Strong Females

One thing that really drives me up a wall when reading most modern crap today is the portrayal of female characters, whether they be the lead or just in the background. The two most common views are the following: the rebellious hot babe or the quiet homemaker who has little part to play in the story.

Now to explain. The rebellious hot babe, who usually has a major or semi-major role, is the beautiful girl who goes out to war and kicks butt there, and usually doing such things out of rebellion, typically with a parent or guardian-figure. These girls often sometimes can be bad-tempered or feminist, saying that they can handle things as well as the men and don't like being held back because of it. Not only are they determined to make their mark on the world, but they also are often the love interest of a main male character, usually a romance based solely on physical appearances. An example of this character is Arya from Christopher Paolini's "Inheritance Cycle". However, these girls are not always pushy and let you know that they're as good as men; sometimes, it is more subtle, usually quietly spoken by when they pick up a sword and start helping during a battle.

The quiet homemaker has a few varying forms, but they are generally the submissive, motherly types who are often the love interests for minor male characters and serve no other purpose then their relationship to the men. An example of this, also from Paolini's series, is Elaine, a minor character who has a pregnancy that lasts for pretty much the entirety of two books (how that is biologically possible escapes me, but that is not relevant), and she does nothing else for the story besides being a mother to a few other minor characters. Another example would be Bella Swann from "Twilight".

Related to the homemaker is the damsel in distress. This is a female character who may not be the quiet girl, but she is often either related to the protagonist or romantically involved in some way. She may be told that she has an importance in saving the world, but in the end she is only used for advancing the plot by being kidnapped, rescued, and then re-kidnapped again; the only example I can think of for this one is in a non-published work that I have read. Or, on a related note, a similar damsel is told she has a big part to play but in the end is nothing more than a minor character, overshadowed by the protagonist, who is often a male; an example of this one is Taryn from Nikk Fensterman's "Twins".

Now, having these characters is not necessarily a bad thing, but it gives the appearance of very weak and stereotyped female characters. You can have strong females without resorting to these stereotypes, and I will give two examples, both from George R. R. Martin's "Song of Fire and Ice" (granted, I have only read the first book "Game of Thrones", so you'll have to forgive me for relying on one book). The first one is Catelyn Stark, married to Lord Eddard Stark, one of the main characters of the story. Even though she married him more out of arrangement and not for love, the two have a good non-angsty relationship, and she loves her husband and her children very dearly. As the plot picks up and conspiracy rises, Catelyn, wanting to find out who tried to kill one of her children, quietly travels all over the kingdom to seek this information and to bring the assassin to justice. Despite her motherly nature, she comes across as strong because she does not go into battles but neither does she sit at home and do nothing. The second female in the book that comes across as strong is Cersei Lannister. Cersei may be the king's wife and daughter of a prominent family, but she is not to be trifled with. She may seemingly not to much, but the reader can tell that there is more to her that meets the eye and that she is certainly manipulating events. Other strong female characters in literature would be Jane Austen's female protagonists like Elinor Dashwood, who is quiet but has great emotional and mental strength, and Elizabeth Bennett, who has her faults but only seeks to uphold her family's honor and reputation. There are many more examples of strong women in literature, but these are a few examples.

So, please, do not fall into this modern literature trap. Your females do not have to be aggressive bulls, but neither do they have to be doormats. There is a happy balance here, so seek it and write it.

Avoiding Marys and Garys: Part 2

And, now that I have a bit of a breather for, hopefully, the next hour, I will continue my discussion on Mary Sues.

If you remember, I gave a short list of normal Mary Sue traits on my last post. As I said, some of these traits are not bad. In fact, many of these descriptions could describe any of our characters. But, the difference between a good character and a Mary Sue is execution, how the author carries it out.

If you decide to make your character extremely talented and beautiful, you still have to keep them realistic. To keep them from looking like demigods that should be loved and admired by all, you have to remember that they are only human; no one is that perfect, even in a fictional story. Say, for example, you decide to make a character an expert linguist or magician. At the same time, make them absolutely horrible in another area like mathematics, athletics, or even just having no everyday sense at all. Another example would be a character who is stunningly beautiful physically; you could give it a real nasty temper or bad attitude that makes people back off.

On a related note, no character can be perfectly loved by all the good guys. We all have our own serious personality/ attitude flaws as well as our own perspectives on life and various events that we watch unfold before our eyes. Just because your character may think that the military needs to be more aggressive against the enemy or that the school needs a new pop machine doesn't mean that's the right view and that everyone else who thinks otherwise is an enemy. I am currently trying to put this into practice with my own fantasy novel; it is set during a war, and you have various captains, lieutenants, and then the king all trying to protect the land, but they all have different views from each other; just because a lieutenant thinks that the king and his nephew (the protagonist) have idiotic ideas doesn't automatically make him a villain nor a rival.

This leads into another point. A common flaw with Mary Sues is that they don't make mistakes or, if they do, they end up fixing it and solving the problem entirely; they don't really learn anything or retain the lesson permanently. Don't be afraid to let your characters make major mistakes with no easy solution or with one that doesn't completely solve the problem. In real life, the older we grow, we look back over mistakes we make and regret being foolish, but it is ultimately those mistakes that teach us and mold us. It is how your characters react to their mistakes and learn from them that will give them greater maturity and cause them to change.

I may continue this discussion later when I have more time.

Avoiding Marys and Garys

A major problem in stories nowadays is the huge amount of what are called "Mary Sues", basically a shallow character that is a self-insert for the author (male versions of these are often called "Gary Stus"). There is nothing good about these characters, as they are annoying and distract from the story, making it hard to read.

Here are some signs of a Mary Sue (took me a little research to make sure these were correct):

- Unusual, special character. This Mary Sue is unique in the world and has very special powers or gifts that no one else has. They may have a unique name and unique features, often including great beauty or being very attractive. The character has special magical powers or great talents like being an expert at oil painting in their early teenage years. They may also take an extremely short time to learn certain skills that would normally take years.

- Everybody loves him/her. This character may have a stubborn, unintelligent, and mean personality, but all the other characters fawn over him/her, not caring about their faults. The good guys often love this character and bad guys hate this character, and there's no in-between. Basically, the character can do no wrong in the author's eyes, and so everyone must agree with them with no criticism or anything bad said toward them.

- They usually have a very shallow romance. The kind of romance where he/she falls in love with the hottie, usually the popular person that everyone else has fallen head over heels for.

- In relation to the first point, Mary Sues are given preferential treatment in regards to their appearance. They are physically perfect in every way and may even have oddly colored eyes or hair. Some Sues often have a special mark on them that speaks of their unique position, though this is not always the case.

- This is not always the mark of a Sue, but they have some very special role to play in killing the villain and saving the world.

- This is also not always the mark of a Sue, but they often have very troubled pasts like abuse, dead family members, etc... and this turns simply into a way for them to angst and for the readers to feel sorry for them.

- A Sue may be a wish fulfillment of the author, having the same physical appearance as him/her, similar interests and hobbies, etc... Or, they may be what the author wishes they could be, like being more attractive or more talented.

This is not a comprehensive list, and it was largely taken from the following website: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CommonMarySueTraits

To test out your characters for any signs of Suedom, try out the following link: http://www.ponylandpress.com/ms-test.html However, I would say, use caution, as sometimes it may call a character a Sue when it is not. Still, try to beware of this severe flaw that is floating around nowadays.