George Doesn't Recognize My Greatness: OC Story Database/OC Story of the Month

The story arc I'm working on began with one idea about a circumstance/result of canon actions that the profic writers have completely forgotten to date. I won't say what it is so that I don't spoil my own plotlines!

Anyway, my OCs grew from figuring out how to handle the situation and stay largely within the canon story/timeline. Thwn as I developed the OCs, their stories came out and the next I knew, what I had conceived as a single long story became a full fledged arc of several stories. So in the style of 'The Adventures of Luke Skywalker', I am penning 'The Adventures of Revek, Silence, Nala, and Raanan'.

So to sum up: my plot idea created the main OCs, but the main OCs have created the story! I've created adversarial and compatriot OCs at need because canon chars can't be -everywhere- all the time.

 

Allow me to clarify my position on hybrid stories. In no way was I devaluing the contributions of writers of OC / Canon interaction pieces or denying them the opportunity to develop their characters (especially as many feel that other OC threads are so very unwelcoming--if this has been the case at OCWA please PM me as thread manager). My concern was that if the purpose of this thread is to workshop fics and run a fic of the month type promotion of OC fics, some distinction should be made between the stories that utilize OCs and those that are dependent on OCs. As it stands, the thread collaborators have agreed to allow for hybrid fic. However, to clarify some concerns with other OC threads I do want to state for the record that there is no secret cabal of OC purists out there eager to alienate or villify anyone who does write a hybrid fic. If you disagree with this contention simply PM me and we can chat I do not want to derail this discussion with finger pointing and bad feelings about other threads.


On "OC persecution"...
Yes, it is difficult to see an abundance of OC persecution with the presence of four threads devoted to OC topics active on the Resource Board. However, I will argue that much of that enthusiasm for OC fic stems from a remarkably dedicated crowd of OC writers who have banded together over the past year. So, I think it is safe to say that the OC writers around here are not being run out of town on a rail and assaulted with rotten eggs and moldy produce. However, I do think that there still exists on these boards a high degree of apathy with regard to OC stories, particularly those lacking an 'anchor' canon character. I always post my big OC pieces or backstories with a tinges of trepidation and guilt--I'm waiting for the day when I get the flood of PMs telling me to pack up my tenuous connections to the GFFA and don't come back until I start writing about Jedis and the Force. It's never been a numbers game for me on reviews or readership, but I feel strongly that most all OC stories are not given the same benefit of the doubt as canon centric stories and that often times we're judged guilty until otherwise proven innocent.

 

I'll be the first to admit that the reason I'm so passionate and argumentative about this topic is because I have a character very dear to my heart, Kyran Josel, who's sole purpose when he was originally created was to be Qui-Gon's best friend for rpg purposes, cause after all Jedi have to have friends too, and one sided rpg's are really rather impossible. Working with my rpg partner, Lithiniel, who bequeathed him to me when she lost interest in star wars and handed over all rights to him. I would never have been brave enough write OC's at all on these boards if it hadn't been for the encouragement I received during the first fic I ever posted with him in it, and now I find I write more OC's than canon. My muse gets tired of the same pairing fics that are seen all the time and it's hard to come up with ideas that aren't cliched using canon pairings.

 

corellian_ale wrote: Actually, since I was the staunchy "No Hybrids Allowed" guy, I gotta' ask, does anbody that writes hybrid fics plan on kicking those OCs out onto their own, or are you content to keep them in stories with the canon/EU characters? (not a bait, I'm generally curious)

There are a couple I'd love to give their own vehicle, but I haven't run across a story that was right for them. I did let one narrate a story about somebody else, which is close, but regrettably she's a bit out of her mind, and not the best narrator for all projects. I can now respond to KrystalBlaze's post at the same time, by saying that yes, I sometimes do create OC's specifically to fit into particular stories. They may work out a little too well, there, since it can be difficult to pry them out of their "spots" and send them to work on their own.

