How to Write a Good Fanfic

8.0 - Traits Don't Make a Sue

Once upon a time there was a writer.

Said writer decided to one day write a fanfic story involving one of her favorite fandoms. The story she wanted to write, that was stuck in her head was for Lord of the Rings. Said story involved Legolas, but it involved Legolas finding a dying slave with an infant. Legolas takes the infant to the Rohan, who are nearby, to make sure she is well taken care of, and it was supposed to be a story about growing up. Said story didn't even get into the cutesy parts other stories got to where the infant OC could walk and talk, but simply focused on making sure she was cared for, and that Legolas would act as her Godfather.

One day an evil fanfic reviewer decided to review, telling the writer her OCs were Mary Sues. It didn't matter that the first OC only appeared in chapter one. It didn't matter that the second was a baby, and that it was mostly the canon characters attempting to take care of a baby. In fact, the evil fanfic reviewer decided to nail the writer for using expandatory material not written by Tolkien that didn't contradict canon, and said there was no such thing as slaves in middle earth, despite the fact slavery is a real thing that can never, ever go away like that.

The evil fanfic reviewer pointed the writer to what was called a Mary Sue Litmus which tested for Mary Sue traits. Hair color, eye color, and other kinds of specifics, and yet these specifics didn't work. How can you have an elf character who wasn't allowed to have any of the canon hair colors? Answer – you're not allowed to have an elf character at all. Something was off about this litimus test, but the writer got mocked for a simple phrase which was perfectly normal and not worth mocking. The writer though felt bad, slowed down her updating pace, and eventually deleted her story.

I am now unable to find the story, or the writer.

I, the reader wanted to know what happened next, but the writer gave into the idea that her character was a Mary Sue, simply because it had certain traits. The problem with Mary Sue Litmus tests is most don't work, but they don't address the issue. There are a few out there I've found that work, some fandom specific, but the one that works best is The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test. It includes essays, but notes on how to properly use the test so results are not likely to be problematic.

To quote something the creator of the test says, "please, please, please remember that just because something is on the test does not mean that it's supposed to be inherently bad and avoided at all costs." They also say "INDIVIDUAL ITEMS DO NOT MAKE THE MARY SUE. THE INDIVIDUAL ITEMS ARE NOT BAD. MOST GOOD CHARACTERS HAVE AND SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST SOME OF THEM." You can't decide a Mary Sue based on traits alone, but this is a dangerous thing to do. There's also the issue that canon characters, not just OCs can become a Mary Sue.

Specifically here, I am wanting to talk about how traits can be symptoms of the Mary Sue issue, but they're not absolutes. Take for example the name you give your OC. For someone like myself who critiques, the name can be a major warning bell that the character is a Mary Sue, because if a writer can't think up a good name, they typically struggle with some of the other issues. This doesn't mean though the character is going to be a Mary Sue. In one case, a typically Mary Sue name revealed a character who was not a Mary Sue. It was the only trait.

Hair color, eye color, personality, all those things, they're not what makes a character a Mary Sue. In fact, the following are what make said character a Mary Sue. I've covered these four reasons in 8. The Dreaded Mary Sue. Traits and how they're used fall under what some may call a fifth category, but it's tied into number one and three on the list. Looks tend to be tied into powers or personality, but we're talking in both cases characters which would not exist in a given fandom.

That's where traits can become an issue, when they're not traits which are normal for real life and/or the fandom. Names for example tie into the characters personality, but are an environmental thing chosen by the parents. Hair and other physical features play key factors into the characters personality. Other traits are power based – there to make the character able to do something, or look cool. And yes, having a cat tail and cat ears count as being a power, although it absolutely does nothing. Oh, wait, super hearing, and the tail can move and twitch.

However, sometimes even if the traits don't work in canon, a writer can still create a believable character.

One of the important things when giving traits to one's characters is to ask why? Why do you want them to look a certain way? Are they a self-insert? Do you like that color of hair or eye? A writer should always ask why they do something, rather than relying on just doing. Also, does it fit into the fandom?