Mary Sue who? This Mary Sue: http://www.springhole.net/writing/whatisamarysue.htm
Do you find Mary Sue creeping into your stories and disrupting your plots? I could point out at least a couple of writers on SOL who have not only let Mary Sue into their stories, but have embraced her, eloped with her, and ran off to engage in carnal relations. :D
Some writers manage to make their MC a Mary Sue and still pull off a fun, entertaining story. I think they are the exception though.
Time for a story, "Mary Sue, Naked in School."
Is Sue her last name? Or is her first name Mary-Sue, like Ann-Margaret or Rudolf the red nosed reindeer?
Perhaps she is a litigator and sues people. Mary, Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow? Or is she the one who had a little lamb? Or a son treated by the government as a terrorist and crucified. God rest ye Mary, Gentlemen.
Mary Sue who? This Mary Sue: http://www.springhole.net/writing/whatisamarysue.htm
Sorry, I couldn't get much past the opening paragraph, the made up supposedly gender neutral pronouns bother me too much.
Sorry, I couldn't get much past the opening paragraph, the made up supposedly gender neutral pronouns bother me too much.
Yes, that's annoying, but the article is worthwhile.
Do you find Mary Sue creeping into your stories
Sometimes, but I get her married off to her cousin Billy Bob so they can have fun.
These comments apply to a lot of authors, on SoL and elsewhere. Many stories are Wish Fulfillment so you expect to see a Mary Sue or two in them. Some are just What if I did that different, and they will have a Mary Sue component. There are a lot of SoL stories that look like a Mary Sue to start with, but are really Uber Hero type stories without the Super Hero component.
Ernest, if you had a Mary Sue I'd think you meant to have a Mary Use. :P
Especially by Billy Bob - you know my typing issues too well, Switch.
There are a lot of SoL stories that look like a Mary Sue to start with, but are really Uber Hero type stories without the Super Hero component.
I was about to say "Sounds like some of my stories," though I try to avoid those issues, but I think mine fall into your category. Since I deal with sci-fi where someone is struggling to understand things (and they have outsized abilities they don't comprehend), it's not so much wish fulfillment as it is coming to grasp with a new reality. The superhuman element is there, but instead to jumping into superhero mode, my characters struggle with their condition (Spiderman analogies, anyone?).
