Me and Mary Sue

[wneleh]

I've seen it written that Mary Sues, choose your precise definition, are a developmental step we all go through. I don't think this is always true; or maybe I'm just getting there.

Comments

[marinw]

I use OC's too. Sometimes the Canon dosn't provide the character I need. Despite my vigilence, this OC did turn into a total Marty Stu. It happens to every writer at some point.

I do wonder when an OC takes on a life of his or her own. I must remind myself that the reader is reading the fic because of fondness for the CANON characters. The OC is only there to assist to Canon People is whatever issues they are dealing with.

[wneleh]

The great thing about fanfic is, you can do anything.

The OC is only there to assist to Canon People is whatever issues they are dealing with.

I think this holds for most of the fic I like best.

With the OCs I mention - humm. Mary Margaret and Jason were both developed because I wanted to explore what sentinel abilities (hyperacute senses) would be like for someone different from Jim. Also, both of them allow me to explore the effect of incompetent parenting even when nobody is actively evil. There are echoes of this in TS canon, but mostly it's something I think about myself as a parent. (Pause to keep younger daughter from diving head-first into a cushion.) But, yk, it's fanfic, we can do anything! Readers optional.

Jonathan, my Mary Sue, wasn't about exploring anything. Like I say, I've developed him a little, but it's just different.

[sholio]

I don't think it's accurate to say that everyone writes Mary Sues (are people saying that?) - though I guess if you stretch the definition as far as people sometimes do (Mary Sue = any original character; Mary Sue = any character you identify with) then yeah, it's kind of unavoidable ... Anyway, I've never written anything that fits the classic definition of a Mary Sue; my interest in fanfic was always with the original characters, and while I've written OCs quite a bit, they were always there to further the main characters' journey. But I don't think that invalidates the basic point that Sues are self-affirming for a lot of writers, just not me personally.

[wneleh]

(are people saying that?)

Yes, I've seen it here and there.

Anyway, I've never written anything that fits the classic definition of a Mary Sue;

I'm now tempted to try. :-) Except my Mary Sue would be as pedantic as all get-out, so *really* not very appealing I assume!

But I don't think that invalidates the basic point that Sues are self-affirming for a lot of writers, just not me personally.

I agree.

[magician114]

As someone who's never written but only read fic and fanfic, I can't really relate. But I can tell you I've read badly-done Mary Sues and I've probably read OCs that were the author's MS and didn't know it because they were written so well