Sue. Mary Sue.

... And that's why answering a cop asking you "What do you think you're doing there, mate?" with "Well I THINK I'm urinating behind a tree, if I'm doing something else please let me know, because it means I'm hallucinating" is a bad idea.

Today I'm going to descuss the greatest bane of writing everywhere, and something all writers must be cautious of, especially if they like one character a bit more then others.

Mary Suism.

Mary Suism derives from a classic parody piece of fan fiction created about Star Trek by a Star Trek fan who'd grown absolutely sick of the fan-fiction pieces where the author inserted themselves into the story. A Mary Sue character is one who:

- Resembles the author (often having a VERY similar name)
- Is usually very young (since often the Mary Sue writers are very young)
- Among the most brilliant/talented in their field in the world
- The love interest of one or more of the other characters
- Practically worshipped by everyone else, with the only people who may possibly not like them are A) main characters who soon realise how great they are, or B) villains who hate them just to show how villainous they are.

In my current fumbling attempts at writing a comic script and planning out what would be in the future (writing something for the first time is like trying to take a bra off for the first time. Awkward, slow, takes too long, and you have a hard time getting the clasp off), I decided one of the characters should be an adaptation of a character I've used before and quite enjoyed. The difficulty there is that my previously established enjoyment of the character could lead to a Pseudo-Sueism, with him (while he doesn't resemble me, for starters he's physically fit) becoming the ultimate at everything. The other problem this can cause is over-compensation, reducing an effective character to the whipping post of the story because you're so afraid of making him 'too good'.

So, I've told you the main problems with the fear of writing a Mary Sue character (overpowered wankery vs under-capable uselessness), now, for my highly considered, in depth proposal on how to avoid that problem?

Shut up, sit down, write what you want to write and enjoy it yourself. And remember, no one will know that character is meant to be you fulfilling all your fantasies if you change the name.

"Well my dear Aayla Secura, let me, Stefan, show you how strong with the force... I am... *Bom chicka chicka chicka bom bom*"