Ace’s Guide to Writing Original Characters
Okay, so I’m insanely bored, and more than a few people have asked for tips on writing OCs, and while I don’t consider myself any kind of expert, I’ve definitely picked up a few things along the way. So here they are, take them all with a grain of salt, and remember that every writer is different.
Ace’s Guide to Writing Original Characters
Tip One: Create a Character
When I first started writing Becoming Connor Davids, I didn’t have much, but I had something. Something is better than nothing, always, when dealing with a new character.
For Connor I had a name, age, height, physical build, and profession. I also had a list of languages he speaks, where he lived/went to university, some hobbies, etc. Over the course of the story I added to that, but that’s what I started with. By the time I wrote Jared (in Life for Rent), I’d had my BCD experiences and established more of a backstory for him, gave him more depth, character, etc.
There are some things about my OCs that I, as the author, know that my audience never finds out. It keeps my characters more real in my head, but, as I said, it’s different for everyone.
With Connor and Eric, before I started writing them, I wrote out a background story, something that I always knew but that the reader would slowly learn. Now, not everything was in that background story, but things like his education, mannerisms, age, etc. were all there. It was sort of like a cheat sheet for Connor, something I suggest all writers have. In the end, I had one for Connor, Eric, and John. I had another one for keeping track of smaller characters like Jim and Ben.
Consistency is very key in an OC. People really don't change that much in real life, and when they do it's usually because of an outside force. In Connor's case, he ended up just as shy but with less of a hesitancy to him as he became more confident in his person because of John. But he didn't suddenly become the life of the party, or anything louder than how he first started. He still liked time alone, and he was still quiet and unassuming. Sometimes, when I'm lost on how an OC would act (and it does happen), I would read earlier chapter to see how they reacted to similar things.
Creating and OC is harder than writing a well-established character. It sounds silly to say it, but you’re making up the entire character, and it’s a lot of work to put a character into someone’s mind, especially into their fandom.
Tip Two: Give You Character A Weakness A.K.A. How To Beat The Mary-Sue/Marty-Stu Effect
I’m not going to say I’ve never written a Mary-Sue or a Marty-Stu or whatever you want to call them. I’m sure to some people I have, and if you really start writing OCs you’re going to spend some time defending your character to your readers or to your betas or to yourself, there’s really no way around that.
When I write an OC there’s usually something in their backstory that creates angst. Angst creates depth, depth forms weaknesses, and weaknesses are what people can connect to.
No one can really connect to the supermodel blonde in a romantic comedy who always gets the guy and the job she wants. Sure, we all want to connect to her, but it never happens because there are miles between where she is and where we are.
Connor's weaknesses were mental as well as physical--he had huge doubts, low self confidence, and migraines. Eric had mental scars. The Masons have one, but you'll probably never see it come out because of the way the story is written. Jared had a sad past and was sometimes a bit clingy in his mind.
These all help to create OCs. I say angst creates depth, because most people can't identify with Average, Happy Joe Lucky. They need something more to connect to and they want that in a character.
People write for a variety of reasons and they have a favorite character for a variety of reasons. In my mind, the most popular reasons for identifying with a character or writing ones are: wish fulfillment, wanting things they can’t have, and trying to live out another life. The last one is where a Mary-Sue comes in; when an author sticks her/himself into a story and writes it as s/he wishes her/his life would play out.
If a character is too perfect, no one can identify with them. I’ve had people tell me they like Connor for a multitude of reasons, but one of the ones I hear the most is that they identify with him in some way.
I get asked a lot (or it’s assumed) if I’m like Connor. The truth is, I share some small bits and pieces with him (we both like raspberry, Carlsberg, Schubert, and John), but for the most part, I’m not him.