With a few exceptions, my hybrid-story OC's tend to be quieter types, since the canon characters seem to have "loud and brash" covered. There's really only so much loud-and-brashness you can have running around before it starts making you nuts. On the flip side, though, unless you're writing a Frodo Baggins "unlikely hero"-type story, quieter characters can be difficult to place in a universe where things explode at least once every five minutes. Although, at some point, I really need to put my med tech character into the middle of a horrific battle, so I can show the events through the eyes of a non-combatant. That would be interesting. :lot bunnies gnaw::

But I'm generally not in a hurry to remove hybrid OC's from their original contexts just for the sake of doing so, if that's what you're asking. The closest thing I've done to doing a literal trial run with a character is to answer a challenge with one. She was already a hybrid character--veteran of several stories--and I wanted to see how well she could carry a story on her own.

Not so well, it turns out--or at least not that one. She'd need a very particular placement in order to shine.

Also just for the record, depending on what your definition of "hybrid" is, it may be almost impossible to write a *non*-hybrid without turning a story into true original fiction that you could sell and put your real name on make money off of, and heaven forbid that should happen. Even if you're writing about two OC smugglers dodging the Imperials, the Emperor is going to come up, at the very least. After all, the characters are living in an Empire. Even if the Man in Black himself doesn't make a cameo, his personality and commands are going to be woven into everything the central characters run across.

To do an absolute non-hybrid story, you really need to go to far-future or distant past settings--which I did once, and I enjoyed it. It's also *so* unconnected to Star Wars that I've seriously considered changing a few details and trying to sell it.

Oqidaun wrote about stories that are dependent on OCs. That's a good distinction . . . there's a nice Occam's Razor-like feel to it. Asking "What would happen to this story if this OC were removed?" would reveal which stories would just lose a little local color, and which would collapse completely. "Type B" would be some species of OC-centric story, however the OC him/herself was used.

That said, I've got no problem with doing workshop-type stuff with OC's in general--eventual purpose unspecified--because honestly, how does anyone know how you're going to use that character in the end? (Sometimes even the author doesn't know.) Nobody's going to hunt authors down and de-workshopify(?) their characters because they ended up having a smaller role than expected. Some characters can be casualties of editing, no matter what the original plans for them were.

I think it would be preferable to focus on creating OC's that *could* carry a story on their own--whether or not they do so in an author's current project or in a subsequent one. Characters that can function as main protagonists require different qua

 

Since there appears to be a great deal of confusion still on what this thread is about, allow me to give a bit of history. When I asked the moderators if I could open a version 2.0 with a sock, I intended for that to be the extent of my involvement with that particular sock. My partner, Corellian_ale, asked the moderators to unlock the old thread Why Let OC Stories Get Buried. It came about because in the thread, there had been the suggestion of a story of the month type club. The debate over whether or not to include hybrid fics was purely for the purpose of whether or not to allow them or only to allow fics with pure OC's. We did not ask the moderators for permission to start this and in that we apologize.

It was late when we thought of the idea and we were both over-enthusiastic in deciding it. We also intended to have open ended challenges for those who can't quite keep up with the fast pace of the other thread and to be more of a discussion thread than actual writing exercises. I apologize for the drama and misunderstandings this thread seems to have caused and I hope nobody is too upset with us. We just thought it would be a unqiue idea as a way to promote OC's further.



Edited for clarity.

 

I'm not upset at all, and hope the thread hosts don't panic and flee rather than work with a topic that inspires passion among authors.

Passion is generally a good thing. It only turns evil when ideas are no longer being discussed, and people have started criticizing each other. So far, I don't see that as having happened.

Obviously, you've hit a nerve, which, when you think about it, is every thread-starter's dream. It's the *not* hitting any nerves that drives authors of OC stories bananas. The trick is just to keep the energy channeled in a positive direction. Actually, as far as I can tell, people are chanelling it fairly well as it is, for all the intensity that's cropped up.

Just my personal opinion, of course, but I think you've drilled and found oil. Let us take off our hats to the memories of all the abandoned, dusty, OC-related threads that lie scattered across the boards, forsaken precisely because the thread starter either couldn't find oil, or else the well done run dry.

 

1. Yes, whenever an idea shows up on the doorstep that warrants the OC striking out on their own.

2. My little GFFA chugs along just fine with the eccentric mix of canon and funky OC's. I can do the canon characters I focus on pretty well (or so I've been told). I like them, too. And I like my characters, despite the amount of insecurity they create within the writer.

