Original characters - Your opinion

Ahhh, I see my dearest OC has seen fit to comment...

See, this is what happens when you allow OC's the room to grow. In Knights, Schurke, Kam, and Gris were ment to be background characters, filler for what was suposed to be a bit of A/P fluff. Imagin my surprise when that turned out not to be the case... they wanted more equal footing. Indeed, the characters proved to be much more dimentional than I had originally planned and took the peice to a whole different place, something I was ultimately happy with.

 

I agree with this. I also think it's important to listen to the Muse, to allow your characters to talk to you, to let you know what they're like.

Precisely. I'm working on the OC creation process, even if I've used this main character in writings of another genre (heroic fantasy).
The simplest way to do what you explained is just to write an interview of the character that of course won't be revealed in the fiction (how silly would that be!) just setting a basis for the character's detailed personality and background.

 

That would actually be a good thread--Interviews with OCs.

If I see an interest, I'll start it myself.

 

A nice method of getting characterization down is to write monologues. I started doing this when I wasn't sure what to do next in an original piece, so did a monologue by the main character to see what she would realistically do.

My OCs definitely have a tendency of taking on a life of their own. The best example is probably Rissy Lunelle, who just forced her way into the story one day. I hadn't planned on her existing, but now I don't think I could do the story without her.

 

OC's are quite interesting to mess around with but I agree with what Mistress_Renata said earlier-- make sure you the author know as much of their background as possible even if you don't let the readers know everything you should. That way you'll know some of their motives and whatnot for how they behave and interact with the Canon characters if they plan on it. My main original character Kyran Josel was created strictly for rp'ing purposes over about three years ago but I grew to love the character so much that I became very attatched to him and I wanted everybody else to love him just as much -- so I turned to fanfiction. Rp'ing is a very good way to get your creative juices flowing also when you're struggling with Darth Writer's Block. And also I believe I noticed you're new around the boards so Welcome!! I hope you have good experiences here

 

Generally, I don't like reading OC fics because I've had too many experiences of them being written really, really badly (that's what Digimon fanfics do to you *sigh* they're all Tai-wannabes)
But sometimes, they are done well, and they're interesting, and I find myself really wanting to read the rest of the story because the character is compelling.

I also tend not to write OC's in my fics, I mostly use the SW characters.
But, I am writing an OC fic at the moment, set after NJO.. I created the character (Ali Rin) for Gal-Com (which I don't go to anymore, heh), and then wondered vaguely where he'd come from.
Ali's cool... he's kinda strange though...

 

Bumping up.

 

If all of the OC writers had a dime for every review that began, "I don't usually read OC stories..." we'd all be rich enough to buy Papa George's love and a spot in the canon.

OCs the redheaded step-children of the GFFA!

I write primarily OC driven stories with some canon character interaction. I whole heartedly agree with what the others said about making sure you know your OC before you start sticking them into a story. Character development is very important and judged pretty harshly when you write an OC in fanfic. More people will excuse a questionably written Anakin/Obi-Wan/Yoda/Palpatine/Greedo in the name of "artistic interpretation", but nail an OC for all the little things. It's not fair, but it's the way of things and people who are going to sign on for the long haul with OCs need to be aware it. Rule #1 Ironclad Characterization (know that OC inside and out!)

I've got a big soft spot in my heart for well written original characters. Let me clarify my sentiments, I don't run out and snuggle up to every MarySue/GaryStu who pops up on the board simply because the writer claims to be writing an OC, but I have discovered that some of my favorite SW characters of all time are the ones who don't really exist in the official GFFA. I've fallen head over heels for salesmen, escape artists, philosophical clones, whiney boys who live with wookies, tough as nails Imperial chicks, hippy Jedi pacifists and Empire era wives--I love a good OC.

