With lecture fics you either read them nodding along, muttering to yourself 'yes, how true!' and smiling, or else you read them in baffled incomprehension going 'Are you nuts?' - depending on whether or not you share the writer's opinions. In 9 cases out of 10 it's going to be the 'Are you nuts?' option.
I would add that the only thing worse than an OC lecture fic is one with a canon character as lecturer. Although that is, by definition, outside the remit of your talk 8-).
(And I say that with a due sense of guilt, since a few months back, my reaction to reading a lecture fic where the Ninth and Tenth Doctors expressed the author's opinion of what's wrong with the Eleventh was to dash off a sequel in which Seven and Eight leapt to his defence... ''Mea culpa''.)
What an interesting, thought-provoking, and witty post! Thanks so much for sharing it! :D
Now you have me thinking about OC's I've written (not very many, but a few) and OC's I've read.
I think I've got one broad category you missed: "offspring of main character(s)." This tends to come up in stories set several years post-canon. In Harry Potter fandom the offspring have names in canon but are virtual OCs in any story where they appear because the names are all canon gives you; in any other fandom I'm familiar with, the offspring need to be pure OCs. (I once gave Spike a fourteen-year-old adopted daughter. She was fairly well-received, I think!)
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On a totally unrelated note, I recently read Ringworld and now I finally understand your online name!
I simply didn't have time to mention the 'offspring of characters' category - I had a 55-minute time slot and I didn't want to overrun. I could have expanded the article here, yes, but then it wouldn't have been the same as the live version. I also didn't have time to go into OCs who serve to facilitate a romance between canon characters.
I also didn't have time to go into OCs who serve to facilitate a romance between canon characters
Oh yes true, that's another big category. Probably a particularly easy one in terms of people not hating your OC, as long as the OC isn't just utterly plot-hammer-ish.
It looks like you used your 55 minutes well; I wish I could've been there in person! (Transatlantic voyages, however, are so not in the cards for me right now.)
Interesting essay. I have to say I enjoy using and REUSING my OCs in my BTVS stories. I tend to give them canon specific backgrounds so, like canon characters, I can use them over and over in a role. I'm even starting to make Original Buildings.
I have reveiwers even ask for OCs special. I've even written two stories about OCs per request. Starting on my third one.
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With lecture fics you either read them nodding along, muttering to yourself 'yes, how true!' and smiling, or else you read them in baffled incomprehension going 'Are you nuts?' - depending on whether or not you share the writer's opinions. In 9 cases out of 10 it's going to be the 'Are you nuts?' option.
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(And I say that with a due sense of guilt, since a few months back, my reaction to reading a lecture fic where the Ninth and Tenth Doctors expressed the author's opinion of what's wrong with the Eleventh was to dash off a sequel in which Seven and Eight leapt to his defence... ''Mea culpa''.)
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You really should have come to WriterCon - it was great fun.
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Now you have me thinking about OC's I've written (not very many, but a few) and OC's I've read.
I think I've got one broad category you missed: "offspring of main character(s)." This tends to come up in stories set several years post-canon. In Harry Potter fandom the offspring have names in canon but are virtual OCs in any story where they appear because the names are all canon gives you; in any other fandom I'm familiar with, the offspring need to be pure OCs. (I once gave Spike a fourteen-year-old adopted daughter. She was fairly well-received, I think!)
***
On a totally unrelated note, I recently read Ringworld and now I finally understand your online name!
Reply
I simply didn't have time to mention the 'offspring of characters' category - I had a 55-minute time slot and I didn't want to overrun. I could have expanded the article here, yes, but then it wouldn't have been the same as the live version. I also didn't have time to go into OCs who serve to facilitate a romance between canon characters.
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Oh yes true, that's another big category. Probably a particularly easy one in terms of people not hating your OC, as long as the OC isn't just utterly plot-hammer-ish.
It looks like you used your 55 minutes well; I wish I could've been there in person! (Transatlantic voyages, however, are so not in the cards for me right now.)
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I have reveiwers even ask for OCs special. I've even written two stories about OCs per request. Starting on my third one.
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I've had requests for stories about my OCs but, so far, I've never actually written any in response to the requests.
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