OCs are a story element just like setting and plot. So the answer is: it depends. Sometimes without a good, well developed OC your story will fall like a house of cards. Sometimes, they don't need to be more than the extra who handles a bit of exposition and moves on.
Because I write plotfic I use OCs all the time. I would hope that people find them interesting in their own right and not intrusive because they're taking away time from the canon characters.
Having said that, I known people who have fallen in love with their OCs to the point that the scale is shifted and the canon characters seem like extras in the OCs story. If that's the case then maybe it's time to start thinking about writing original fic.
Yeah. The characters should serve a purpose, definitely. I'm writing OCs that are central to the plot, but I want to avoid, like, oversharing about them. They aren't the main focus, so they shouldn't take over the story.
I liked them most of the time, I haven't read fanfic in ages tho, I'm strictly original m/m now (or again, since I came from online original to fanfic, now I buy ebooks)
For me, it depends. I expect OCs to carry the same weight they would in the source material. Obviously, you need to populate the world with OCs. There needs to people people for your main characters to talk to, interact with, etc. Villains for them to fight, allies for them to partner with, etc. Depending on the role, that OC will be more or less developed. The guy who runs the food cart where your main character gets coffee every morning--probably less developed. The cop your main character has to work with is probably more developed. The goal is to not have them overshadow your main characters. Your reader shouldn't be distracted by them, thinking, "Whhyyy do we have to know so much about OC's home life when it has nothing to do with the story
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"Whhyyy do we have to know so much about OC's home life when it has nothing to do with the story?" This. And all of what you just said there, is exactly what I'm talking about. I'm finding it difficult to keep that balance.
I'm kinda writing a thing at the moment (like at this very moment) and the OCs are a main part of the plot, but they aren't the focus of the story. I want them to be real people, though, and for that I need to give them details, right?
This is how crap I write ends up being 80,000 words long.
Oh hey. While you're here, I've been meaning to ask if you want to do march_for_words again? February kinda... got away from me. I have a bunch of projects that I definitely want to be working on and get finished, and March is as good a time as any!
Maybe you could host one of your writing chat thingies for people?
I have a rule for myself and fics I beta: you get to introduce three things. When your reader first meets an OC, that's it, you get one sentence in which you can point out three things about this person. Are they blond? Do they wear business suits? Do they fidget? That's where it goes. Everything else about them can be introduced later as you go along, and it can be nice to know about their private life, but only if you introduce it through dialogue with a canonical character, or something. Your readers aren't there for the OC, though they can like them, and it's okay to love them yourself, but we don't need to know much about them.
So, I'm writing a thing, and I know that you aren't anywhere near this fandom, but would you be at all willing to look at a section just for the OC? Let me know if it's... uh, annoying?
With OCs, I find I don't want too much information about them, but I do want a sense that they would keep existing if they weren't in the story. So a lot of OCs are weirdly obsessed with the lives of the CCs for no good reason, and don't behave as if they have lives and concerns of their own because they don't - they've been invented to serve a purpose in the lives of the CCs. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the writer gives you an irrelevant info dump about the character to demonstrate how "real" they are, when really all you have to do is write them acting in the same self-centered way that everyone acts - going about their own business, whatever that is. But to do that, you have to know a bit about who they are and what they want, even if you don't explicitly state any of it.
So a lot of OCs are weirdly obsessed with the lives of the CCs for no good reason, and don't behave as if they have lives and concerns of their own because they don't - they've been invented to serve a purpose in the lives of the CCs. - This is one of my biggest pet peeves in fic, and it applies to canon characters too. Trying my best to avoid that.
So, ok. What if the OC is kind of essential to the overall plot/action of the story?
Personally I would learn a lot about that character yourself but tell us very little of it. I think the important thing is that they give us a sense of their autonomy. If they do that, we can know almost nothing about their backstory and we'll still find them interesting, or at least not distracting. Is your concern that they might be a distraction from the CCs if you spend too much time on them? What specifically are you worried your story might be doing wrong?
ETA: Another thing to avoid: giving the OC too much expository dialogue. In fanfic, people are always making their OCs tell the CCs all about their lives, I guess so they'll seem like "round" characters. But people almost never talk like this unless there's some specific reason for it, or they are unusually prone to oversharing. Sorry, that's just another of my peeves...
I guess I'm just worried about walking that fine line, you know? People hate the OCs = people hate the story.
Would you be at all interested in looking at what I've got so far (approx. 3k of set up) and giving me an opinion? I guess I'm always worried that I'm overwriting, using too many words for the buildup, you know?
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Because I write plotfic I use OCs all the time. I would hope that people find them interesting in their own right and not intrusive because they're taking away time from the canon characters.
Having said that, I known people who have fallen in love with their OCs to the point that the scale is shifted and the canon characters seem like extras in the OCs story. If that's the case then maybe it's time to start thinking about writing original fic.
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I'm kinda writing a thing at the moment (like at this very moment) and the OCs are a main part of the plot, but they aren't the focus of the story. I want them to be real people, though, and for that I need to give them details, right?
This is how crap I write ends up being 80,000 words long.
Oh hey. While you're here, I've been meaning to ask if you want to do march_for_words again? February kinda... got away from me. I have a bunch of projects that I definitely want to be working on and get finished, and March is as good a time as any!
Maybe you could host one of your writing chat thingies for people?
Reply
Reply
So, I'm writing a thing, and I know that you aren't anywhere near this fandom, but would you be at all willing to look at a section just for the OC? Let me know if it's... uh, annoying?
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
So, ok. What if the OC is kind of essential to the overall plot/action of the story?
Reply
ETA: Another thing to avoid: giving the OC too much expository dialogue. In fanfic, people are always making their OCs tell the CCs all about their lives, I guess so they'll seem like "round" characters. But people almost never talk like this unless there's some specific reason for it, or they are unusually prone to oversharing. Sorry, that's just another of my peeves...
Reply
I guess I'm just worried about walking that fine line, you know? People hate the OCs = people hate the story.
Would you be at all interested in looking at what I've got so far (approx. 3k of set up) and giving me an opinion? I guess I'm always worried that I'm overwriting, using too many words for the buildup, you know?
Reply
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