I know doing this can cause alienation and occasional bouts of hostility from readers. It also causes massive amounts of insecurity in the reader. But in the end...it's my universe. My rules. Anyone who doesn't like it, boo-hoo. Leave my stories alone.

Oh, and I think Layren made a good point with this statement: "My muse gets tired of the same pairing fics that are seen all the time and it's hard to come up with ideas that aren't cliched using canon pairings."

 

I think this is a great discussion thread.

One of my favorite OC characters that I have written started out as a secondary character in an Ani/Obi fic I wrote for a dare challenge but has since become the most prominent in my writing. The canon characters are now just brief mentions not even cameos in the stories.

I find that although I can write AU stuff, if there are canon characters, I still want them to act as they have in the SW universe so writing OCs definitely gives more room for creative stories, creative characterizations.

 

does anbody that writes hybrid fics plan on kicking those OCs out onto their own, or are you content to keep them in stories with the canon/EU characters?

You know, Leiraya and Blue Side are dear to my heart (which I think any of my regular readers will be able to tell). She's already got a reasonable amount of backstory, and an OC I created specifically to be her best friend has grown into his own character. Anything I write about her life pre-KOTOR is all-OC driven, and I love it.

But Blue Side is an interesting case to consider. The story stands without her- millions of people have played the game, and liked it just fine without a barefoot hippie chick wandering around making trouble. But if I removed her from the story as I've been writing it... I really think it would lose a lot. It would turn into any one of a million "My KOTOR Original Interpretation" stories, which are old, stale, and, coincidentally, ALL THE SAME. Adding my OC has allowed me to bring out different parts of characters, add extra backstory drama-like things, and change the dynamic of the crew. I think I'm way too biased to decide where it falls on the spectrum, but I'd definitely hesitate to put it on the same ground as "Yet Another KOTOR Interp Just Like The One I Read Yesterday."

In any case, I'll keep writing her with canon characters as well as my chorus of OCs, because I love them all.

 

Wow...talk about progress on this thread

Ok random comments on what ppl wrote.


Such a hair-shaving "border condition case" wouldn't be worth bothering about, except for the fact that canon/OC romance is one of the most common types of hybrid fic out there. I have a canon/OC pairing that don't have their own fic at this point, but if they did, the conflict would definitely be between them as a couple and the rest of the galaxy, which wouldn't approve of their relationship.

Interesting actually that OC/cannon romances tend to get very little redership. Especially if you?re trying to pare up characters who already have a significant other in cannon or EU, such as Anakin, Padme, Han, Leia, Luke and even Obi-Wan (given all the Obi-Siri fics and also seeing ho Sabe/Obi-Wan has escalated in popularity to the point of being as popular as any other connon/major EU paring). The fact of the matter being that OC/cannon romance fics seem to often get even less readership then any other hybrid.

I'm the author of a fic that centers around an OC, Darvix "Dap" Zorvan. At other places, the fic has been recieved rather well, but it seems a little harder to get readers here at JC. I often feel that OCs don't quite get the attention they deserve, despite the fact that they may appear in very well-written fics. Part of my problem is that my fic isn't in the NJO era, but I'm further hurt by using an OC as a starring character.

I have a rather funny case actually. I have a fic up on fanfiction.com that is a hybrid with the OC being Anakin?s padawan it is rather popular over there. I haven?t attempted to post it here but I?m sure it wouldn?t be well received. However the other OC fic I have up on both sites is getting a much better response here then at fdnfiction.com.

Actually, since I was the staunchy "No Hybrids Allowed" guy, I gotta' ask, does anbody that writes hybrid fics plan on kicking those OCs out onto their own, or are you content to keep them in stories with the canon/EU characters? (not a bait, I'm generally curious)

Well yes, my main OC from a hybrid I have posted on the boards actually has some vigs with her and her padawan (another OC of mine) so I suppose that I?ve let her out from under the hybrid protection already

I have a general question here: in my fic, I made my character to go with the story. Is that the norm for most people, or do people make the story for the character? Of course, I fell in love with my OC, but I'm curious.

It?s hard to say but I think for me it?s more the fact of having a cast f OCs and then giving them their own fics.