This segues into…
Tip Three: The Cliché Of Writing What You Know (And Why It Works)
I've based OCs on people I know, and sometimes a tiny bit on myself. I think often a lot of people make OCs a perfect version of themselves, or they take their ideal man/woman and write that. What I try to do is look at my friends or my family and find the nuances between them. The small things that make them more real to me (which are usually their strongest character points or their weaknesses/annoyances) and that make them different from each other.
Like with Connor, he's a mix of a couple of my friends with just a wee bit of me thrown in (because really, when you write what you know, it's shows and when you're writing something that you don't have the first clue about--it shows).
For people like the Masons, I considered my own family and how they are to me. The thing about the Masons is that you never see anything from their POV. It's all from John or Cam's POV. When you're seeing them from John's POV, they're definitely saints among men. He elevates them higher than anyone else. When you see them from Cam's POV he elevates them because of how much they've done for John. Everything Cam feels about the Masons is because he knows they love John as much, or even more than he does, so in his eyes they're superstars.
Jared loved to cook, and I love to cook, and I know a lot about cooking. The number one response I received from that fic is: This fic makes me so hungry. OMG.
When you know something, people can tell, and it creates a fuller story. When I write David Parrish (who isn’t an OC, but might as well be) I have to do a shitload of research on plants. It doesn’t make me that happy to do it, but it gives his character (a botanist) a little more authenticity.
If you don’t know something but you want to write it, find out how to know it. Research, research, research. I did so much research for Becoming Connor Davids, even if it didn’t seem like it. I do research for This Delicate Thing We’ve Made, I did research for Life for Rent, and I’ve done research for Don’t You Run. For the love of all that is holy, don’t write something if you have no idea what you’re talking about. I guarantee you that someone reading your fic will.
So how does this connect to an OC? The same way it connects to having John Sheppard surf and Evan Lorne paint and David Parrish hang out in the botany lab. Don’t make your character a surfer/painter/botanist/astrophysicist if you haven’t the first clue about surfing/painting/botany/astrophysics. Seriously, don’t do it. You will thank yourself later.
Tip Four: Think About Who Your OC Is Going To Interact With The Most/Who You’re Writing Him/Her For
You can't just mash up Joe Nobody with the President.
That's how we'd like to believe it happens, but stop and think about how it would happen in real life. With Eric, I created him as sort of a juxtaposed character to Rodney's. I thought about what kind of character Rodney would need in his life. He needed someone he could help and be strong for, someone who could put him in his place if needed, but who would rather love him as he is. And Eric's character is young in years, and might be super hot, but he's old on the inside and he's scarred in ways that make him care less about looks and more about finding someone who gets him.
I wrote a thing on why I think John needs someone like Connor, so I won’t repeat that here.
The point is, you need to know this in advance. You need to consider who your character is going to interact with.
Did Callen need another person of mystery and adventure in his life? To me he didn’t. Maybe he does to you, and that’s okay. Remember, everyone is different.
Let me put it another way, if you’ve read BCD, can you see Connor ending up with Rodney? In LfR can you see Jared ending up with Eric? Just thinking about that makes me make the squick face. The characters would clash.
An OC is a chance to find an almost perfect fit for the character you’re trying to pair them with. Your character might think it’s a perfect fit, but I like to leave in a little something. John likes sex, Connor doesn’t. Jared’s pretty flamboyant, Callen isn’t.
Tip Five: Connecting Your Character With Your Audience
I touched on this earlier, but it’s important that your readers be able to see a little of themselves in a character, or feel the emotion of someone in your story. This doesn’t just apply to OCs, but it’s important to mention to someone creating a character from scratch.
Most of my OCs have an underlying story line of hope. I like to say that I write hopeful angst. And hope is something that a lot of people can connect to. In fact, I think it's what most people connect to and what most people really want out of a story.
Connor and Delicate!John inspire a lot of hope in people. People connect to Connor because he lived his life alone and had given up on love (but really, he hadn't, he just didn't want to dwell on it because he was so shy and so sure that no one would love him). That is something many people feel at some point in their life, and seeing Connor achieve that love gives people hope. Eric also had a past that would have created a huge gap between him and people, but Rodney was willing to cross it, and that's something most people secretly hope for in their own lives--someone willing to put the effort into them.
