Original character story fan club

It's come up on and off since I got to TFN: People who write stories about SW characters they have created for themselves feel slighted because it's hard to find an audience. The subject just came up again in the Mary Sue thread.


So, here's an idea:

People who like to write original character stories and people who like to read them have a pretty high overlap. But you can't always tell from a title that something is an OC story, and the stories may get buried quickly, so why not have this thread here, where people who write OC stories can mention their own stories when they begin, and people who like OC stories and OCs in general can talk about their favorites?

If fans of OC stories like stories that aren't here on TFN, feel free to talk about them and provide links as long as those stories would fit within the TFN Terms of Service (G-PG13). I'm sure people who like to read about new SW characters would enjoy hearing about ones they might not stumble on by accident.

For definition, OC stories would include:

Stories that contain all original characters, created by the author for the SW universe. This would include most RPG-based stories, Squad-fics, etc.

Stories that may contain canon characters, but in which they are peripheral to the story told about the original character(s). (Eg, a story about a former padawan of Mace Windu, in which Mace maybe has a scene in which he appears and gives advice; the story is about the padawan and whatever adventure the writer is giving him or her.)

To avoid just spamming with story ads, let's say we should each "pitch" an OC story we've written once, then go on and read someone else's and talk about it. Does that sound about right? I'd love to have this be a discussion of OC stories as well as a story advertising thread.

 

Count me in! I love OC stories (about the only thing I write now-a-days ) OC's are often brilliant, they take time and effort to create and become life-like (not saying that Canon Characters don't).....

and you have the added bonus of not thinking that you might be messing up someone else's character!!!

Kithera

 

Nice idea! I for one love writing OCs almost as much as I love writing the SWCs - well OK, they're totally different really! For example, in DS (in my bio), I use several OCs - plenty of 'em lol!

 

(Right, good point to bring up--let's not go into a canon-writing bash mode. Personally, I write both; I think most of us do.)

I find that I enjoy original character stories the most when they intersect with major events in the SW timeline--what was happening to someone at the far side of the galaxy when Alderaan was destroyed? What really happened during the Sith uprising?

Maybe we could also talk about OC issues--the boundaries of Mary Sue country, how to get readers, etc.

 

Could a story that gives personality to an uncharacterized character in one of the movies be considered an OC?

For instance, I wrote a story about BoShek that leads up to him introducing Ben Kenobi to Chewbacca in ANH, but I completely made up his character, based on his appearance and his role in the movie. Sort of like a Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina story.

 

I'm in, and this is a great idea, JediGaladriel.

I'll write more later, but I'm being called away just now.

 

Could a story that gives personality to an uncharacterized character in one of the movies be considered an OC?

My inclination would be no, but that's as a member, not a mod. What do regular OC writers think?

 

Question; does DS fit the bill (even if it doesn't, I'll be starting an RR very soon - possibly tonight - that does)

Stories that may contain canon characters, but in which they are peripheral to the story told about the original character(s). (Eg, a story about a former padawan of Mace Windu, in which Mace maybe has a scene in which he appears and gives advice; the story is about the padawan and whatever adventure the writer is giving him or her.)

My fic is an NJO that features MANY characters, but OCs have as much limelight *as* the characters, probably not more - there's a kind of balance (the OCs don't start to rise up until the third segment)

And btw, I *don't* recommend reading DS unless you have a few years, it's too long - I lost track of length, whether it's well-written or not, it seriously needs compacting. Don't waste your years lol!

 

Read the story and ignore the title.


The Beginning of a Saga

It is about Ka-Trillia, the mother of Mara Jade.

this basically focuses on Ka-Trillia finding out about her family. later on it will focus on Ka-Trillia and Obi-Wan. And how they kept their love for each other secret.
I am planning to make it into a series.

thats all i can say, i don't want to give it all away.

 

That's a good point. I had one long one with a ton of original characters, though it's focus was definitely on the Skywalkers ("The Penitent").

How about with stories like that, we talk here specifically about the OCs and their story arcs?

Anyway, my first pitch and two recommendations. These are all at the archive.

The Flight to Rison's Deep is my original character piece about boys who are at an outlying Imperial military boarding school (how many adjectives can one string in one sentence? ) during the events of ANH.


