Nico wrote: But now I'm worried that an original character I'm going to use in my fiction is a Mary Sue, although she's definitely not perfect or universally adored. I'm basically adding her because I think it stretches probability too much to use existing characters like Jenna (so Blake lied about her death) or Avalon (though I am using her in one story) or a miraculously saved Cally. And the crew *are* going to meet new people, stands to reason (she says, desperately).
I'm with Sally: go forth & try it. It's tough to write original characters without invoking dear Mary Sue, but certainly it can be done; there are any number of precedents in B7 fiction. I think the secret is to keep her from being the center of every scene & of everyone's thoughts & of everyone's emotional lives.
Mind you, I've also created Vila's mother, and she's rather like mine. Is there a term for that? :-)
I love the "Mummy Sue" suggestion!
feste feste@brandywine.net
"Figs are sweet, but fictions are sweeter." -- William Makepeace Thackeray
Feste said:
I'm with Sally: go forth & try it. It's tough to write original characters without invoking dear Mary Sue, but certainly it can be done; there are any number of precedents in B7 fiction. I think the secret is
to
keep her from being the center of every scene & of everyone's thoughts &
of
everyone's emotional lives.
Don't forget the conjunction: I create fascinating original characters, you self-insert, she Mary-Sues.
-(Y)
-
Dana Shilling -
feste＠brandywine.net