I'm a little torn on the Mary Sue debate. First of all, I much prefer when reading fanfiction to read about the characters I'm actually a fan of. Having said that, I've read several fics which featured very interesting characters who caught my interest and didn't feel out of place. So I'm not completely against Mary Sues- or indeed any OCs- at all
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I have some OCs in my stories, but more as "support act" and not as main characters like in my original stories with original setting, plot etc. Have a look at "original sin" a weyoun- centered story with an OC. Even Star Trek has such "support act" characters like the infamous "red shirt", who always gets killed or "the people from the planet" Picard mets in every episode, therefore I don't mind them in fan fiction. It's easier with fan fiction, because you already have characters and settings, than with your own OC-story in which you have to create all by yourself. And it's still a question whether an OC is a Sue, because people seem to equate them without looking at the story. And this "Sue-thing" seems to be something english/american, because on German fan fic pages, barly anybody talks or complains about them. And Sues seem to come with the fandom, especially in Anime/Manga.
Hmm. Not sure about some of your listed reasons people hate Mary Sues, but I can tell you what I've heard in various discussions over the years (and which I myself agree with
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My essay is based on my online-experience with readers, writers and discussions I read and took part in about that matter. I tried to collect those points in my essay
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re: criticism - One also has to differentiate between a 'critique' and a 'review'. Critiques should be constructive, and done with the intent to help the author improve. A review, on the other hand, is no more than a person's opinion of the writing, and there's no requirement for it to be helpful - or even polite.
The best way for an author to deal with nasty reviews is to ignore them - at least, response-wise. It never hurts to look past the nastiness and see the grain of truth underneath. But nothing feeds an argument like taking part in it.
As to amateurs and professionals, I'd disagree there. An amateur is simply someone who doesn't get paid for their work, and there are plenty of excellent amateurs in fanfic. And frankly, there are a lot of professional writers who write fanfic as a hobby. So the assumption that fanfic doesn't have to be good is one reason why so much crap is out there. Again - if you don't want a public response (ie, good and bad), then don't make the writing public.
I disagree on the last point; being an amateur means to do something out of love "ama..." comes from Latin for "to like /love something" and a person without a formal training in something is always an amateur and never a professional no matter how good or bad his /her skills and works are. Really good writers sell their books/stories and don't give them away for free. I didn't say fan fic writers write deliberatly bad stories, because it's their attitude as amatuers, but they fail at writing a good story, because they lack the training and skill and talent of a good writer. Not everybody has what it takes to be a good writer, like not everybody can sing, act, dance, paint etc. well, but many just do it.
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Even Star Trek has such "support act" characters like the infamous "red shirt", who always gets killed or "the people from the planet" Picard mets in every episode, therefore I don't mind them in fan fiction.
It's easier with fan fiction, because you already have characters and settings, than with your own OC-story in which you have to create all by yourself. And it's still a question whether an OC is a Sue, because people seem to equate them without looking at the story.
And this "Sue-thing" seems to be something english/american, because on German fan fic pages, barly anybody talks or complains about them. And Sues seem to come with the fandom, especially in Anime/Manga.
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The best way for an author to deal with nasty reviews is to ignore them - at least, response-wise. It never hurts to look past the nastiness and see the grain of truth underneath. But nothing feeds an argument like taking part in it.
As to amateurs and professionals, I'd disagree there. An amateur is simply someone who doesn't get paid for their work, and there are plenty of excellent amateurs in fanfic. And frankly, there are a lot of professional writers who write fanfic as a hobby. So the assumption that fanfic doesn't have to be good is one reason why so much crap is out there. Again - if you don't want a public response (ie, good and bad), then don't make the writing public.
Reply
Really good writers sell their books/stories and don't give them away for free.
I didn't say fan fic writers write deliberatly bad stories, because it's their attitude as amatuers, but they fail at writing a good story, because they lack the training and skill and talent of a good writer.
Not everybody has what it takes to be a good writer, like not everybody can sing, act, dance, paint etc. well, but many just do it.
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