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Must write up the morningthoughts I was having about "oh woe is me" vs. "sucks to be you" situations. (my parents died and now I am in my room Mourning Prettily with the sympathy of all who know my plight / my parents died and now I am reliving the moments leading up to and just after their deaths in full hallucinatory sensation, and I would trade the pity of those around me -- hell, even some of those around me -- for my parents back again in a fucking heartbeat)

And then there are antagonists who are not villains. How so? Well, some of the good, or middling-ok, people in the life of your protagonist are going to be working at cross-purposes. They don't have to be evil. You can start small -- I want to go home on time, but my boss wants me to stay late. Your character is not always in the right -- I slept in and was late to work and I'm not really caring so much, and my boss is annoyed and dealing out consequences. I got a speeding ticket because I like to drive fast.

Contrast the universe where your character is always Good and In The Right, and the antagonists are always at least minor villains: I want to go home on time because I have been working hard and I am a good worker, but my boss is out to exploit me by forcing me to work late, perhaps even off the clock. I had a horrid night and the alarm clock was broken and traffic was ass and it's Totally Not My Fault I was late, to where any reasonable person would excuse me, and my boss totally won't listen to any of the reasons why I was late, and is not only docking me for the time I wasn't there, but is also giving me extra work and disrupting my scheduled vacation days and letting their "favorite" (if you know what I mean) who never does any work have that time off instead, and I totally asked for it two months in advance! I got a speeding ticket, but I was driving safely and the cop had it in for me because I did a tell-all story on the corruption in the department and other more important people would *never* get ticketed for something so petty and seatbelts are *stupid* and they can't make me wear them!!

Tip: if you stack things so the protagonist is NEVER IN THE WRONG, for fear of making fellow characters and readers dislike them? You'll probably make *more* people dislike them than the handful that you would alienate for making your protagonist be in the wrong a few times here and there. Remember that person who always had to be right, and if they weren't right it was because someone else was out to get them, and they seemed to sway the odds of the universe to favor them? Yeah, well, if you hated hanging around near them, it may not be fun to read them either, unless it's serious escape fantasy, because *dang* it would be nice to be her for a while, instead of being *near* her and one of the people who didn't get the star treatment (and got dumped on when someone needed to be Wrong so she could be Right).

Not everyone will like your protagonist, and it will be for good and valid reasons as well as obnoxious and petty ones. Brains may make them a smartass.
Not everyone who doesn't actively *love* your protagonist will *dislike* them. If your protagonist is the prettiest and most popular thing in school, there will be a whole crowd of people who not only don't fall at her feet worshiping her, they won't be in the group of people backstabbing and plotting her downfall. They will be over there in that corner with the amusement of the week, paying rapt attention to it, and vaguely aware that there is someone over there, and yeah, she's popular, but she's never said two words to me and I've never said two words to her. (And some of the group over there will notice that she's popular all out of proportion with her actual talent, but aside from a bit of scorn because of this, they really won't give a rat's ass about what happens so long as she is not trying to play mean headgames with one of their circle or otherwise disrupting their lives.) She's just not relevant to their lives. Like, at all. (Speaking of which, "Promkings" is going to need to dissect how Harriet is popular all out of proportion to her actual talent, because that doesn't get addressed at all in HMftCRF.)

... right. So, when I was reasonably small, like 3rd & 4th grade, our family acquired chickens. And since Tay-Tay and I had no TV to get distracted by and ramble on about, we found our own entertainment.

The Professor Chipmunk Stories were works of serial verbal fanfiction, essentially, although they were technically original as there wasn't a media source. Real People Fiction, then, because the universe was populated not by imaginary characters, but by ... people ... we knew. People. Yeah.

...So yes, there were these RPF tales about one of our roosters teaching classes in an elementary or high school (with chickens, it's hard to tell), where my hen Calico was really his wife and also the principal of the school, and they had a daughter (Original Character!!) named Chalkley, and she went to school there.

Chalkley was gorgeous. I think she may have been all white? She definitely had a white hackle, with beautiful soft feathers, and great dark eyes, unlike her irascible mother's spotted hackle and glaring orange eyes, and her father's brown/black/gold partridge coloring. Hi, Special Genetics. Nice to meet you. Despite the fact that the stories were in theory about her father, Professor Chipmunk, Chalkley stole the show. It was all about her, and how she was the Special Child of two important characters at the school, and how even though she was incredibly gorgeous and smart, she still had a hard time with other chicks pecking on her. So when she got pecked on by the bad boys, she would tell Professor Chipmunk, and Professor Chipmunk would tell Principal Calico, and Principal Calico would put on her "pecking aid" (!?!? basically a prosthetic beak OF PAIN AND FEAR) and peck the bad boys severely.

... I think I'm very glad that these stories were oral tradition only, because Chalkley is the first and worst Mary Sue that I have ever written, and I don't really want to ever see evidence of it beyond what I can piece together from memory.

