When it comes to character development, no feedback on your beloved creations could fall more terrifyingly on the ear and eye than those two dreaded words: Mary Sue.
For that is an executioner's axe on your confidence as a writer, a curse on your reputation; I have seen people scramble and trip over themselves to find ways to keep their characters from falling under that label, desperate to ensure that they don't ostracize themselves and doom their writing to permanent association with mediocrity. I have witnessed the less experienced throwing waves of tortured backstory and weaknesses and undesirable traits at their characters in efforts t