Of Original Characters and Fanfic

[ithildin]

As some of you know, I'm very fond of original characters in fanfic. Both reading and writing. As a writer, I enjoy the challenge of creating a new character, getting to know them. Their quirks, hopes, fears. I love getting to know each and every one of them, and recognizing their 'voice'.

Now some fandoms seem to lend themselves more to original characters. If I were writing in Firefly, I probably would be less likely to feel the need to add a character since it has such a large cast. But Highlander -- which is a fandom I do write in -- seems to draw new characters out of me by the boat load. Part of that is Methos not having much offered in the way of a past. Alexa died, the few friends/comrades we've seen, other than Joe and Duncan, were killed off in short order. And since he's the character I'm most interested in writing, he needs a framework. There's so much we don't know about the character, and probably never will. Plus, I think Highlander lends itself to OCs just from the way it was structured. Every week we had new characters, some in the present, some in the past, some in both. It was a revolving door of new characters.

Yes, somewhere in here is a question :) So for those of you who create original characters, do you find you have more of them floating around in your brain than you could possibly ever use? For example, last night, I came up with a whole new story, separate from the two series I'm currently writing in, complete with a new character. It's almost frustrating! And it happens frequently. And another question: what draws you into creating original characters for your fic? Especially since OCs are the redheaded step children of fanfic :)

And for those that actually like reading fic with OCs, you get a question too! Why do you like fic with original characters? Especially since such fic is generally not terribly popular?

For me, it's along the same lines of why I write them. In some fandoms, my favourite characters just need a life of their own. It probably doesn't help that my faves are usually the 'sidekick' and not the star [g] If say, Duncan was my favourite character in Highlander, I'd have a treasure trove of people and events already created by the series. He already has a 'life' for lack of a better term.

Over to you guys!

Comments

[macgeorge1.livejournal.com]

I kind of fall halfway in between the "rarely use" and "love them". I use them occassionally, but their creation tends to be plot-driven and situational in service to a story built around a canon character. For instance, I had a plot idea about what the whole Watcher/Immortals relationship would look like from an outsider's viewpoint, so I had to create a character to become that outsider, and thus was born the central character of "Who Watches the Watchers?" - an over-the-hill, pauncy divorced, past-his-prime FBI agent. That story was really built around that character (of whom I became very fond), but the events were very much inside the Highlander universe and involving canon characters.

Once I have created that character, though, it's important to me that he/she be 'real', with a known backstory, foibles and strengths that make them interesting and complex.

I'm afraid I approach stories which are focused entirely (or almost entirely) around OC's with caution. All too often, the so-called OC is merely a stand-in for the author, who perceives him/herself as either a downtrodden victim whose value nobody truly appreciates (we see a lot of 'projection' in portraying Methos that way, also), or a Marysue'ish amalgam of characteristics that don't seem particularly interesting or real.

I will rarely even open a story that has absolutely no canon characters in it, or features canon characters that I don't have a real affinity for, such as Nick Wolfe or most of The Raven characters. I don't trust fanfic authors enough to assume it's worth reading, when (in my experience) it's usually NOT.

[unovis-lj.livejournal.com]

I should have qualified what I said about characters who serve a purpose. It's possible for them to come to life. As usual, it's all in the skill of the writer to make you care. I've mentioned before Sonia's African guide in Kiss of Steel. He was certainly there to move the plot along.

I've had a bad taste in my mouth since the last Westlake novel I read -- he's an author I adore, I love, but in this book the new characters he introduced for this specific caper were annoyingly written. Each of them was introduced with an awkward physical description, one hard to keep in mind, and an array of odd tics. It didn't make them interesting, it made them indigestible and hard to picture.

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

I don't trust fanfic authors enough to assume it's worth reading, when (in my experience) it's usually NOT.

I tend to be that way too, unless it's something from an authour who has written fic I've read and enjoyed before. Not that there aren't exceptions where I just click on a whim :) Usually I regret those whims!