Recommendations:
The Haunting of Theed Palace, by LadyElaine, features Queen Jamillia and Sio Bibble, but is largely about the Gungan schoolteacher Ocko Timor. Really fun little ghost story, also gets into the life of Gungans on Naboo after the celebratory parade.

Sacred Place, by Seldes Katne. I love Seldes' Gungan stories. This has Tarpals and Graf Zapalo, but Seldes also invented two Gungan children, Treese and Rift, who are perfectly delightful to me. They carry a lot of the story.

 

Here's a link to my Fic.
Redemption of a Jedi

It's a HUGE fic that took me three years to write. No kidding! ALL Original characters, except Palpatine, Bail Organa, and Mace Windu. But their roles are VERY small. If you check it out, I'd be more than happy to read yours in return.

 

Good idea, JG! I'm only beginning to realize the power of OC's, and am eager to see what sorts of discussions come up in here. (I'm still quite new to this -- meaning that haven't gone further with OC's than sticking them next to canon characters -- but I think this will be a great place to get tips from.)

I'll stop by later with questions.

 

Question: Is this strictly an appreciation thread, or might it also have a sort of workshop-like supplement (eg. short OC posts are featured each week, and weaknesses/strengths/possible improvements are assessed)? I'm finding the reading interesting, but I think it would be fun to also discuss common genre errors, etc.

 

Thank you for creating this thread! I had a really tought time finding people to read my series because as soon as they see "OC", they immediately think "Oh, mary sue." - but mine is anything but.

The links are in my profile if you're interested.

 

@ The Legacy Saga Fanfic series @

A trilogy in progress which will be followed with supplemental stories.
This story takes place somewhere arounf 2000 years after NJO, and features many new Original Characters as ong as many more familar ones. For more details please check the link above.



The Story basically follows the Life and Journeys of The Jedi family known as Oden.

The First book in the trilogy is loosly based around Dorsh Oden the Jedi Master who becomes pregnant before the Death of her husband who was sent to investigate possible Sith resurgance. After a great investigation and many battles she eventually gives birth to Her first son. Aled.


Aled Oden is the primary character in these stories, even before he was bron he was saving lives.(See Legacy episode 1 for example). He is the one destined to save the Jedi of the New republic, I don't wish to give away to many details.(mostly because I have yet to figure them out myself.) but lets just say he is quite noble.

Aled Will eventually fall in love with the Clone of Padme Amidala, a replica left behind from a time long forgotten. This love will help to spark a new life for Aled which also leads to the new evils of his bond with the lovely woman. Again I wish not to give away everything, Cheek the link above for a little more organized info and then you can even read the stories...

 

Question: Is this strictly an appreciation thread, or might it also have a sort of workshop-like supplement (eg. short OC posts are featured each week, and weaknesses/strengths/possible improvements are assessed)? I'm finding the reading interesting, but I think it would be fun to also discuss common genre errors, etc.

This can be for all things OC. Posts about whatever we want can keep it up on top.

But I think it would be nice to have a recommendation of someone else's story for every ad for our own, just to really spread the discussion out.

 

There's actually a nice (albeit slowly growing) fairy tale thread going on, and it's quite OC friendly. I first read 'Sacred Place' there, and should anyone be interested in adding their own GFFA fairy tale to it, he/she should really do so (I did it, but with canon characters, so that doesn't count.).

 

Yaaay, I love OC's! It's about all I write. I did try to write an Obi/Qui-Gon story once, and the OCs kind of took over.

I will be checking out many of the threads & links here (not tonight) when I have time to truly appreciate them.

I'd love to see not just stories with canon characters in truly minor roles, but possibly not appearing at all. That would be my challenge. Can you write an interesting original character, set it in a real Star Wars adventure-type story (no romances with canon characters! ) and hold the reader?

Does anyone remember "Max Antilles, Private Eye?" Who wrote that, was it Iron Parrot? I was following that and lost it somewhere. It was a VERY good OC, set around the events of the "A New Hope."

 

Yea, a OC thread!

I'm so glad this got started, it drives me crazy where people sometimes assume that all OC's are mary sue's. Sometimes I think people have mary sue paranoia.

