Warning Label For Bad Fiction

[The Pecman]

I just caught this on the "Words on Words" website and thought this was hilarious. And I totally cop to some of my stories needing these warning labels. 

 

 

http://johndopp.com/writers/amazons-new-warning-labels/

[Cia]

I've seen this. It's funny! This is a humorous take on Amazon's new policy about to go into effect that stories where readers have complained about the editing will get a 'warning label'. Of course, some authors are up in arms over it, but they promise it won't be an automatic event (a real person will investigate the complaints and authors have a chance to fix the issues) that will target and slam authors with speculative fiction and use 'made up' words.

[Puppilull]

Uh-oh! I don't even want to think about which labels might be appropriate for my stories... LOL

 

Very funny!

[Valkyrie]

I think my favorite is "Apparently edited by chimpanzees"    :rofl:  

[Slytherin]

I think my favorite is "Apparently edited by chimpanzees"    :rofl:  

 

Very funny post !

[JamesSavik]

Who is Mary Sue?

 

 

Characters sniff, snarl and smile through their dialogue.

 

In something I'm reading now, the boss scowls, the dog scowls, Mary Sue scowls- everybody scowls.

 

No one is pensive. No one is thoughtful. No one is worried. They just scowl. 

 

Edited July 27, 2018 by jamessavik

[Valkyrie]

Who is Mary Sue?

 

 

 

http://www.springhole.net/writing/whatisamarysue.htm

 

In a lot of stories I've read lately it seems like everyone is shaking their head.  There have got to be some serious headaches going on from all the head shaking.  lol

[Aditus]

http://www.springhole.net/writing/whatisamarysue.htm

 

In a lot of stories I've read lately it seems like everyone is shaking their head.  There have got to be some serious headaches going on from all the head shaking.  lol

Goes back and checks frantically.

[Valkyrie]

Goes back and checks frantically.

No worries, Adi.  Your characters don't shake their brains into oblivion.  lol  I'd tell you if it was excessive.  

[Ron]

Oh, come on... Don't we all know a "Mary Sue" person in real life? I'm pretty sure I've known someone at each point in my life where everything seems to fall into place for them. I know, there's that magic word seems... but, still. They do exist.

 

Now, I've never used one of these exceptional people in my writing and, I suppose, I won't ever be allowed to. Not without derision , condescension  and a warning label.  

[Daddydavek]

Everyone is a critic, but in my experience which covers more than sixty years of reading, I can overlook a lot for a good plot or an engaging character.

[Krista]

I believe I could slap every one of those on my work... Although Steven might take offense to the chimpanzee one. *Tosses him a banana* 

[The Pecman]

http://www.springhole.net/writing/whatisamarysue.htm

 

In a lot of stories I've read lately it seems like everyone is shaking their head.  There have got to be some serious headaches going on from all the head shaking.  lol

 

Guilty as charged. 

[Former Member]

Oh, come on... Don't we all know a "Mary Sue" person in real life? I'm pretty sure I've known someone at each point in my life where everything seems to fall into place for them. I know, there's that magic word seems... but, still. They do exist.

 

Now, I've never used one of these exceptional people in my writing and, I suppose, I won't ever be allowed to. Not without derision , condescension  and a warning label.  

 

Good old Mary Sue and her twin brother Gary Stu.   Fanfiction is a place where Mary Sue and her brother thrive. It is an ungodly place, where 13 year old girls save Navy Seals and 14 year old boys catch RPG's with their bare hands to save their comrades from the hordes of Somali or Russian enemies. 

[Carlos Hazday]

Great! More stuff to look for in each chapter while writing and editing. Just what I needed.

[metajinx]

Hahahahaha I so hope I didn't do any of that recently!

[Mann Ramblings]

Great! More stuff to look for in each chapter while writing and editing. Just what I needed.

 

 

LOL I'm just going to send over the graphics. It'll make my job easier!

[Dabeagle]

I'm glad others clarified for me what the Mary Sue was. I admit, I was staring at it and wondering what the heck?

[The Pecman]

I'm glad others clarified for me what the Mary Sue was. I admit, I was staring at it and wondering what the heck?

 

Eh, I'd just call this syndrome a hero who has unbelievable luck or skills. You know it's a "thing" when there's an entire entry on Wikipedia devoted to Mary Sue:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue

[wanda walker]

Unfortunately, there was a bit of a witch hunt craze for Mary Sues a few years ago, and suddenly EVERY character was a Mary Sue. There were "tests" your character could take that would determine whether or not your character was a Mary Sue, so that if your character were not stupid, untalented, miserable, mean, and one-legged, he/she would be labeled a "Mary Sue". It would drag characters out of the complicated contexts of their stories and try to proclaim that any character with a special power or secret lineage HAD to be a Mary Sue and therefore terrible. 

 

Luckily we've moved beyond that witch hunt, and I think it's mostly a fanfiction problem, because when you're 15, your characters tend to lean in that direction (guilty as charged, aha). But I have found much more prevalent (and annoying) character tropes in original fiction that don't have much to do with Mary Sues, so I worry more about those instead. 

[JamesSavik]

LOL... OK I get it now. 

 

Mary Sue is every character that Will Smith ever played.

Edited March 13, 2016 by jamessavik

[Former Member]

LOL... OK I get it now. 

 

Mary Sue is every character that Will Smith plays.

Don't forget Queen Mary Sue herself...Milla Jovovich. 

[MrM]

"Everything you are doing is bad...I just want you to know dis." ~ Yahnnosh from Ghostbusters II

[JamesSavik]

Here's a couple more:

 

 

Edited July 27, 2018 by jamessavik