What does this mean?
As your helper and person that is here for you, to tell you the real skinny behind things, let me be the first person to tell you that this means nothing. This should not affect, change or modify what and how you are currently writing.
Above all, finish what you have started.
Because let’s be real, there has to be something special about the Main Character of your story or else why is the story being written about them and not the person standing next to them? Or the person down the street? or the other guy that they don’t like? You have chosen this person to be your Main Character because they are in fact special and that by itself is going to have them just score higher on any test that seems to target special people.
And even if they are just normal people like you and me, by being in your story you are putting the spotlight on them, and bringing them to center stage. When you do this, they rise to the occasion.
Everyone (and anyone) become special or unique if draw enough attention to them. Think about the people you love and are important in your life. They become special to you, they all have ‘exceptional traits’ things about them that make them stand out in a crowed to you.
For example, someone you love might have brown eyes. The most common eye color is brown, but your loved one has those special brown eyes that look like orbs of polished amber sparkling in the sun light when they look at you.
See what I mean? Is someone is special to you, they become exceptional to you.
The same holds true for the people in your story. They are special, precious and important to you so you in turn will make them exceptional.
In this front, So what if you make a Mary Sue.
It just means that you care about the story, you care about what you are writing and that the MC (Main Character) is close to your heart.
Quick Note: The very Idea of Mary Sue was started by Paula Smith, who continued to write long after she wrote her Mary Sue.
Even if you do write a “Sue” it is not a world ender, it is a world starter!
Another thing. Many well known and respected fantasy figures would score very high on many of those Mary Sue Tests. But they are not Mary Sue’s.
Just to give you a flash Pan example of MCs that have a lot of “Sue Like” traits but are not Sue’s at all are:
Aragorn of Lord of the Rings – Created by JRR Tolkien.
Sherlock Holmes – Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Nancy Drew – Created by Carolyn Keene
Or I could you could just look at every comic book hero and villain ever made just to give you an idea.
Here is the end result of what is a Sue.
If someone thinks you are making a Sue, it does not matter WHAT traits they have, they will claim you have written a “Sue”. People are like that. So don’t worry about what one person says, write what you want to write. No story should be your first/last/only. Writing is an adventure and a path to follow, above all… enjoy it!
And that my friend is the “End of Story”.
Also note: Just to lighten your burden a bit. The Term “Mary Sue” started with Fan Fiction, where people would, for lack of a better way to put this, put “Their perfect selves” into a story. The Ideal “Them” and then be the greatest thing that ever happened to said story.
However, Mary Sue has become so over used that there are claims to Original Fiction and Cannon Characters of stories being “Sues”. Please note that means the Characters written by the Original Author or Creator of a story. Like Gene Roddenberry writing Wesley Crusher for example.
That should really be a warning bell for you and tell you right out of the starting gate that the very idea or label “Mary Sue” is pointless beyond even humoring.
With that out of the way, Go write your story anyway.
As far as I know, no one got blacklisted from ever becoming a famous author because they wrote a “Mary Sue”.
So! … Get to it!
You can do it!
Take pride in all you do! Loosing some races does not mean the game is over! Keep running no matter what!