How to not write a Mary Sue

General

• First and foremost, remember that writing is more than just creating cool characters. Some people like world building, others like to explore relationships, others prefer exploring a certain genre, others prefer to create something that comes from the deepest corners of their soul, while others prefer to make the audience cry, cower, feel happy, laugh, or pump their fists and cheer. Remember that while cool characters can help a story grow, they don't make good stories; it's good writers, plots and worlds who make good stories.

• You are writing a story, not building a shrine. And your character is part of the story; the story is not just a part of her, she is a part of the story.

• Don't assume that both the Mary Sue and the Anti-Sue are completely wrong in what they do. If your character is average or non-notable, the audience will come to detest her in a new way - she has no right being at the center (or even side) of a cast of fantastic people, unless she's an Unfazed Everyman. Make a character unique and interesting, but not a black hole that sucks attention from anything else around it. Don't fear making the character eccentric in some way, as long as that way isn't the "Special Snowflake" route.

• Don't care about only this character. Care about them all (even if the villains of the story are cared about in a different way).

• Obey the Law of Conservation of Detail. Any details about the character are for either the plot, Character Development, or building the character or world.

• When describing the character, it should never come across as the author telling the audience to like the character. Unless it's through the viewpoint of a character, in a way consistent with their characterization, avoid using purely subjective terms or comparisons. For example, if the character has long blonde hair, just simply say she has long blonde hair with maybe an added detail or two if it's important. Don't say "she has the most magnificent flowing golden hair since Sandro Botticelli painted Aphrodite on a clamshell note . Telling the audience to like your character usually just ends with the exact opposite reaction. In general, follow the "Show, Don't Tell" rule.

• It is equally important to avoid editorials when discussing the world's reaction to the character. Saying "Everybody always picked on her, but this was because they were jealous of her" is a surefire red flag that one is not only writing an autobiography, but laboring with a self-imposed delusion.

• Figure out everything that could even remotely be considered "special" about your character before you start writing. Never give your character special skills, relationships to existing characters, (unless it's an original work, and not fan fiction) or exotic backstory elements as you go along.

• When giving your character special traits, remember that traits must exist for a reason more plausible than just being awesome. When coming up with your character's history, start with the single most interesting thing about your character - the reason you want to write about this person in the first place - and then work backwards. Create a history for your character that can be described in terms of relatively boring causes and effects of that one interesting thing. Come up with both negative and positive experiences your character has had and personality traits he or she has developed as a result of that one interesting thing, rather than just listing a bunch of awesome but unrelated abilities or character quirks.

• Your character should not be able to solve the main conflict simply by his/her mere presence. Stories are about conflict, and a lopsided conflict in the heroes' favor is already an Invincible Hero, and an original character will make that even worse. A character with just the right skills to meet all the challenges the story throws his/her way makes for a boring story, and will draw resentment from the audience.

• As a counter-point, don't make her fail at everything as well. A Failure Hero is just as frustrating as an Invincible Hero, if not more so. As the backlash against the Damsel in Distress, Faux Action Girl, and other similar tropes show, the audience doesn't sympathize with characters who mostly cause problems. She should have some level of success to go with her failures, or if she always wins, she should have at least enough difficulties in doing so; find a middle ground that works for the story. If you happen to be going for a Zero To Hero plot, this is acceptable for early chapters; but when the character has been physically trained for years and still has trouble fighting a mere imp, that is not a good story.

• Do not always let your character's perceptions and judgments always correlate with reality. You as a writer will know what's going to happen, but your character does not. Letting her always 'sense' something's true nature, always guess correctly, or somehow know things she shouldn't, means that you're practically allowing your character to break the fourth wall and have a peek at the script. A character is meant to be a person in her own world, not a player-character armed with a cheat-sheet.

• One exception is when you're writing a highly cynical or paranoid character suspect a secretly evil character - they will expect the worst of everybody, but remember that these are character flaws and their suspicions turning out right is just a coincidence. Heck, because they're so cynical and paranoid, it's possible nobody will even believe them.

• Also know that, if the character has the ability to "see" the auras of others, allowing them to see the morality of others is a possible idea; just don't overuse that trope to make every fight the character has a Curb-Stomp Battle.

• There is a saying: "Murder Your Darlings". Perhaps 'murder' is too extreme a word. But all of your characters must suffer trials and tribulations, and often the main character suffers most of all just to show what an awesome person they are. Sure, you have a favourite; that's why they're the main character. But using Plot Armor or an Ass Pull to shield them just makes it obvious and annoying.

• This is doubly so seeing as killing a character doesn't mean they weren't a Mary Sue... and even their memory can plague the story if you're not careful.

• A number of Common Mary Sue Traits could be used properly if they are defining elements of the character. (Tropes Are Tools, after all.) Friend to All Living Things, for instance could be done as a take on the Beastmaster. What makes them Mary Sue tropes is when they aren't important to the character, that character's role in the story, or the plot in general.

• Parody Sues are overused. While that isn't necessarily a bad thing, try to keep them out of the spotlight, and more into the realm of Plucky Comic Relief.

• And remember: A character that is deliberately designed to be bad is still bad. Pointing it out and snickering at it does not make the character better. Although it may improve the story.

• When writing what a character is like or can do it is important to know the standards of the universe he/she is in. What may be absurdly impossible in one universe may be common and acceptable in another. Play it safe, do the research and follow precedence of the setting and its characters; canon characters acting wildly out of what fans know about them is a large Sue trigger.