A Cup Of Cheer

The third chapter of 27 Ounces is up. I was kind of worried about it, but in the end I think I am satisfied. I wish I could be like the character, Caprice. Either form, actually, human or pony.

That's the problem, maybe, with writing about cool characters...realizing that no matter what I do, I can never be like them. Kind of sad, really.

Someday I should try to write a Mary Sue. I think that's what it's called. It'd probably be nice... a character I don't have to feel inferior to. Then again, if I didn't like my Mary Sue, then I would hate myself. Eww. Not good.

Anyway, these 7500 word chapters take two days and, well, whew. Tiring.

I think the next series of stories I will try to keep at 3500 words each. Oh well, live and learn.

Comments

Actually, a Mary Sue is a very specific type of authorial self insert, and not at all one that would not make you feel inferior. To quote the great time sink that is tvtropes:

The prototypical Mary Sue is an original female character in a fanfic who obviously serves as an idealized version of the author mainly for the purpose of Wish Fulfillment. She's exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye color, and has a similarly cool and exotic name. She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing.

She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story. The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her into their nakama, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting; if any character doesn't love her, that character gets an extremely unsympathetic portrayal. She has some sort of especially close relationship to the author's favorite canon character — their love interest, illegitimate child, never-before-mentioned sister, etc. Other than that, the canon characters are quickly reduced to awestruck cheerleaders, watching from the sidelines as Mary Sue outstrips them in their areas of expertise and solves problems that have stymied them for the entire series. (See Common Mary Sue Traits for more detail on any of these cliches.)

In other words, the term "Mary Sue" is generally slapped on a character who is important in the story, possesses unusual physical traits, and has an irrelevantly over-skilled or over-idealized nature.