But anyway,I have a story, one that I finished a while ago, and its got lots of OC's and lots of main characters, but the OC's have just as much of the lime light as the canon characters. So would that count for this thread?

 

Wonderful idea! OC's are very underappreciated. I've read a couple really awsome ones and I write primarily with OC's.

In fact the Rocky Mountain Fan Force is gearing up to do a Round Robin together, with all OC's. I'll give you all the link once we get it going. Right now it's all in the planning stages.

Then the other fics that I wrote all all in my bio.

 

Cool thread! My magnum opus (to date ) is a completely OC fic. A disclaimer about the title-- I started this over a year ago, before everyone started naming their stories this. It has been, to date, my only attempt to write with so many OCs, and I'll admit that I'm still recovering from the experience, as it got pretty near 100k words (420 pages on Word).

Legacy

It's an OC fic that, as JG says, centers around a major event in the SW timeline, in this case the founding of both the Old Republic and the Jedi Order.



I've read several other OC fics, especially the ones at the Archive. I would like to re-emphasize JG's recommendation of "The Flight to Rison's Deep," which is great.

I think it's really interesting how OCs are both easier and harder to write than regular characters. We don't have to stick to a certain personality, but we do need to make them believeable, which is difficult. Also, because we have no other writer to model the character off of, it's easier to get writer's block with an OC, especially in a Far Future or Ancient History fic, when everything is very different.

EDIT: *attacks Darth Typo*

 

A pitch for my fic- "The Shadows of Conflict: Part Two- The Past Rediscovered." While Luke, Han, Mara, Leia, Fey'lya, Daala, Palleon, and Chewie all had (very very small) appearanced in Part One, I believe the only canon character I've used in Part Two is the sorely-underused Mon Mothma.

Most of the characters were made up by me, though there's two (and two more from part one) taken from a fanfic I helped write on my school message board, five out of a squadfic I belonged to (two of which I made up the first time), one character from the stories of fanfic writer Rokangus' stories, as an homage... and one as a reference to you, JediGaladriel. I asked you if I could once I read "The Flight to Rison's Deep..." It's up now. I have one more mention of it planned, but I guess I should post a link now...

The link to my fic is in my signature. And I like your new sig, BTW, Mcily-Nochi.

 

I wrote a short story with only OC's (Sleep, Child). I also have an OC as a main(ish) character in a story of mine (Tainted Child). Then I have another story which majorly features an OC, probably more than Obi-Wan (Salvaging Hope), who is also in it.

All fics are in my bio. And I do like OC's - good ones are just hard to find, since its not easy to make up a completely original person.

Good idea for a thread.

 

And I do like OC's - good ones are just hard to find, since its not easy to make up a completely original person.

To switch to discussion mode, I actually find OCs easier, which is why I generally write canon character stories--they're more challenging (well, except in the marketing arena). The boys in "Rison's Deep" were all created on the spur of the moment, for a writing challenge on another board. I literally made them up as they "walked on stage." A troupe dancers wandered into "Ascension of the Queen," and I knew who the two leads were and what they were like together right away. It's fun for me to create OCs, but I don't find it as challenging as trying to integrate the performances of several actors, the known dialogue patterns, and the established themes that I have to deal with in a canon character, all mixed in with my own interpretations of whatever event I'm doing. It's a very different thing, and for myself, I find the latter more difficult.

Not that I don't absolutely love it when a character just wanders on stage and demands to be written. My Dritali Neral dropped in to fill a plot function in "I'm Your What?"/"The Sands of Time" and she had her whole personality and back story pretty much intact. I decided just had to write it. (Uprising--beware, violent) She ended up in "The Penitent" and as Luke's padawan. (Obviously, I don't use the EU.)

I'm sometimes worried about Mary Sues. I worry more about a Sith character, Zemai Laryhi/Darth Olashya M'Traet, than about 'Tali, but in the end, she still feels okay to me. I may re-work her a bit.

 

I know what you mean - sometimes characters just come fully formed. I know my OC's do - they just appear and demand to be written (and bug me mercilessly until I do). I know the OC in Tainted Child was that way. She was supposed to have one appearance.

Actually, I find making OC's in Star Wars harder than in original works. Weird, huh?