It's been said before, I'm sure, but it probably bears repeating again, from someone with slightly more sympathy than many towards the problem of original characters in fanfiction settings -- your average reader is going to come there for the fanfiction aspect of it, because you're working with the characters and situations they love. They know what they like, and they're reading your story because they want more of it. And you've got this character, and s/he's completely awesome and kicking ass and is a beautiful complex character -- and you get slammed with horrible reviews because that wonderful complex character you created is the star of the show, and you've neglected the characters people came in expecting to see.

Keep an eye on who gets screen time. Yes, you're going to devote time to your original character, especially if s/he really does kick ass. But make sure to give input from the canon characters as well. If you have your original character kicking ass and the canon characters standing around like a bunch of useless chumps, it's really not fair to anybody. Let the canon characters help out, even if it's your original character's mission. Distribute the lines and the action a little more.

If you really have to, go back to the very basics and figure out which stereotypical role each of the characters in the scene plays, and divide it up that way -- in Potter fandom, Harry is the hero and the jock, Ron is the sidekick, and Hermione is the brain. Your original character might be the crazy one, or another brain, sidekick, or hero/jock. Figure out what has to happen in the scene, and who has to contribute what part of it. Is that an idea that comes from a Brain, or does it come from a Lunatic? Certainly the characters won't stay within their stereotypes, not if they're sufficiently well-developed characters, but it's a place to start.

Having the characters go outside of their basic stereotypes provides depth of character, and establishing why they're deviating from the things they ordinarily do adds character development, but straying too far from the character outlines given in canon without some really super suspension of disbelief leads to accusations of taking them too far out-of-character. (If you have to take them too far out of character to establish what you were trying for in the fic, the characters may actually be telling you that they'd like to move into their own original universe, or at least get new identities and turn into a bit of spinoff fanfic rather than main-storyline fanfic.) Redistributing lines may mean that your original character loses a large percentage of action and dialog, but that actually may help strengthen the character and the story (and get you better reviews).

If one of the canon characters is present, but contributing virtually nothing to the conversation, why is that? If your original character were absent from the scene, would that character still be off in their own world, or would they be doing something else? If your original character is twice as smart as Hermione, and drop-dead gorgeous, and is taking over the things that Hermione would have been saying in the same situation if the OC weren't there... do you really think Hermione is going to take this lying down? She might be off sulking there, or she might be spoiling for a gigantic screaming bitchfight, but she's probably not going to be standing there mute and expressionless while your original character hogs the spotlight.

Figure out the group dynamics. Some things aren't going to change -- Ron and Hermione are going to play off each other, Ron is going to be protective of Harry and defend his friendship with Harry against anyone trying to take up too much of Harry's time and attention, Hermione is going to try to mother the boys a bit and keep them out of trouble. Some things are going to change. If your character wants to be Harry's new best friend, Ron is probably going to loathe your character, and Ron is probably also going to be a bit of a dick to Harry, especially if Harry is giving that character more attention than he is giving Ron.

Even if the world you're working in involves magic, human interaction patterns won't change all that horribly much. Not all characters are going to react the same. Hermione would probably shrug it off if someone were making close friends with Harry, as long as she thought that person was all right and wouldn't lead to Harry's getting in more, worse, trouble. If that person tried to become Harry's research/idea person, Ron would probably shrug it off, but Hermione might feel threatened -- or they might become the best of friends and bounce bright ideas off each other.

One of the reasons for not giving canon characters as big a say as they probably should have is not being comfortable writing the characters, or knowing that you write that particular character awkwardly, for whatever reason. So you know you have these characters to work with, so you include them in the scene because they're there -- and then do nothing with them, so it's like they're standing there with nothing to say or do. This isn't a good scene to be setting up. Either they should be there in the scene, and have a voice, and do things, or they shouldn't be in that scene at all. Figure out which way you want to take it -- either find something for them to do there, or find something for them to be doing somewhere else, and get them out of that scene so you don't have to deal with them.

If a character's thoughts and reactions are nothing like mine and I haven't the foggiest how they'd actually react to a situation like that, I don't take my chances on guessing about it! I check in with a friend, especially if I have a friend who identifies strongly with that character. I get their input on how the character would probably react in a situation like that, and I reconcile that to my understanding of the character and what's going to actually work in the story. This can also help with the problem of all of your characters acting too much like each other.

But what if your original character just refuses to behave? What if they are the hero of the story, and there are only a few very minor things that the canon characters are actually doing, and any more involvement from the canon characters would ruin the story? Then, my friend, you may well have a budding piece of original fiction on your hands. Polish the original character, find a new supporting cast that fills those same roles as the old canon's characters, and start looking about for an original universe that will suit.

Mary Sue as Feminist Icon; Other people's wish-fulfillment fantasies are often boring to read unless you share the selfsame fantasies. I wonder if the world needs a guide intended for young fanfic writers on the topic of "So you want to write Mary Sue stories" -- I probably could have used one, and I know a rather lot of the young ladies out there writing them could use them.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to put yourself in the story and writing about wonderful and beautiful things happening. Nothing at all. It's a great deal of fun for you; if you're writing your friends in it, it's a great deal of fun for them as well. It isn't likely to be a universal classic, though -- unless everyone knows you and your friends, and likes you and your friends, they're probably not going to be interested enough to read it, and would probably prefer to avoid it if given the option. It is possible that you've written a universal classic, but the odds are very much against it.

