http://graylor.livejournal.com/3596.htmlThis post got me thinking. First of all, the author says everything I want to say concerning Laurell K. Hamilton's books and why I stopped reading them. Second of all, the author makes an excellent point about Mary Sue characters.
It's difficult to write fan fiction and insert an original, authormade character without having it become a Mary Sue or Borderline Mary Sue. I fell victim to the Borderline Mary Sue in my second TMNT fanfic. The character had only a few traits that made her a Sue, but she wasn't a full-blown Sue. In the very early stages of writing my novel, I again nearly fell victim to what is known as Canon Borderline Mary Sue. I very quickly changed that, and now Dana only shares a few measly personality quirks with me. Ian, on the other hand, I'll need to work on, lest everyone know who he's subconsciously based on.
There's nothing wrong with basing a character on yourself, the author. After all, who do you know better than yourself? The problem comes when the author seems unable to distinguish herself from her character, and all of a sudden the character becomes everything the author wants to be, or everything the author already is complete with wish fulfillment.
For example: Anita Blake is short and curvy with wavy black hair. Just like her author. Anita Blake whines about being short and curvy. Just like her author. And, Anita Blake also thinks that "any woman smaller than a size five isn't a real woman" just like her author (yes, she said that in one of the books, and yes, I'm still seething about it). Why? I see it as a deep, unconscious author reflection: Jealousy. Envy. Insecurity. Unhappiness. Hamilton is obviously so hung-up about certain things that she takes a whole lot out on her characters, in unpleasant ways, which I won't even go into.
This is not what you want as an author. You want to put some good emotional distance there. Even if your characters are based off of you and your friends, it shouldn't be so screamingly obvious that it distracts from the book. You also want to make sure that your plots are at least somewhat resolved in a timely fashion, that loose ends are tied up, that readers are satisfied and not left to bang their heads against the headboards of the beds they stayed up in late at night reading the books, crying, "Why did I spend money on this? I could have bought a quart of chocolate ice cream and moped alongside [insert emo band here] in the time it took to read this!"
I'm learning in many hard ways. This is why I've been putting off finishing the novel. This is why I sidestep my mother's questions about why I haven't started looking for a publisher or agent. I don't want to be a Bad Author. I don't want my characters to be so obviously like me that it hurts the book. And I also don't want to fall into the trap that LKH has fallen into, in which I would lash out at any critic of my work, in which I would surround myself with only positive reviews and fans, in which I would begin to sound like I had some serious issues that needed therapy. It makes me think of the phrase, "I'm sorry. I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am."
Added:
In case y'all were wondering what really brought this up, here. Have fun. It's got some classic comments!
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