Comments | writing_buffy: Late, but here! Week of Sept. 3rd...

lily_diablo in writing_buffy

Late, but here! Week of Sept. 3rd...

Sep 03, 2009 02:29

Hi all! Posting for confusedkayt this week. Sorry I'm so damn late -- I discovered that an NPO I work with has to find a new home by the end of this month, so I've been in meetings and researching and all sorts of craziness. Better late than never, though ( Read more... )

Comments 45

maryperk73703 September 3 2009, 13:03:05 UTC

Good luck with the work move ( ... )

brutti_ma_buoni September 3 2009, 17:56:24 UTC

You sound so organised about this - I'm totally impressed with that world building and record keeping.

sockmonkeyhere September 6 2009, 15:51:47 UTC

Four of the OCs were canon, but their characters were so minor that they only appeared in one episode. They are the three men from a Council wetworks team (they're based on the guys from the BTVS Season 4 episodes with Faith) and a Goth chick (based on the girl Spike brought to the Wedding that Wasn't).

Hee, I've done that with Jordy, Oz's little werewolf cousin who was never seen but often mentioned in the BtVS episode "Phases." (He's the one who bit Oz on the finger and gave him lycanthropy.) I like your idea of an OC file! It's bound to come in very useful. And how much do I love Clem; I can't wait to read about the girlfriend you've created for him! :D

maryperk73703 September 6 2009, 17:36:06 UTC

I've actually gone through and wrote down everyone ever mentioned in my stories (regular stories and Scenes without a Story). I have over 100 OCs. Next time I need an OC, I'll check there first. LOL

Thread 6

eowyn_315 September 3 2009, 15:09:20 UTC

No writing. Again ( ... )

maryperk73703 September 3 2009, 17:50:51 UTC

quote: so they only show up when I need them to play a particular role in a story. quote

Yeah, that's how many of mine start out, but then I just keep them in their original-type role.

lily_diablo September 3 2009, 20:49:37 UTC

sockmonkeyhere September 6 2009, 15:43:59 UTC

In a sense, the original characters are *how* I explore the characters I love in fiction...it sort of gives me an independent lens to view them with. Like the old sci-fi standard of putting an alien in the middle of a bunch of earthlings.

I agree; I sometimes think of OCs as a Greek Chorus. They can provide a fresh, often unbiased and free-from-baggage point of view to the readers AND to the canon characters themselves!

Thread 5

brutti_ma_buoni September 3 2009, 17:55:14 UTC

Busy busy week, I'm signed up to too many ficathons. But the good news is I've broken through my pr0n barrier thanks to writing too much for the kink meme as well. I write total filth now! *is beaming with pride*

And then, just for the hell of it, I signed up for whichwillow as well. Sigh. Sometimes, I should sit on my hands and stop typing.

OCs... I write a lot of them, but only in ficlets - I have a whole series, which still gets additions, of Sunnydale Life, all around careers and other odd stuff that supports your average Hellmouth town. I've had a few supporting OCs in longer fic, but not as the main focus. They're usually there to give plot points or die messily.

I like my idea of Giles's mother, though. She is my fanon backstory for him.

lily_diablo September 3 2009, 20:52:37 UTC

Yay filth! :D can't wait to read it! (That's something else I haven't gotten to do in a few weeks...since Summer of Giles closed up, it seems like I've had a hard time sitting down and checking out my usual reading list.) I've been kind of wanting to try some of the kink meme stuff...someone's going to have to run me through how that works.

Sometimes it's nice to have people die messily. It's better than trying to pull that off in real life, that's for sure.

bogwitch September 3 2009, 18:08:46 UTC

I've not written a word. But I have been betaing.

I create OC's as and when I need them, usually as a secondary character, but occasionally as a villain. I have to say, I think I rather like all of them. I see them as inhabitants of the Buffy universe too, so they'll turn up when I need them again.

angearia September 3 2009, 18:58:25 UTC

I've been writing a bit - all of it out of order for my WIP. Mostly, though, I've been beta'ing (I beta'd 3 stories for a writing competition I'm running) and writing reviews, etc. But I'm buckling down to write tonight. It's the getting started that is always the hardest, but once I get going, then it all flows quite nicely.

Original characters are fun! I find that the longer my story is, the more likely there will be original characters involved. Sometimes I want to write more for that original character, but worry that no one will read it because it doesn't have Buffy or Spike or some other character in it. Like my OC villainess Amara, who I find fascinating. I wrote a drabble in follow-up to my story "Sad Song in His Heart" and for all I know, only one person read it. So sometimes I feel like I'm the only one interested in my OCs. It's a bit discouraging.

lily_diablo September 3 2009, 20:56:30 UTC

Yeah, writing OC's does tend to set one up for disappointment, doesn't it? They're a lot more personal than sticking to the established characters, so it's harder when you don't get feedback on them. I know how you feel....

I occasionally worry that having OCs in my work will turn some folks off, but it seems like I get stuck if I don't have that outlet for "my voice" in the story, too. There almost has to be that character that gets to ask the questions running around in my head to get everything from point A to point B. Maybe that's lazy? Not forcing myself to figure out how Willow would do that, or Spike, or whoever. It isn't that canon characters take a back seat to my OCs...but they are pretty equal.