In our last post, we introduced a character named Mary Sue. A Mary Sue character is a character, usually female but not always (you can have a Gary Stu or Marty Stu), who is a self-insertion or wish-fulfillment for the author. Mary Sue is perfect: she is stunningly beautiful, amazingly talented, and totally beloved by the original characters in the story. You can already see why people hate her so much, right?
The big question for writers—assuming you want to write rounded, believable characters instead of Mary Sues—is how do you avoid this?
The answer is flaws. Yes, your characters need real, logical flaws to be rounded and not cardboard. I’m not talking about the supposed “flaws” of a Mary Sue, like “her lower lip was too full for true beauty” or “she’s clumsy” (but she’s an amazing warrior with little or no training) or “she’s shy” (but everyone is so drawn to her and wants her advice and wisdom). Those aren’t flaws, they’re red herrings.
Real flaws are character traits that have consequences. If a character really is shy, they will have trouble speaking to other people, especially in large groups. If they’re clumsy, they will not make a good warrior because they won’t be physically coordinated. If they have some sort of trauma in their background, they might suffer from PTSD, which is a debilitating disorder, not a handy “let’s give Mary Sue a flaw” characteristic with a couple of minor problems for her.
Creating realistic, logical, rounded characters is hard work. Some authors just can’t be bothered to do that work, so they come up with Mary Sue instead. However, if you want to be a better, more effective author, you will put in the work and craft the best characters you know how to. And that means researching those flaws to make sure you understand what consequences they will have, then making certain those consequences pop up periodically to trouble your character. This way, not only will your character avoid being a Mary Sue, but they will be even more sympathetic for your readers, who will be biting their nails waiting for those flaws to pop up and ruin things for your character.
What are your favorite character flaws?