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30 Day Fanfic Writing Meme Day 8 and 9
I missed yesterday, so I'm doing a two-fer today.
8 – Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.
I generally do not write OCs. Mostly because the kinds of fics I write are very shippy and short, and more often than not, porny. Or angsty. They almost always center on the relationship between Cordy and Angel because that’s what interests me the most about AtS. There’s not a lot of room for OCs in that mix. There’s barely room for the OTHER AtS characters in that mix, LOL.
However, one of my favorite forms of fic is the ‘outsider’s’ POV. I’ve written these a time or two and I very much enjoy using a new character to spotlight things about familiar ones. But these OCs tend to be very generic and non-threatening the way I see them.
To be honest, I don’t know if I could write an OC without having it come across as a Mary Sue. I mean, I wouldn’t write one who was Buffy’s most awesome half sister named Moonglow and Spike really loved her best (I have seen these and they are NOT awesome), but usually if I went to the trouble of creating an OC, I’d want to tell HER story, not drop her in the middle of Cordelia’s….unless she had a specific role to play that supported Cordelia or Angel or any of the familiar characters in my fic. I personally don't really care for OCs when I read fic. I want to read about the characters already established on the show, not someone I'm not familiar with and for whom I have no investment.
Having said that, I HAVE read and liked OCs in other fics but more often than not, they were by very talented and capable writers. Interesting and crucial to the plot without taking OVER the plot or overshadowing the other characters. If I ever decided I needed one to do more than say a couple of lines, I’d probably read these other fics first in order to get a handle on how to present them. Learning from masters and all that.
9 – Pairings – For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
As I stated before, I write C/A almost exclusively. So obviously they are my favorite to write. Smut, angst, comedy, horror, I put these two through the proverbial ringer for my own enjoyment and kinks. Within the ‘verse, I think I like writing Giles and Cordelia and Buffy and Cordelia too – not necessarily as pairings but I like the energy/chemistry/dynamic that I feel whenever I write them in the same room together. I almost wrote a Cordelia/Buffy porny mcporn fic once, but damn, I literally watched myself write Buffy out of the library and Angel coming in and THEY proceeded with the PWP. I am hopeless.
In X:WP, I liked Ares/Xena and Ares/Gabrielle.
These are the pairings I have written the most in the last ten years. I think it makes me kind of a boring writer, or maybe a one-note one. I SHOULD be able to write other characters and pairings, a lot of other writers do it. But except for a snippet here or there, I really haven’t ever tried.
Maybe one day I will, when I have nothing left to say about C/A. But I’m not holding my breath on that. And neither should anyone else. :)
~~
8 – Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.
I generally do not write OCs. Mostly because the kinds of fics I write are very shippy and short, and more often than not, porny. Or angsty. They almost always center on the relationship between Cordy and Angel because that’s what interests me the most about AtS. There’s not a lot of room for OCs in that mix. There’s barely room for the OTHER AtS characters in that mix, LOL.
However, one of my favorite forms of fic is the ‘outsider’s’ POV. I’ve written these a time or two and I very much enjoy using a new character to spotlight things about familiar ones. But these OCs tend to be very generic and non-threatening the way I see them.
To be honest, I don’t know if I could write an OC without having it come across as a Mary Sue. I mean, I wouldn’t write one who was Buffy’s most awesome half sister named Moonglow and Spike really loved her best (I have seen these and they are NOT awesome), but usually if I went to the trouble of creating an OC, I’d want to tell HER story, not drop her in the middle of Cordelia’s….unless she had a specific role to play that supported Cordelia or Angel or any of the familiar characters in my fic. I personally don't really care for OCs when I read fic. I want to read about the characters already established on the show, not someone I'm not familiar with and for whom I have no investment.
Having said that, I HAVE read and liked OCs in other fics but more often than not, they were by very talented and capable writers. Interesting and crucial to the plot without taking OVER the plot or overshadowing the other characters. If I ever decided I needed one to do more than say a couple of lines, I’d probably read these other fics first in order to get a handle on how to present them. Learning from masters and all that.
9 – Pairings – For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
As I stated before, I write C/A almost exclusively. So obviously they are my favorite to write. Smut, angst, comedy, horror, I put these two through the proverbial ringer for my own enjoyment and kinks. Within the ‘verse, I think I like writing Giles and Cordelia and Buffy and Cordelia too – not necessarily as pairings but I like the energy/chemistry/dynamic that I feel whenever I write them in the same room together. I almost wrote a Cordelia/Buffy porny mcporn fic once, but damn, I literally watched myself write Buffy out of the library and Angel coming in and THEY proceeded with the PWP. I am hopeless.
In X:WP, I liked Ares/Xena and Ares/Gabrielle.
These are the pairings I have written the most in the last ten years. I think it makes me kind of a boring writer, or maybe a one-note one. I SHOULD be able to write other characters and pairings, a lot of other writers do it. But except for a snippet here or there, I really haven’t ever tried.
Maybe one day I will, when I have nothing left to say about C/A. But I’m not holding my breath on that. And neither should anyone else. :)
~~
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