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What do you think of "Mary Sue" type fanfiction? Is it possible to write a good one, theoretically? Have you ever *read* a good one? Have you ever written one (good or bad)? What about original characters in general?
Sensing the Writer in the Story:
I believe that all fictions (fan or otherwise) have a certain "Mary Sue" aspect to them in that you can often see the writer's preoccupation with certain themes or ideas reflected in them. When I write, the characters I create are all a little bit of me. That doesn't mean that when friends read my writing they can point at a single character and say, "Aha, that's really Barb right there." It's more subtle than that.
I'm creating people out of personal experience and feelings and the experiences and feelings of my friends and family. Of people I interact with more causally or observe on the street. Of people I've read about or seen on television. I shape the raw material, and it never really ends up as a perfect one-on-one correspondence with the scene or character I produce. So in a sense, I'm in every character I write (or at least my perceptions are), and they're all in me.
Problems with "Mary Sue":
Now, sensing the writer in the story is different from the garden-variety "Mary Sue" where people can clearly see a character as the idealized wish fulfillment of the person producing it. While I wouldn't say that it is impossible to write a good "Mary Sue," I think that it would be difficult. The goal of personal wish fulfillment would seem to have to overshadow the willingness of the writer to be outside herself and fully inhabit each character she writes.
I think "Mary Sue's" can also lead to writers taking it easy on or making it easy for their characters. Fiction is about conflict, about struggle. Without that there's no tension or suspense, and without tension or suspense, readers really have no reason to keep reading.
When you get right down to it, the "Mary Sue" is really intended for an audience of one: the writer. Sharing them with a group of people, of strangers, is like putting your diary up for people to read.
Unconventional "Mary Sue's":
Now when I'm reading some fics, especially those from writers who only write a single or very limited number of pairings, I can't help think that one (maybe two) of the characters themselves become Mary Sue's for their writers. For example, if Marie chooses to write Aragorn slash, and no matter who she has paired him with, no matter what the circumstance or setting, he always responds in the same overly sentimentalized/idealized way, always gets what he wants, always is content and satisfied in a "happily ever after" kind of way, then he has become a sort of "Mary Sue" for her.
Or in other words: Not all "Mary Sue's" need be OC's.
Original Character (OC) in Fics:
I don't have as much of a problem with OC's in fics as I do with "Mary Sue's." Although I can't say that I'm particularly interested in them. Like AU stories, they just don't mesh with my reading interests. Of course, I could be tempted to read an OC story. They would be most effective for me if they were set before the novel/movie/comic/etc. started. Perhaps to explain how a character got the way he/she is. However, the OC shouldn't overshadow the other characters.
Sensing the Writer in the Story:
I believe that all fictions (fan or otherwise) have a certain "Mary Sue" aspect to them in that you can often see the writer's preoccupation with certain themes or ideas reflected in them. When I write, the characters I create are all a little bit of me. That doesn't mean that when friends read my writing they can point at a single character and say, "Aha, that's really Barb right there." It's more subtle than that.
I'm creating people out of personal experience and feelings and the experiences and feelings of my friends and family. Of people I interact with more causally or observe on the street. Of people I've read about or seen on television. I shape the raw material, and it never really ends up as a perfect one-on-one correspondence with the scene or character I produce. So in a sense, I'm in every character I write (or at least my perceptions are), and they're all in me.
Problems with "Mary Sue":
Now, sensing the writer in the story is different from the garden-variety "Mary Sue" where people can clearly see a character as the idealized wish fulfillment of the person producing it. While I wouldn't say that it is impossible to write a good "Mary Sue," I think that it would be difficult. The goal of personal wish fulfillment would seem to have to overshadow the willingness of the writer to be outside herself and fully inhabit each character she writes.
I think "Mary Sue's" can also lead to writers taking it easy on or making it easy for their characters. Fiction is about conflict, about struggle. Without that there's no tension or suspense, and without tension or suspense, readers really have no reason to keep reading.
When you get right down to it, the "Mary Sue" is really intended for an audience of one: the writer. Sharing them with a group of people, of strangers, is like putting your diary up for people to read.
Unconventional "Mary Sue's":
Now when I'm reading some fics, especially those from writers who only write a single or very limited number of pairings, I can't help think that one (maybe two) of the characters themselves become Mary Sue's for their writers. For example, if Marie chooses to write Aragorn slash, and no matter who she has paired him with, no matter what the circumstance or setting, he always responds in the same overly sentimentalized/idealized way, always gets what he wants, always is content and satisfied in a "happily ever after" kind of way, then he has become a sort of "Mary Sue" for her.
Or in other words: Not all "Mary Sue's" need be OC's.
Original Character (OC) in Fics:
I don't have as much of a problem with OC's in fics as I do with "Mary Sue's." Although I can't say that I'm particularly interested in them. Like AU stories, they just don't mesh with my reading interests. Of course, I could be tempted to read an OC story. They would be most effective for me if they were set before the novel/movie/comic/etc. started. Perhaps to explain how a character got the way he/she is. However, the OC shouldn't overshadow the other characters.