 

I tend to use a LOT of OCs in hybrid or even canon-centric fics; I have one that I deliberately focused on canon characters and there are about a dozen OCs, most in small roles, with a few supporting. However, they're spawning plotbunnies. One of my Jedi redshirts in particular is simmering in the back of my head and I might use her in stories later. Probably will. Another OC that moved up to a position somewhere between "minor" and "supporting" was initially created as a mention-only OC without even a name. I have another OC that was also a nameless mention-only in a hybrid fic but ended up appearing in 3 stories on her own later, once minor and twice major.

I avoid writing certain types of Canon/OC pairings. Namely, pairing off major canon protagonists with known love interests with OCs is not something I do because I'm afraid of being called a Mary Sue writer. With that, I am open to writing Canon/OC fics in other instances. I've paired Allana (no canon love interest or reasonable choice yet for one) with an OC, and have done the same for Numa Rar (not a major character) and Welk (not a protagonist). I'll READ some Canon/OC pairings (and would be lying if I said I wouldn't love to see an Anakin Solo/OC fic or very Beyond The Saga Luke Skywalker/OC, provided neither are Sues or, on other archives, Stus), but I'm afraid to post them.

I don't really PLAN on using hybrid OCs later, but some OCs created that way tend to make their own way in the GFFA without their canon colleagues.

I have a general question here: in my fic, I made my character to go with the story. Is that the norm for most people, or do people make the story for the character? Of course, I fell in love with my OC, but I'm curious

I make characters for the story, usually, but "known" OCs - ones I've already created and used elsewhere and who have some set backstory - will affect the story's direction somewhat, or at least the setting.

 

Veering slightly off-topic (and posting before this thread sinks off the first page faster than my OC stories seem to ) ...

I took a chance and finally read The Ruins of Dantooine tonight. Why a chance? It's based off a video game I don't play because I run Linux as my OS of choice, and frankly, a lot of lit based off video games/rpgs tends to make my eyes bleed. Won't even get started on Dragonlance/Forgotten Realms/etc. because I'm fairly certain that my opinion is not a shared one.

Though it is profic, I thought it was a good example of Original Characters driving the story while also having involvement by canon characters. It's just too bad that the romance wound up in the crapper in the end.

 

I have a general question here: in my fic, I made my character to go with the story. Is that the norm for most people, or do people make the story for the character?

All my characters, be they canon or OC, are there for the story. I will make up OCs with abandon if they are needed and I usually have a backstory for all of them, even the ones that are there for a paragraph or two. I find that my readers seem to appreciate how much I've put into my OCs, especially when they ask me a question in their comments and I'm able to give them more information about the OC.

Do others do that - have a backstory for their OCs, even the small parts?

 

I tend to think up characters first and then figure out interesting scenarios for them (at least, that's the case with my major OCs like Shelarne Viraess or Arik Kezler).

The only canon character/OC romance I've really written is my set of fics involving Boba Fett, and although he was (sort of) paired up in the EU I felt he was pretty much fair game. The funny thing is that I got a lot more response for those fics over on ff.n than I did here. Maybe that's where all the Temuera Morrison 'shippers hang out....

But as dianethx said, I have also have a back story for all my OCs, even if you don't see much of them. They all need to be three-dimensional characters, even if they're not the ones driving the plot.

 

Is there a place here for "dependent" OCs? As in OCs whose existance depends on a Canon character?

 

I love putting my OCs on their own. Sure, sometimes I throw in Ben or Allana, but that's pretty rare. I pretty much think about my characters, think like this:

"Well, Kyp Charger likes to joke. So... if an alien race came along, he would probably go like 'Hey, outsiders! Wanna come have some Corellian Ale?' then hack them up with his lightsaber if they tried to kill him."

That exact thought sparked the inspiration for an entire series called Dark Plague (which is in progress). In fact, I have that scribbled down on a sticky note that got taped to the side of my computer. And then, there's the canons:

"LotF Jacen became dark, and with those powers on his crazy, stupid journey, he could probably hide it... so maybe he could come across Kyp, who would be... practicing lightsaber duels, so Jacen would challenge him to a duel, and then Kyp would be badly injured."

Yeah, I just made a new plot bunny. Gonna write a fic about that soon.

