When writing...?

Stop writing immediately. Read through what you have and go back to the point where you see things going bad for your character. At that point, as Stephen King would say, Murder your darlings!

That means go back to that point and get rid of everything you have created that leads your character down the Mary Sue path. Work more on her character study. Flesh her out more.

Then go back and pick up from the point where it is all good. Pax-C

While NOT working on the story per se, sit down with a pad of paper and make a listing of what characteristics the main character could have.

Let your imagination go wild to get out of the dull mainstream of things. Maybe one of her deepest desires is to adopt a child from Africa, or try her hand at deep sea fishing. After making a list, you can then choose a few things that can give her some life.

The more readers know about a character, the more they can identify with her and the more "real" she/he will seem.

well its simple your character is a sue because you haven't defined her to the world

what drives her to talk the way she does in your books?? is she proper and why does she act this way???

there is always a reason. no you must not change the character but what you must do is to give her choice. do not make her average. don't make her decisions so typical, so calculated. give her some uncommon flaws.create her ideals so she doesn't think like everybody body else around her

for example your character is really smart but all she cares about is love .THAT equals a Sue

instead your character is really smart but all she cares about is plants

well the main advice is you need to make her her own person instead of shaping her. don't be so typical. add in a few werid things and flaws

Mary Stu? Gary Stu?

That's a new reference to me.

Pardon my blithe ignorance, but I grew up on mostly STAR TREK books, some classics like The Cay, Chronicles of Narnia, To Kill A Mockingbird, and a few others.

do you mean you think she doesn't have much of a personality? i think that is a chronic disease of story heroes. the only personality they seem to have is that of "the hero" which not very interesting. i usually find that i like the sidekicks more than the main protagonist.

sorry for that drivel. just my observations.

make a list of adjectives that describe your character and then try sticking in some crazy ones just as an experiment and imagine what she would be like after the additions. (english class assignment)

think of your favorite characters (in books, movies, or real life, your freinds) and compile the parts of them that you find the most interesting

that's about all i can think of. i have the same problems.

good luck.