[Silreth]

I'm good at writing but I tend to sway to mary-sues when it comes to characters. I'd like to know what personalities the readers like to see the characters have or recieve any tips what so ever.

Second thing. What do you do when you've got a destination but you're not quite sure how to get there in a logical way?

Last thing (I know I'm rambling). What type of person-goes-back-in-time-to-ME stories do people like to read?

[KhazarKhum]

[Zimraphel]

I thoroughly dislike characters who are perfect in every way, especially if they are unusually beautiful. Even Elves, to whom I usually give some flaw to offset their unearthly beauty. For example, I make Ingwe into an incessant talker who doesn't let anyone else get in a word edgewise. And Cirdan's habit of seeing into the future is, well, just....freaks other Elves out sometimes. And Glorfindel is extremely self-effacing, despite the fact that he puts out enough wattage to light Los Angeles for a month.

I personally do not care for any sort of modern-person-ends-up-in-Middle-earth stories. The only time this juxtaposition really worked for me was in Lipstick's "Captain Tinkerbell," in which Maglor (who is still alive and roaming the world) ends up in the trenches of WWI alongside a certain unnamed, young British scholar.

[Roisin]

The best way to neutralize a Mary Sue is to give her character flaws. They make people more interesting. If you look at the most beloved female literary characters, they all had serious personality defects. (Emma Woodhouse= spoiled, meddlesome. Cathy Earnshaw = selfish and immature. Guinevere = adulterous)

Also, IMO an OC needs a believable past and believable connections to the people around her.

And if you can't think of a way to get where you want to go in your story, it's possible you may have to rethink your destination.

Roisin

[Scribe]

[Viv]

The best modern-person-arrives-in-ME story I can think of would be bare-bones realistic. She'd bamph there, have no idea where she was, not have the right clothes, get blisters almost immediately, probably starve or poison herself on the absolute wrong berries. And if she was fortunate enough to find a human (rare in an era of limited population), there's no way they'd be able to communicate. Because of her bizarre clothing and speech, they'd probably think she was not quite right and do something horrific to her. Or just ignore her and let nature take its course.

Now, say our modern girl was an Indiana-Jones type gal who came prepared with a map, laptop with Sindarin and Westron dictionary PDFs, trail rations, hiking boots, loaded outdoors gear, and plenty of sunscreen ... she'd still probably get a bug or something just from drinking the water.

The only way a modern girl could possibly zat to ME and survive would be if the folks there intentionally brought her to their world. And then she'd have to be so special that she'd be a pretty irritating character.

However, I don't think that elves-in-the-modern world is as tricky a scenario as all that. The ones I'm writing in Dawn Twilight have been here all along. They have a purpose here, so they've resisted the fading, and frankly they understand our world better than we do. Per Tolkien, their control over their bodies is such that they can be in disguise at will, so they only reveal themselves when they wish to. And at least one of my modern-day elf characters rather likes 21st c. technology (a Noldo, of course).

[Roisin]

Yeah, I can see where Elves in modern-day would work all right...sort of like vampires. Except without the murderous blood-drinking part.

Roisin

[miriel361]

Well at this point I feel I have to defend my own stories. I like to think they're not Mary Sues - but they probably are. I've done what everyone says you shouldn't - I've dropped an elf into the modern world and now I'm dropping a peredhel brought up in the modern world, back into Middle Earth. It's not great literature, but it was the story that I wanted to write because I am fascinated by elves. I wanted to show the difference between elves and humans and believed that the best way I could do that was by taking them out of their normal surroundings.

And yes my characters have no trouble with the language, but then neither did the elves who first communicated with men (The Silmarillion). I figure that if Tolkien throws away logic at times in order to aid a good story, then so can I .

On the plus side, my characters have flaws and that makes them believable. I think so long as you can identify with the main characters then you are willing to overlook a few weaknesses and take a giant leap of faith.

[Viv]

Part of it is also presentation. Miriel, you can get away with a lot of things because you're a talented writer... and, more importantly, very consistent Tolkien researcher. You don't need to defend your stories. They're excellent.

Elrohir's arrival in the modern world was great; you went through a lot of awkward moments in the story and eased him in. I loved his fascination with the refrigerator door. Little details like that remind us that indeed this is a strange new world for him. So there is little disbelief to suspend. You also explained the language problem, at least enough that it didn't bother me.

However, I've read literally dozens of opening scenes of LoTRfics where some chick (usually very young, perky, and beautiful) ends up in Middle-earth and has practically no adjustment problems. Those things make me crazy.

I still long to read the transplanted-to-middle-earth story where the heroine has a horrible time of it, doesn't ever meet anyone alarmingly pretty, and in the end just wants to go back home to air conditioning and twinkies.

[miriel361]

Viv wrote:

I still long to read the transplanted-to-middle-earth story where the heroine has a horrible time of it, doesn't ever meet anyone alarmingly pretty, and in the end just wants to go back home to air conditioning and twinkies.

[Viv]

[Roisin]

Well in my vision of Middle Earth everyone has plumbing and good oral hygeine, due to the technological and medical savvy of the Elves.

Roisin

[Viv]

Can you just imagine Finrod explaining toothbrushes and flush commodes to Men? No wonder they thought elves were a little loopy...

[catmorgan]

O lord! The last few entries here really made me laugh my ass off, bc that "missing twinkies and real toilets" is what I'm going thru now. Living in Germany for the past few months has taught me to live w/o twinkies, AC, and a recognizable shower. I get lost easily in a 3 street city and makea faux pas every time I turn around. I might just sign up for this challenge...

can't wait to read the stories!

catmorgan

[Viv]

Oh no! And you had to suffer through the mutha of all summers (so I hear), too. How miserable! Well, at least winter should be a little more comfortable (Europe knows how to deal with uncomfortable cold).

Yes, please do enter the challenge. It's silly, it's fun, it's a way to stretch your muse without any pressure. Some muses appreciate being unleashed onto little projects.