So my good friend Mickimomo has written a chapter about these characters in her book 'That One Smart Kid 2'. For anyone interested in reading, the chapter is called 'LIKE WTF'.
I didn't know that a character could be classed as a cardboard cut-out apparently they can be. Well not apparently, they can be.
A cardboard cut-out is a character which has next to no personality and yet seems to be doing stuff. They walk around and talk but there is no background to there actions, no thoughts behind there words and no emotion in what they say.
I see this quite a lot in fanfictions when people have written a self insert. It's also very common to see in books which aren't very consistent so a characters personality changes.Eventually, what could have ended up being a well developed character, has turned into a sheet of card.
To avoid this, design a character with a personality you think is suitable to the story. Make sure that your character is actually developing and that you aren't just getting lazy and removing their personality. Maybe have a short mental list of what you could include in a sentence. This list could include thoughts (is your character having conflicting ideas for instance), feelings (e.g. do they feel nervous about something) and movements (are they so excited about something that they're shaking?).
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Anti Mary-Sue Character Guide
Non-FictionHere is just my list of tips of how to avoid creating/writing a Mary-Sue character. Take them as you wish. Greatest Achievements: #1 in non-fiction!!!
