Screw you, Mary Sue (and Gary Stu too!)

We want our characters to be likeable, or at least relatable. In some cases, we even want them to be desireable.

My main character has a boyfriend who's amazing. He's gorgeous, athletic, kind, and intelligent. While I was creating him, though, I had this fear that I was creating a Gary Stu, the male equivalent of a Mary Sue.

I'll be DAMNED before I create a Mary Sue/Gary Stu!

So what to do? That's easy - give the guy some faults.

Which faults, though? I don't want him to seem like a jerk, but at the same time I don't want the guy to be boring, and there's nothing duller than someone who's a special snowflake, dazzling all in their path.

To best serve the story, I gave him these faults - arrogant, over-sensitive, argumenative, and vengeful. It took a bit to find these faults, though, and sometimes pouring through lists of adjectives doesn't do the trick. The negative traits have to balance out the positive ones.

One way to get an idea of how to flesh out a character is to look at something like the zodiac personality charts. They often list the good and the bad of each sign, and chances are, if you read through them you can think of a few people that these traits describe.

More signs and traits are listed here:

http://nuclear.ucdavis.edu/~rpicha/personal/astrology/index.html

Sometimes, though, you're still getting to know your character. You don't know him or her very well, so you want to look around for personality types.

I'm a pretty visual person, so this site appealed to me:

http://www.learningchocolate.com/category/people

It lists categories of people with clip art, which might help you visualize your character (or you might just like the pictures):

The key thing is to think of how the faults will enhance the story. For example, Evan (Mr. Awesome Boyfriend) glares at a group of students who mock his Greek accent. Later, he feels rejected by Jonah (my main character) so he seethes while watching Jonah with a male friend, who Evan mistakenly things is Johah's boyfriend. Why is this important? It shows that Evan isn't used to criticism or rejection, and that he is very interested in Jonah. So why isn't he used to criticism or rejection? Is it because he's so amazing? Nope. He's got an...unusual background. (plot twist alert!) Anyway, his faults serve a purpose.

What about Jonah? Well, he's courageous, funny, intelligent, and yeah, good-looking. He's also impatient, tempermental, and impulsive. Tempermental might be due to the fact that he was attacked about a year ago and was sent to the hospital. Impulsive and impatient makes him feel real to me, because I can relate and some quick decisions on his part will help push the story along at a few critical points.

You might not want to think of your characters as less than perfect, but think of it this way: Which characters stand out through the test of time? The whiny Holden Caulfield, the violent Alex DeLarge, the gluttonous Ignatius J. Reilly...the imperfects. Mary Sues and Gary Stus might stand out too, but not in a good way.

The solution? Sit your character down and tell him what's wrong with him/her. Just don't be surprised if he/she smirks or roll his/her eyes at you (such a brat, right?).

Want to HEAR your character?

I found a gem of a website that lists all KINDS of accents. Great for listening to different dialects, and it was so cool to hear a Greek accent since one of my main characters is Greek.

Plus it's fun if you're as much a sucker for accents as I am. ;)

Enjoy!

http://web.ku.edu/~idea/index.htm

Character generator!

Creating characters is a wonderful but tedious process. Once you're able to picture your character, you have to name him, give him abilities and faults, figure out how smart he is, and most importantly, what he wants. Yikes.

Character mapping is essential, although I find myself getting frustrated with it. Does it really matter what my main character's favorite cereal is? Small details should only come out if they reveal something about the character or the story, and we've all read a story that dwelled too much on the boring stuff. She's wearing a cami? Who cares! Tell me WHY she's wearing it, why it matters, or don't bother.

Back to my point. Finding those little details can be a pain, which is why I'm excited about this site:

http://selfpublishingteam.com/chargen/ya/

Yes, it's geared toward YA characters, but that doesn't mean you can't use it for your work-in-progress, regardless of genre.

The generator can pick the name and physical appearance of a character, and you can choose whether you want male or female, and what grade this character is in (remember it's YA). I picked a male from 17-18, and here's what I got:

Basic Information

• Name: Henry
• Gender: Male The gender of your character.
• Age: 17-18 (12th grade) Your character's age.

Henry's Traits

• Role: Outsider The social group of which your character is a part.
• Basic Traits: Spiritual, Clumsy, Disengenuous Three basic traits of your character. It's okay if they conflict; that's part of the intrigue!
• Unique Trait: Ran away The kicker that makes your character unique.

