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30 days of fanfic meme, questions 7 and 8
Jul. 14th, 2011 05:12 pm7 – Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
I guess so, although I'm having a hard time remembering a specific instance. I didn't find Oz (from Buffy) especially interesting until I read other people's Giles/Oz fics and then started writing my own. Writing fic always develops my thoughts about the character, because if you're writing with any attention from a character's POV, you have to think a lot about them. But that's usually more an accretion than a dramatic shift.
I've certainly had the experience (which I don't think is what the question's asking) of being so annoyed by the way most people wrote a character that it put me off that character (*coughSpikecough*). Rewatching canon will help cure that, luckily.
8 – Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.
I don't write a lot of OCs, since if I'm writing in a fandom it's because I love, or at least am fascinated by, the canon characters. But sometimes you need one. I created a teenage girl OC, who's the POV character for half the story, in Arcana, and I'm rather proud of her. She's not a Sue (my Sue wouldn't be a teenage girl anyway!); it's very easy to avoid writing a Sue if you concentrate on writing a rounded person with strengths and flaws, not a superhero who's going to save the day and be loved by all (except the bad people, who thus prove their badness). I don't know if I've ever written a Sue or a self-insert; part of the pleasure of writing, for me, is getting away from myself and being other people, so I have no desire to stick myself in the story.
An original character narrates my remix Wouldn't Be Make Believe, where I wanted to write Sirius/Remus without being in either of their heads. And I created numerous OCs for Midwinter, of whom Drumknott's brother and sister-in-law are nearest to my heart. It's a fun challenge creating people from scratch.
I guess so, although I'm having a hard time remembering a specific instance. I didn't find Oz (from Buffy) especially interesting until I read other people's Giles/Oz fics and then started writing my own. Writing fic always develops my thoughts about the character, because if you're writing with any attention from a character's POV, you have to think a lot about them. But that's usually more an accretion than a dramatic shift.
I've certainly had the experience (which I don't think is what the question's asking) of being so annoyed by the way most people wrote a character that it put me off that character (*coughSpikecough*). Rewatching canon will help cure that, luckily.
8 – Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.
I don't write a lot of OCs, since if I'm writing in a fandom it's because I love, or at least am fascinated by, the canon characters. But sometimes you need one. I created a teenage girl OC, who's the POV character for half the story, in Arcana, and I'm rather proud of her. She's not a Sue (my Sue wouldn't be a teenage girl anyway!); it's very easy to avoid writing a Sue if you concentrate on writing a rounded person with strengths and flaws, not a superhero who's going to save the day and be loved by all (except the bad people, who thus prove their badness). I don't know if I've ever written a Sue or a self-insert; part of the pleasure of writing, for me, is getting away from myself and being other people, so I have no desire to stick myself in the story.
An original character narrates my remix Wouldn't Be Make Believe, where I wanted to write Sirius/Remus without being in either of their heads. And I created numerous OCs for Midwinter, of whom Drumknott's brother and sister-in-law are nearest to my heart. It's a fun challenge creating people from scratch.