Whatever you do, don't stop writing. All this writing that you're doing is helping you hone your technical writing craft, even though there will be places that very much need some work. ( Read more... )

If you have scenes that have to be cut, for gods' sake save them somewhere! ( Read more... )

Consider where you're sharing this story. Given that this is no longer the Century of the Fruitbat, you probably have it up online in some fanfiction archive or other, or in your journal, and you have the summary of the story written to be aimed directly at your intended audience -- your closest friends, the ones you're writing this to share with. The trouble with this is that while the story is your private little party, and you really wouldn't mind if the general public became friends with you and shared in the fun, the general public is not likely to share in your happiness with your shiny and would-be utopic (or dark and grim and would-be dystopic) bit of fanfiction. They're expecting fanfiction shared in that much public to be fanfiction intended for sharing with a wider and less specialized audience (all Harry Potter fans who like Hermione/Harry, for example, rather than all Harry Potter fans who like Hermione/Harry and are also your friends). If someone expecting a story of wide appeal comes in and winds up mistakenly reading your story of very narrow appeal, you may wind up in possession of a stinging review. And oh, how those fuckers hurt.

Instead of sharing on a fanfiction archive where anyone looking for the pairing you like can stumble across your fic by accident, consider archiving it only in your journal. The people who matter are going to wind up there anyway, and you can always post it to your favorite fanfiction archive site later, if the response you get in your journal from people who aren't close friends of yours is good enough to suggest that your story has wider appeal. Consider labeling your story with a summary that includes "Original character who is an idealized version of me", or "How would my friends and I fit into canon?" If people who really don't want to read those sorts of stories know this up front, then they'll be more likely to avoid your story and move on to something more to their taste.

Consider what you want to convey with the story. ( Read more... )

A lot of idealized characters are stunningly beautiful, with perfect skin, lovely bodies, unique eye color, perfect hair in unusual colors, and so forth. If your idealized character has any of these things going on, or other things like special powers or something, consider giving some of these things (or if not those exact things, things similar to them) to those around your idealized character. ( Read more... )

If you're playing with characters who are people you know, but they haven't told you that they want to be in the story you're writing, insert some plausible deniability into the situation by renaming everyone. ( Read more... )

If you're writing this not just because you're telling a story that's fun, but because the story has a lot of deeper meaning to you, be careful about who you share it with and how you share it with them. ( Read more... )

Showing it off in public is inviting criticism. If you can't take criticism, don't share it in public. There are many ways to share it that aren't in public, though. You can share it one-on-one with someone; you can share it via e-mail to a person or a group; you can put it up online in a restricted-access area (like a locked, perhaps even filtered post on LJ). If you do share it with someone, let them know what kind of feedback you're looking for, before they start looking it over.

synecdochic gives good advice on how to get the most out of someone looking the whole story over and making broad suggestions about it.

One of the most stinging quasi-constructive pieces of advice out there is the raw statement "Get a beta." The usual unhappy flailing response is either "I have a beta!" or "I can't find a beta!" Either way, that review means that there are so many technical and structural flaws in the piece that it shouldn't be let out in public on its own. ( Read more... )

If your reviewer suddenly winds up screaming and flailing at you and coming out of nowhere with a very strong and personal reaction that leaves you hurt and spinning, it may not actually be you or your work. You may have just managed to push the hot-button of that particular reviewer, one of the things that is guaranteed to drive them completely insane. Get a second opinion from someone who you don't think has that particular hot button.

Above all, just keep writing. You may only ever wind up writing for your own amusement; you may wind up at the top of the New York Times' Bestseller List; you'll never know unless you keep writing.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Location: home (whee, internet.)
Current Music: "'Til I Hear It From You", in my head

"Before and After" - Lily/James, before and after wars.

ataniell93, this one has a bit of what the HoIF list was talking about, post-war resistance without OMG Non-Con Partytime!! going on.

As

nalidoll has said, time and again, fanfic really is all about playing paper dolls. The difference is really all about how one goes about it.

Most of the objectionable stereotyped-teen fanfic writers, the Sue set, take the paper dolls from the movies and dress them up in things they'd blatantly obviously never wear, and have them boffing either Barbies, or each other, complete with squeaky and horrendous dialogue.

But there are some people who lovingly draw their own dolls from the descriptions in canon, paint them with great artistry upon fine paper, and make elaborately detailed costumes for them, not necessarily lavish, but made with love and a need for perfection. And it's those fics that I wish to seek out, artists writing someone else's characters with more attention to detail and characterization than the original author herself might be doing.

Current Mood: pensive
Current Music: traffic, black and orange tea, and friends slipping offline for the night