 

Do you mean like the story is based a canon character and the OC supports him/her/it? Or do you mean the child of a canon character? Or something else?

 

Do others do that - have a backstory for their OCs, even the small parts?

I have backstories for most of my OCs.
There are a few that I keep their pasts in the dark. I've got an OC, Lottos, and I suppose I keep his past in the dark for myself b/c it helps. He's suppose to be the mysteriouse type so it help to keep him shady in all aspects.

 

Do others do that - have a backstory for their OCs, even the small parts?

The amount of backstory my OCs get is directly related to their purpose and involvement in the story. The main characters have multiple pages of notes. Of course, what I know is a major OC and what the readers are aware of isn't always the same thing.

Sometimes, what was at first a minor OC gets a background injection. Imperial Captain-now-Lieutenant Tarc Asbra got an injection and a ramp up in importance recently when I foolishly painted my main OCs into an adversary-less corner and needed to get them back into the danger that should be dogging their boot heels.

 

It depends. In my AU GFFA, all of the OC's have some backstory to them. The first minor OC backstory that I worked on was for a character called Arah Laseto. She only appears in my main stories twice, in a very minor capacity. But she has a story that makes her an individual in her own right. Specifically, she's one of those Alderaan citizens who were offworld when the planet was destroyed. She lost her husband in the destruction. That might only come up once in the main stories, but it doesn't mean that it's any less significant. All of my characters in that series have their own little stories to tell. You never know when they might want to come out on stage and speak.

But I've written a challenge response where an OC came out that had no backstory at all. She simply emerged in some scattered details from a picture.

 

On the subject of kicking characters out on their own...

Yes, I've done it. My OC that appeared in Rise of a Rogue started out as a character that was split down the center with the rest of the Rogues in terms of importance. I tended to follow the writing style of Aaron Allston, giving a good amount of page-time to a number of characters. My OC was very important to the fic, but he wasn't the sole focus it.

After testing him out in that environment, I decided I was ready to let this OC play a true "lead" role. In the fic I'm currently working in, the story is dependent on him, as well as another OC I've introduced. Obviously, I'll still have canon characters kicking around, but they're in much more of a cameo role than any sort of a lasting key role.

Do others do that - have a backstory for their OCs, even the small parts?

Yep, I'd say in my Rise of a Rogue fics, I've got about ten chapters that are devoted entirely to telling Darvix's backstory. I had to do something to develop a sense of angst, and explain why he is so prone to falling into the Dark Side of the Force.

 

So... how about that story of the month? Any decisions made yet on 'rules'?

 

in response to rebelgrrl-

I like the idea of a story-of-the-month wherein the writer is interviewed on her/his writing process/style/thoughts on how it all came/is coming together, and so on. That would be cool. Seeing what goes on in people's heads when they write is always fun. But, question: would we make a special thread that links to the stories as they get added, or would we have the author tag their own story as 'OC story of the month' and sticky it for that month? Or both?

But I like the idea of a behind-the-scenes sort of thing.
That would be cool.



Diane brought up backstory, and how much one puts into OCs, even when they're minor parts. Me, I tend more toward a..um..forestory. What I mean is, okay I have a scene and it needs characters to populate it. And so a spontaneously invent some guy who's kinda weird to exist soley for this event. Except, then I give him a line...and then I make him do something or other, and I start to like him...and then all of the sudden he's telling my his life story over a whyrhen's at a bar down the road, and I'm turning him into the story's Gollum or something just as crazy.
I just have to face it, my character advancement process is irrational and senseless...and if you're an OC, you're practically guaranteed a promotion by the second week, easy. I'm just that kind of employer...er, writer.

 

We haven't made a rule decision yet. What do you guys think? How would you like it to operate? Is a month too long to discuss a fic? Can fics be story of the month more than once? Would you guys prefer to vote from a selection or have us pick one at random?

 

Here's my one story that has an OC as the main character.

Title: [ link=http://boards.theforce.net/Beyond_the_Saga/b10477/18967484/p1]I Hove You[/link]
Author: Jaya Solo
Timeframe: After Star By Star with flashbacks during the Jedi Purges
Characters: OCs and a surprise character
Genre: Short Story
Summary: A Jedi discovers her family?s past.
Status: Completed