Undoubtedly, everyone's got a laundry list of things that they hate about bad OCs (heck, there's whole threads devoted to the Mary Sue issue), but I'll like to submit a little list of the things that make for a good OC

1. The writer's successfully constructed a sympathetic character, i.e., one the audience gives a damn about. It's one thing to spend weeks writing the OC epic du jour and having a character you love to pieces, fantasize about, draw pictures of on your Trapper Keeper (TM); however if the audience is unable to make some sort of emotional connection to the character then the author's come up short. Sympathetic doesn't just imply the reader sniffles when the OC bites the big one at the hands of a mob of Tusken Raiders, but any heartfelt emotion--the reader might get up and do a victory dance when Claude the Tusken kills Darth Bernie. Good OCs provoke feelings from the reader (excluding boredom or the desire to murder the author).

2. NO CLONES! Allow me to clarify myself before Kudzu and Antilles and the rest of the Clone Crowd beats me senseless with my own shoe: By clones I mean to say that a canon character with a make-over and name change doesn't make for a good OC (that's just a canon character with an identity crisis). OCs need to be O R I G I N A L (just like the name implies). When I think about some of the really cool OCs I've read (including ARC troopers ) what's attracted me to them and really kept me into the story has been the fact that they are unique--there's something about them that makes them truly exceptional.

3. A good OC also fits into the story. GFFA has its big heroes and scoundrels, but that doesn't mean that Anakin and Han and Jabba are the only folks out there--it is a universe after all. However, you have to be careful with larger than life OCs. If Skipper the Albino Ewok was really a more gifted Sith than Palpatine why the heck wasn't he Chancellor? If Anna-Kendra's midichlorian count was higher than Anakin's why wasn't she the focus of Papa George's six films? If Stephenie the Senator from Alabama-zah is prettier, wittier and more articulate than Padme...you get the picture. A good OC needs to work with in his/her/its own story--not leech off someone else's--and can do so just fine without having to tip all the scales to AU (although AU is fine, I have no problem with the AU folk) or fall to the dark side of MarySuedom.

That's just my top three. I've many many more, but I'm rambling tonight because the carrot cake I had at 11:30 hasn't been kind to me...

 

I'm currently writing my first fic.
The main character is based on a character from a StarWars video game.
But i have my main character surrounded by OC's, who are with him every step of the way, fully interacting with him, and fighting alongside him.
You can have great fun with OC's, i.e one of them provides humor, the other is a rebel making life difficult for everyone, etc.
One warning though, do not let the OC's become to numerous because as it was in my case, you neglect them and it would appear they are just along for the ride, and add nothing to the story.
I had to kill off one of my characters because of it, which saddened me


FanFic Greetings

 

Just to encourage anyone out there writing OC's, some of my favorite stories at the Archive are OC stories, so keep writing.

 

I've always written stories with OCs as the main characters. Sometimes my favourite EU character will show up in my stories or I write about a really obscure character because that's something I like to do. I found OCs to be much easier to write about and you have more freedom with them. Sometimes it may look like stories with OCs don't get many readers, but I've found that there are a lot of people who write about ocs. What inspired me to write about them was reading Mike Stackpole's X-Wing books because virtually all the characters in them are either ones created by him, or seen as fringe characters in the SW universe.

Aliens are also a fasination of mine and most of my characters are aliens. In the books and films, you never get so read about them or see them unless they have a minor role in the story, so that's something you can do with ocs. The only canon characters who are aliens that you seem to read about are either Chewbacca, Yoda or Admiral Ackbar and occassionally Borsk Fey'lya. I've always liked reading about alien characters in the books, so I always wondered what it would be like if you made them the main character for a change! (possibily one of the reasons why I don't seem to get many readers for my stories, but that's just something you've got to get over.)

