There’s a nefarious character lurking in our midst, infecting our society and culture every day as we speak:
The Mary Sue.
It is such a part of the norm nowadays, there’s even a Wikipedia page on it. But, as someone smarter than me more succinctly put it, “a Mary Sue is a literary character who is an idealized stand-in for the author.”
Kind of like the character a maladjusted, high school outcast might create in a Harry Potter story where he was the most popular kid wizard in Hogwarts, and “every girl wanted them or every guy wanted to be like them.”
Or sort of like how JK Rowling herself wrote in a nerdy, shy female character who happens to be the smartest wizard to wizard… and later grows up to become Prime Minister of the whole wizarding world.
(A minister I might add who is “a progressive voice who ensured the eradication of oppressive, pro-pureblood laws,” not unlike Rowling’s own politics. A total Mary Sue to the nth degree.)
Or how Rey, the newest character in the Star Wars Universe, is a white female “badass,” who magically could Jedi better than any Jedi without any training… all while under Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy’s helm. Coincidence? Probably not.
(Note: I’m not a Star Wars fanatic so I could be wrong… or objectively right. Who knows.)
I could go on. But, to the point:
For every Mary Sue, there is also… the Marty Stu.
Marty Stus are the marketers who go SO out of their way to portray themselves in their own idealized form that they totally lose sight of how ridiculous they look and sound.
There’s the obvious trope: Guy marketer aka “digital nomad,” getting covered in tattoos and/or in front of a Lambo as a some kind of “badasspreneur.” (Not that women are off the hook: the femmepowerment life coach throwing glitter and gold lamé tarot cards in the air as a “spiritual boss babe” is also a Marty Stu.)
As if that’s not bad enough: these Marty Stus are going so far as to claim that their personality types make them the natural-born “villains” (or a “unicorn mermaid muse” if a girl-Stu) they are.
And, just like that, they’re all suddenly a super-villain INTJ like Emperor Palpatine or Walter White, or a mad scientist INTP like Dr. Frankenstein or Dr. Manhattan.
Because, of course, nothing screams “Introvert” more than proclaiming this (loudly, and at every chance possible) on social media. Or drawing attention to yourself and your (supposed) wealth on social media at all.
(Never mind the sheer force of will and discipline to be a true J…. and the mad-cap curiosity that fuels a true P.)
But, it’s not (necessarily) their fault: a free Internet personality quiz makes it all too easy to answer what you *wish* you could answer, versus what you actually should.
Much like how a blank Word document is ripe for an author’s poor character development and white knighting instead of a natural flawed one.
But, it doesn’t have to be this way.
There is a real, genuine way to type yourself… and others too.
And, it’s easily learned. In fact, it’s so easy, it can be done within minutes and it becomes so second-nature, you can easily spot the Mary Sues and the Marty Stus in the distance (and avoid them before they come running).
(The bigger client list, the busier call calendar, the more highly converting copy, the more opened emails, the better sales, and the better employee/partner relationships are just an added bonus.)
To learn how, go here: