The biggest road block I'm having while writing my story is trying to get my protagonist out of a cardboard cutout. All of the supporting characters and antagonists have a certain flair to them, along with a complete backstory of what makes them, "them." But until the end the the beginning / start of middle, she's just an average Mary Sue, and honestly quite boring. Any ideas to break her mold?
If you have the hero more fleshed out towards the middle/end of the book, that's a pretty good start. In the beginning of the book, it can be okay to have the hero seem fairly average and normal, as long as they aren't simply bland. I would start by giving them a realistic back story that informs their current state of affairs. And otherwise, just think about things like: their daily routine, their friends, their opinions about their friends, etc. The character doesn't necessarily need to "pop" right away as long as their narrative voice is strong and the reader can realistically ease themselves in the character's world view. Also, developing a few minor mannerisms of the character can go a long way.
This was a bit of a non-sequitur, but I hope you find it useful nonetheless.
One thing that's hard–but pays off–is revamping the character. Maybe even replace them with one of those well-developed supporters your mentioned. If you want to revamp, start. With. Backstory. EVERYTHING comes from the background. Try to think of a unique set of circumstances that produces a unique set of emotions. Those emotions can influence your character and justify their actions.
I hope this helps, at least a bit!!
Motives, and actual goals that a normal person would have. It would also help if they had flaws, ones that can cast them in a less good light. Not flaws that are endearing, but it's okay if you have those too.
Sometimes if a character just doesn't sit right with you, its best to start from scratch. Nobody likes to write a character that they don't care about, so maybe you can try to completely redesign her personality.
If you still like her and want to use her, then maybe we can try to cure her Mary-Sue syndrome. I would say "give her flaws" but its more complicated than that. Try to make her more human. If she feels like cardboard to you, really try to correct her actions to being more realistic and more natural. Mary Sue's are perfect in every way, shape, and form (and i dont know your character so bare with me) so try to eliminate some of that perfection by giving her quirks. What petty things annoy her? How does she manage her time? What's something really embarrassing that happened to her? A good way to make a character more human is to think about things you do in your life.Think about how different people you know (and yourself) react to different situations. Your readers won't remember a character who reacts to every situation with optimism and unprecedented perfection, but they will remember a character who normally is standoffish and level-headed get all excited and peppy when someone mentions their favorite show.
In short, get to know her :) Sometimes I think it works to focus on little things/habits about your character before getting into the really heavy character development questions. A lot of my characters started out with a physical design (i like to draw :3) and an extremely basic list of traits or headcanon type scenarios. Once I liked them as a person, I was able to get super into their backstory and deepen them as a character.
Hope it helps <3
@Grace<3 @ClaustrophobicInAForestTheyPlanted @CinnamonRoll and @joufflucharlie thank you all so much for your suggestions and advice, I'm proud to say she's a much more interesting and realistic character. Everything helped a ton ~