 

I am an OC writer who's also written canon character fic, and I have to chime in with my love of the OC. It is challenging to write a character that is unknown to anyone and have the reader "care" about them, and when you get comments like Oqidaun mentioned ("I don't normally read OC stories, but..."), it's a huge boost. With canon character writing, the reader already cares or likes the character, and the main challenge shifts to showing the canon character in a new light, or exploring a part of them that hasn't already been hashed out a thousand different ways... while still keeping them within the bounds of the canon character.

The GFFA is a big place to play in - there are millions of beings and planets to explore, and there is plenty of room for OC characters. My other fandom that I write in, HP, is a little more challenging to write OCs in as it's a much smaller scale population and character base. In either case, a well-imagined and developed OC is a true delight to read. The super-speshul-ultra-powerful-bestest-Jedi/Sith-ever OC is not one that interests me, as logically they would have appeared as at least a side mention in canon had they really existed (did I just say "really existed" about Star Wars? ) Like Oqidaun said, However, you have to be careful with larger than life OCs. If Skipper the Albino Ewok was really a more gifted Sith than Palpatine why the heck wasn't he Chancellor?

 

I think part of the challenge with OCs is to explain why they weren't known, if they're somebody powerful enough that they would be. With Sith it's not very difficult; there are several reasons why they might have been in hiding, and they can slip away fairly easily. Jedi are more challenging, but if the profic authors can do it - with Saba, for instance - then it can also be done.

Powerful OCs are always a danger, yes, but I think that anything within reason is fine. A question I ask myself often is, if this was an actual Star Wars story, would the author get away with writing this? If the answer is yes, then proceed, with caution. If the answer is that they'd be mocked or slammed by fans (more than just the small contingent that is never happy), it's probably a bad idea. I junked a subplot that I really liked because it didn't pass my profic litmus test, and then I realized that the story and the character in question were both better for not having the bad element in there.

OCs are almost mandatory for some kinds of stories. It's very hard to write Legacy-era fics without them (early Legacy might work, but if you're operating, say, 30 years after NJO, you need some new faces) and I imagine there are other periods with similar problems - there are characters that would logically exist, but aren't actually canon. Stories set in places not well defined in canon, or exploring the lives of minor characters, also are much easier to write with some OCs in the mix.

I usually write both in my fics. I have a few that are restricted to canon characters - one-shots, mostly, here and elsewhere - but all my longer fics have some OCs. It makes it easier to focus on characterization on the canon characters when some of them are original, and if you need a character to perform a certain action to advance the plot, it takes away the risk of making canon characters OOC. You can simply have an OC do it, and make sure to write them so that the behavior is consistent with their characterization. OCs can't really be out of character but they can be inconsistent, which is just as bad, unless there's a good reason for it that makes sense.

 

I love OC's. I love reading about OC's. I love writing OC's.
I think there's only so much you can do with an OC-less story. There's only so many believable changes you could make to a canon character without repeating what other people have done.

OC's are profitable for a story, whether canon or OC centered. With OC's, there is a bottomless pit of possibilities. If you stick them in with canon characters, they can give those characters a chance to grow; you can explore their reactions and interactions with the OC's.

Since I like to work with minor canon characters(namely Tash and Zak Arranda and their uncle Hoole from the Galaxy of Fear series), there is a lot of room for OC's, and character developement with the canon ones. Another thing about writing minor characters is that there is less material to read; I don't have to worry about who Jaina's dating this week(j/k)

How many are too many? In my story I have 3 canon characters and 7 OC's(1 main character, 1 villain, 2 secondary but essential characters, 1 evil minion, and 2 minor not-often seen characters)

Most of my OC's I know inside and out, but I am still having trouble with one(the main one ) I know his history, his motives, but his outward personality is too un-solid.

I would do this, but I just can't seem to find a good character interview. Does anyone know of any for those of us with a wallflower-of-a-muse?

 

You might want to scroll back through some of the exercises featured at OC Writers Anonymous. I've tailored a lot of the challenge thingies over there help develop character. Additionally, you could go to Bzoink and snag one of their comprehensive personality surveys and answer it in character.