User blog comment:Heidiquiding/First blog!/@comment-4214478-20151122212723

My word of advice? Drop the term "Mary Sue" completely. Don't worry about that. You want your characters to be completely flawless princesses with 1000 romantic partners? Go for it! Have fun! As long as you're proud of your work, that's what matters.

And of course, know that you'll keep getting better. We have all made cringey, unrealistic power fantasy OCs in our pasts. It's a part of life. But we learn, and we grow, and we be grateful for the experience. So without further ado, here's what I have to say about "good" characters:

Branch out from your comfort zone. Many people have a "type" of characters they create. A staple or trademark, if you will. Don't rely on one of those. When making a cast, try making them as diverse and different from each other as possible, and work especially hard on characters with personalities you're not used to writing. Try not to rely on typical group archetypes like "gentle princess" or "mean girl" either, though those are a good starting point.

Be original! You can take inspiration from other ideas and characters, but it's never a good idea to just dress up someone else's character and call it your own. Trust me, it's way more fun to have characters who are solely products of yourself. Inspiration is never a bad thing, though! For example, my character Vanna is heavily inspired by Vivienne from Dragon Age, but they two are obviously distinct characters.

Depth is important too! Remember, everyone acts differently around their parents, their friends, their acquaintances, etc. Keep this in mind, as it's a key to figuring out what kind of personality your character has. What's important though, is how your character acts to themselves. A good way to figure out things like this is to take online personality tests from the perspective of your character to get a better feel of how they think and operate.

And remember, the admins are here to help you every step of the way. Good luck!