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The Mary Sue Litmus Test
Sep. 12th, 2007 09:58 pmThe Mary Sue Litmus Test (hat tip ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kristine_smith) supposedly tells you if your character is a "Mary Sue." (For my non-writer readers, a "Mary Sue" is a character that's obviously the author in disguise.)
Janet Pilgrim, my star from The Mars Run got a 45, which per the site is "Mary-Sue. Your character needs some work in order to be believable. But despair not; you should still be able to salvage her with a little effort. Don't give up."
Bullshit! One looses points if the character is, for example, "smarter then average!" Hello, McFly, she's the protagonist! If she's not smarter then average, she's dead in Chapter 5! Sorry, folks, y'all need to recalibrate your test.
kristine_smith) supposedly tells you if your character is a "Mary Sue." (For my non-writer readers, a "Mary Sue" is a character that's obviously the author in disguise.) Janet Pilgrim, my star from The Mars Run got a 45, which per the site is "Mary-Sue. Your character needs some work in order to be believable. But despair not; you should still be able to salvage her with a little effort. Don't give up."
Bullshit! One looses points if the character is, for example, "smarter then average!" Hello, McFly, she's the protagonist! If she's not smarter then average, she's dead in Chapter 5! Sorry, folks, y'all need to recalibrate your test.
