Avoiding Mary Sue?

Just to ask how might one avoid a mary sue situation? Is it only for fanfiction that they come up?

Put effort into making them a round character, no, and do we really need another Sue topic?

Give an equal set of flaws for evey set of virtues to your characters and you will be fine.

Google it.

Alright thanks

Ensemble cast.

Not necessarily. The 1 to 1 ratio reeks of Anti-Sue just like flipping all the triggers of Mary Sue does.

A non-Sue feels like a normal person for all their worth. Not perfect, but not so loaded with flaws for every advantage.

There are folks in reality who if fictionalized would be classic examples of Mary Sue.

More than anything else, a character becomes a Mary Sue when other characters' behavior centers around that one character to an implausible degree. Specific traits are often associated with Mary Sue characters, but as long as you avoid inappropriately making your character the center of attention, it should be fine.

Just remember that all characters, no matter how minor their role in the story, are each the main character of their own life (from their perspective), and write accordingly.

edited 27th Jul '11 7:04:52 PM by Enthryn

My buddy put it in spectacular terms a few years back:

"A story is a machine; each gear turns on its own. The world doesn't stop being at war because the hero isn't there. The villains don't stop doing evil things because the hero didn't show up. And other heroes can achieve an entire stories' worth of good without the hero ever being involved to see it."

Seconding Enthryn. My particular focus is on romantic stories, so my main way of avoiding Sues is to make sure that both characters have a reason for being drawn to each other.

It's stated on the common mary sue traits page that the traits are ok if they're properly explained. I constantly question myself which is why I'm here. Is there any way to know whether your explanation for a mary sue trait is good enough to have a character not be a sue?