That might sound a little manipulative, but I try not to give out false hope. I try not to have things happen to my character that I don't believe could happen in real life. Jared isn't going to wake up and win the lottery, Eric isn't going to miraculously heal from being abused, Connor isn't going to leave his life of being a wallflower and become the life of the party. They’re steady characters, not all over the place emotions wise.
So, remember, connect, connect, connect!
Tip Five: Characters Should Dislike Your Character
I’m going to freely admit, right now, that I’ve broken this rule/tip. But I think it’s an important one to take into consideration.
Remember that just like in real life, not everyone in your story may like your character. People don't like some people, it's a fact of life, sad but true. If you write an OC there should be a character that isn't going to want to date him/her (or more than one character).
If you're writing and you think to yourself, man this guy/gal is stellar, everyone should want him/her, it might be time to step back and re-evaluate him/her.
Rodney didn't like Connor, and even though in the end it's because he was sort of in love with John, there was just something about Connor that rubbed him the wrong way and he didn't like Connor's meekness or how quiet he was. John didn't like Eric that much, not really a personal thing, but he would just rather not hang out with him than hang out with him. Jared, admittedly was liked by everyone in the story except his past lovers. That's probably because he was a chef and he fed them all amazing food. =D
Anyway, the point is, I’m sure you can think of a few people off the top of your head who you don’t like or who have rubbed you the wrong way. Everyone can. If you want your OC to be as real as possible, they need to rub some people the wrong way. It doesn’t have to be outrageous, or obvious, or even a huge point in the story. It can be small and mentioned, but barely there. Either way, it will give your character another point of dimension.
Tip Six: Using An OC’s POV
I‘ve written from an OC’s POV and from the POV of an existing character, and I haven't found one to be harder than another or better.
In BCD I started with Connor's perspective, mostly because I was anxious to introduce him, but if you do that, you really have to know your character and be comfortable squishing him into the rest of the story on his own. An OC has a natural disconnect from the rest of the characters, if you introduce him first on his own, you have to make him connect to everyone else.
With his POV there is probably minor connection (work, family, distant friend, etc.) and he's unconnected to the other characters. As opposed to having a main character there to bridge the gap between the OC and the rest of the cast. In LfR it was one of the first fics out there in that fandom, so I had the OC introduced through a man character's eyes, because even the main character was still being introduced at that point.
Also, in the beginning of BCD I did a few things that I never did later. I wrote a chapter from John and from Connor's perspective. I don't dislike the idea, but found it repetitive after a while. So you might give that a try, if that idea appeals to you. It might help you figure out if you want to write from an OC’s POV or from an established character’s.
I hope none of this is too intimidating. Trust me, when I first started out I was really lost. I knew what I wanted Connor to be like, but I had no idea where his story would lead him. And Eric didn't even pop into existence for a while after the story started, and I realized that I had a better idea of who Rodney would be with rather than Katie Brown.
If you are going to write an OC as a main character, I'm going to leave you with this: OCs are not something a lot of people want to read. I can't even tell you how many comments I get that start with "I don't normally read OCs, but..." because I get them all the time. So there's already a mark against you when you start writing.
I definitely don't want to discourage anyone at all, I just want to raise some awareness that OCs take time to grow on people. I've had readers say they didn't click on my story the first twenty times they saw it, before finally giving in. So it might take time, but I think they'll come around. What people hate most in an OC is a Mary Sue or a Gary Stu, or at least that’s what I’m told. You can avoid that by creating people instead of characters. Make them real. Make them yours.
Most of all, though, have fun. Writing is about the fun. And you know what? If you want to write a Mary Sue? Then write a Mary Sue. Who’s stopping you? I’m not.