now the early plan is she just needs a change of scene and with an old friend in the area it made sense.

Yes I like Chase and this could turn romantic in a hurry.

[namasteyoga]

I'd actually beware of making her in her mid 20s, since you're already starting out with a major "Sue" characteristic of having her too young and accomplished. In her mid-20s, she'd likely be barely out of med school. Having Chase at his age -- even using the statement that he was 30, rather than 26 -- stretches credulity, but that's canon.

Think carefully about why they'd stay in touch. Why would Chase, as busy as he is, strike up an electronic friendship? If he's just struck by how wonderfully fascinating this person is, you're risking "Sue." And why does she keep in contact with him? I've had a lot of people I've met at conferences that I have interesting conversations with, but almost none even extend to even one or two emails. There has to be a reason for your OC to be there, IMHO, to avoid Sue.

[joe_pike_junior]

Another incredibly biased thing I've noticed that Mary Sues do is fall in love with one character, at the same time that the author slags off all the other ones. Like a certain character (say, House) gets the Mary Sue as a prize for being the 'best'.

[epiphany_gun]

In my experience on of the best ways to prevent sue-ism is to make sure the story is not ABOUT them. People want to read House fic about HOUSE characters. OCs are fine, but they need to be just character, not the constant center of the universe.

Also, make sure you don't over-do the description. If you spend more time describing her than anyone else you're lost. Also, don't include things like what SHE is thinking if you're not going to do that with anybody else.

This applies to all writing but particularly Mary-Sues, don't over adjective. That is to say, never include useless adjectives or description unless it actually reveals something to the reader.

[extrabitter]

Closely examine what role your OC plays in the action of the story. Extraneious characters, even on the show, can be really annoying unless they are there to move the story along, not just to provide a foil for dialogue. Examine why Chase needs somebody from outside his regular world (i.e. PPTH), not just why he knows her, but why he keeps in touch.

And I agree with the suggestion to make her older. If she's a romantic interest, some readers will automatically call MS, so you might try giving her a stable relationship of some sort that's not really a factor in the story.

[bebopgirl]

Right now Emily(she finally has a name) is just the old friend. The story is eventually going to turn romantic between her and Chase but I'm trying to keep them from going MS in the romance.

Why does Chase keep in touch with Emily? She's nothing like the rest of the team and her former boss was very House so what started as venting sessions became a friendship.