Mary Sue?

[sharon28]

I found a couple of essays on Mary Sue's that I skimmed. They're very long, so I didn't read everything in them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue
http://www.merrycoz.org/papers/MARYSUE.HTM

What I wondered about is this; if an author places themselves into a novel, but is careful to use character traits good and bad which apply to them, will the

Comments

[sharon28]

Putting you in the fic makes it about you and that's rarely what people want to read for.

I've certainly noticed a lot of OC's taking over various fanfics, I usually switch off and move onto something else. That can also happen when the fic is largely about a minor character (or major even) which I have no interest in.

Haggis for example, inserted himself in look only and through a very good Hitchcock way.

Was he the hotel guy in Victoria's Secret where he started cleaning the camera?

A Ranma link?!

I have no idea what that is.

[sharon28]

I'd say it would be hard for an author to write themselves as a insert objectively.

Would it though? There are people who can be very objective about their good and bad qualities.

I also think you can put parts of yourself in your fic/character. Whether it be experiences or knowledge.

I think that's what I meant. Not to actually put everything about yourself into it, but to put parts, so that you could use things you've experienced so that you know what you're talking about. I think I just explained it badly in my post.

[aingeal8c]

Hmmm I'd say firstly Mary Sues don't seem to have bad traits, or if they do they are very minor.

But I don't think authors can be objective about themselves.

However the very act of putting yourself in a story can come off Sueish, even unintentionally.

I think.

[sharon28]

I'd say firstly Mary Sues don't seem to have bad traits, or if they do they are very minor.

But surely a Mary Sue is only as good as the person who writes them. If a person is very negative about themselves in RL surely that would reflect in the character and he/she would become more real because of it?

[aingeal8c]

True but I think generally the Mary Sue is an idealised version of the person writing it. They want to make the Mary Sue as they would be minus their faults.