Seanan McGuire about Mary Sue
Nov. 4th, 2011 05:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sergebroomNot long ago, Seanan McGuire, author of the "October Daye" novels, and Grand Winner of the recent worldcon's "Just A Minute" tournament, wrote about Mary Sue.
McGuire talks about Mary Sue's origins in fanfic, and how her name has been used and misused outside of fanfic. She also compares her to Gary Stu, who seems to get a pass when doing things that'd have a female character dismissed as a Mary Sue if she dared do the exact same thing.
You can read the whole post here:
( http://seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com/396047.html )
She's a cuckoo egg left in a starling's nest, hatching into something big and bright and demanding that doesn't belong where it is. In her own story, she would be something else altogether: she would be a protagonist, she would be the biggest, brightest thing in the room because that's what a protagonist is. But because she's trying to be a starling instead of a cuckoo, she's out of place.
McGuire talks about Mary Sue's origins in fanfic, and how her name has been used and misused outside of fanfic. She also compares her to Gary Stu, who seems to get a pass when doing things that'd have a female character dismissed as a Mary Sue if she dared do the exact same thing.
You can read the whole post here:
( http://seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com/396047.html )
