Scribbles: How to Write

WHAT MAKES A MARY SUE (CHARACTERS)

The term Mary Sue is often bandied around by critics. It is used to mean a character who is flat. Boring. A cardboard cutout. The character does not feel like a person, but like a puppet the author is moving about.

Creating a character is something that every author does differently. Some will use a random trait generator. Some will answer questionnaires about a character's background. Some use spreadsheets. Some list things like a character's greatest fears, hopes, and secrets. No one method is better than another, as long as by the end of it you understand the character, and know how they will react when placed in different situations.

Every person in the world has a different, unique, multifaceted personality. If you want your characters to feel realistic, you shouldn't let one trait dominate them. Each character should have several traits, both positive and negative, that have a different amount of influence on their actions. You should know these traits, or have a good sense of them. This is most important, of course, in your main characters, including your POV character and your main antagonist. This is what makes a character's heart beat, what stops them being flat.

Knowing these traits is one thing, but showing them in-story, instead of telling the reader them on their first encounter with the character, needs finesse. Show traits through actions. The way a character moves through the world, the things they frown or smile at, the way they approach a challenge, all of it matters. The small details (Do they like tea or coffee? What's their favourite colour?) leave an impression on the reader. These impressions build up over the story, until your reader knows the character. Anything that goes against this impression will stand out to the reader (which can be useful).

There is a scale of how well you know your characters, from entire family background and childhood medical history to nothing more than their name, motivation, and which Hogwarts House they'd be in. You'll want to be nearer the former end of the scale when it comes to your protagonist, and antagonist for that matter.

You know what that means? That means research.