Henry's Appearance

• Hair Color: Brown
• Eye Color: Gray
• Body Type: Average

Henry sounds cool! You can look at his traits and see a story get going. If you already have your character more or less fleshed out, this can still give you some ideas.

Let's say you've got your girl, you've named her Vanessa, and you just need to find her some faults. Here's what the generator gives me:

Shy, Stoic, Clumsy,  Indifferent, Immature

Not a bad start. Sometimes that's all you need.

Show, don't tell (it works)

I've been thinking about the "show, don't tell" motto that writers have been told since forever. Breaking it down makes sense, but here's what I've discovered about the advice: It forces you to think more about your characters.

Here's what I mean: Pretend you're writing a scene and just want to get the basics down. Let's say it's a fight between your two main characters. It might look something like this:

---

"I can't believe you took the money without asking me!" John felt betrayed and hurt. "You know we were saving it for something important!"

"This was important!" Madison was annoyed at John's reaction. He should realize how important this was to her. "Besides, I get paid in a few weeks."

"That's not the point! You should have discussed it with me first." John couldn't believe how she was missing the point. "How can I trust you now?"

"Trust me? What's that supposed to mean?"

---

You get the idea. It's pretty bad.

Now let's employ the SDT magic. You're forced to give a little more background and establish the setting. Where are they fighting? What time is it? What are they doing during the scene?

Since you're using SDT, act like you're a director creating this scene. As an actor, I would say, "Okay, I get this character is upset, so how should I show that?" I'd expect you to say something like "Cross your arms across your chest, maybe step back so you're using body language to show your emotion. Raise your voice. Think about how you act in a real life argument. Do you look right at the person, or do you look away? Does your voice change?"

This sort of information can get the ball rolling on your character. You can picture them a little more clearly. Let's say John's voice changes, gets quieter because he's so hurt. His eyes will widen a bit, and once the argument heats up he'll stare right at Madison, wanting answers. Madison, however, wants to deflect the entire fight, so we'll assume that she uses her hands a lot. By the end of the scene, she's feeling defensive. How can we show that? Body language would be best, so maybe she'll cross her arms against her chest, something people usually do when they're feeling defensive or territorial.

Guess what - you just came up with little habits for them.

So after sitting in your director's chair, you let the scene unfold again, with a little more SDT:

---

John stared at his wife. "I can't believe you took the money without asking me!" He stepped forward, his throat tightening. "You know we were saving it for something important!"

Madison frowned at him. "This was important!" She turned and shrugged off her jacket, tossing it on the sofa. "Besides, I get paid in a few weeks."

He shook his head. "That's not the point! You should have discussed it with me first." John slumped on the edge of the sofa, looking at the floor while she removed her shoes. After taking a deep breath he looked up at her, his eyes wet. "How can I trust you now?"

"Trust me?" Madison crossed her arms across her chest, her eyes narrowing. "What's that supposed to mean?"

---

A little better. Clearly John is more hurt and Madison is more on the blase side. If you want, you can make John more aggressive, and Madison more wounded, still using SDT:

---

"I can't believe you took the money without asking me!" John narrowed his eyes at his wife as she set her bag on their bed. "You know we were saving it for something important!"

"This was important!" Madison forced herself to look away. She cleared her throat and rubbed at her arms. "Besides, I get paid in a few weeks."

John huffed. "That's not the point! You should have discussed it with me first." His lips curled back in disgust. "How can I trust you now?"

"Trust me?" She lifted her gaze to him, blinking back tears. "What's that supposed to mean?"

---

There you go. Is it a great scene? Nope. But hey, now you know that in the first scene, John's a sensitive guy when it comes to trust (nearly crying when confronting his wife about financial infidelity). He also tends to feel helpless (slumps on the sofa) in such sitations. Madison, however, shrugs it off (casually removing clothes, changing the subject) but doesn't like accusations of being untrustworthy (arms crossed, glaring).

In the second scene, you learn that John's angry and repulsed (glaring, sneering) by Madison's spending. She, however, feels threatened (looks away, rubs her arms) and hurt (trying not to cry).

Sometimes it helps to think like a director. In my current work in progress, my character rubs at his forehead when he's stressed, whereas another character bites at his thumb. I have to be careful that they're not doing it too much, so if I find they're doing it too much, time to play director and find other ways to show that they're stressed. I might rely on past experiences or watch TV or movies to get ideas. The important thing is to keep the actors/characters busy. Dialogue only takes you so far.