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30 questions fic meme, day 8: you keep using that word.
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.
FIRSTLY. YOU CAN STUFF YOUR MARY SUE WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE, a thoughtful and informative discussion of what a Mary Sue is and is not and how the term is used to police and punish prominent female characters for being too, you know, female. And prominent.
Ahem.
Do I write original characters? Yes. But I don't think I've ever written one in a lead/romantic role (sorry, Hector and Alyosha, I will figure out how to write that story about you EVENTUALLY, I swear) because I tend to be busy smooshing together the guys I like best from canon. Or exploring their individual manpain in some fashion.
(That said I have written some near-OCs, like Arkady Jole and many of the ladies involved in the Stargate SG-1 Bechdel Test Fix-Its, characters so minor I have to make up part or all of their names. But since I'm extrapolating all these characters from their actual appearances in canon, because of their actual appearances in canon, I choose to assume that's a different thing.)
Anyway: when I write original characters it tends to be because I have some ecological niche in the story that I can't fill from canon. This includes kids (Ianto Jones, Junior; Ada O'Neill; David Fraser; many, many children who never saw the light of day in stories never written or yet to be written), villains (Williamson in Missing Persons), and other assorted secondary characters (the hockey player Ray has sex with in Hawks & Hands, Jole's Tonton and Tatie, extra Vorkosigan armsmen, and so on).
I worry a lot about whether the kids I write will turn into Mary Sues, in the sense of being excessively perfect and taking over a story that's really supposed to be about canon characters. For them, I try to remember all of the least-convenient behaviors of kids I know, and also to make sure that every scene with a kid is really serving to show something about the adults in the scene and moving the plot along. Also, no baby talk ever. Luckily I keep writing children who can be plausibly argued, from the parenting they have received, to be very mature and articulate for their ages.
On the other hand, when it comes to adult OCs, I will cop to making them as perfect as possible in whatever niche they're filling. I regularly figured out what Williamson would say or do in a given scene by just thinking up the most perfectly creepy thing he could do and then going with that. He was a Mary Sue of creepiness and villainy.
Oh, and for the record Bo is a total Mary Sue. She's an original female character with an uncanny bond to the central male character(s), who adore her beyond reason. She warps the entire universe around herself. Only horrible characters hate her or are jealous of her. All will love her and despair. And so on.
1 – How did you first get into writing fanfic, and what was the first fandom you wrote for? What do you think it was about that fandom that pulled you in?
2 – Name the fandoms you've written in, and how much you've written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.
3 – For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favorite characters to write?
4 – Do you have a "muse" character, that speaks to you more than others, or that tries to push their way in, even when the fic isn't about them? Who are they, and why did that character became your muse?
5 –If you have ever had a character try to push their way into a fic, whether your "muse" or not, what did you do about it?
6 – When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
7 – Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
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.
9 – Pairings – For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
10 – Pairings – Have you ever gone outside your comfort zone and written a pairing you liked, but found you couldn't write, or a pairing you didn't like, and found you could?
11 – Genre – do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
12 – Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
13 – Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?
14 – Ratings – how high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you're comfortable with NC-17, have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you're writing is G-rated instead?
15 – Warnings – What do you feel it most important to warn for, and what's the strangest thing you've warned for in a fic?
16 – Summaries – Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
17 – Titles – Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the fic? Also, if you do chaptered fic, do you give each chapter a title, or not?
18 – Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka "bunnies") from?
19 – When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
20 –Do you ever get bunnied from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
21 – Sequels – Have you ever written a sequel to a fic you wrote, and if so, why, and if not, how do you feel about sequels?
22 – Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favorite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?
23 – When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
24 – Betaing – How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren't any major flaws in your fic? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?
25 – Music – Do you listen to music while you write? Do you make playlists to get into a certain "mood" to write your fic? Do you need noise in general? Or do you need it completely quiet?
26 – What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you've had to research for a fic?
27 – Where is your favorite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?
28 – Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?
29 – What is your current project or projects?
30 – Do you have a favorite fic you've written? What makes it your favorite? And don't forget to give us a link!
FIRSTLY. YOU CAN STUFF YOUR MARY SUE WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE, a thoughtful and informative discussion of what a Mary Sue is and is not and how the term is used to police and punish prominent female characters for being too, you know, female. And prominent.
Ahem.
Do I write original characters? Yes. But I don't think I've ever written one in a lead/romantic role (sorry, Hector and Alyosha, I will figure out how to write that story about you EVENTUALLY, I swear) because I tend to be busy smooshing together the guys I like best from canon. Or exploring their individual manpain in some fashion.
(That said I have written some near-OCs, like Arkady Jole and many of the ladies involved in the Stargate SG-1 Bechdel Test Fix-Its, characters so minor I have to make up part or all of their names. But since I'm extrapolating all these characters from their actual appearances in canon, because of their actual appearances in canon, I choose to assume that's a different thing.)
Anyway: when I write original characters it tends to be because I have some ecological niche in the story that I can't fill from canon. This includes kids (Ianto Jones, Junior; Ada O'Neill; David Fraser; many, many children who never saw the light of day in stories never written or yet to be written), villains (Williamson in Missing Persons), and other assorted secondary characters (the hockey player Ray has sex with in Hawks & Hands, Jole's Tonton and Tatie, extra Vorkosigan armsmen, and so on).
I worry a lot about whether the kids I write will turn into Mary Sues, in the sense of being excessively perfect and taking over a story that's really supposed to be about canon characters. For them, I try to remember all of the least-convenient behaviors of kids I know, and also to make sure that every scene with a kid is really serving to show something about the adults in the scene and moving the plot along. Also, no baby talk ever. Luckily I keep writing children who can be plausibly argued, from the parenting they have received, to be very mature and articulate for their ages.
On the other hand, when it comes to adult OCs, I will cop to making them as perfect as possible in whatever niche they're filling. I regularly figured out what Williamson would say or do in a given scene by just thinking up the most perfectly creepy thing he could do and then going with that. He was a Mary Sue of creepiness and villainy.
Oh, and for the record Bo is a total Mary Sue. She's an original female character with an uncanny bond to the central male character(s), who adore her beyond reason. She warps the entire universe around herself. Only horrible characters hate her or are jealous of her. All will love her and despair. And so on.
1 – How did you first get into writing fanfic, and what was the first fandom you wrote for? What do you think it was about that fandom that pulled you in?
2 – Name the fandoms you've written in, and how much you've written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.
3 – For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favorite characters to write?
4 – Do you have a "muse" character, that speaks to you more than others, or that tries to push their way in, even when the fic isn't about them? Who are they, and why did that character became your muse?
5 –If you have ever had a character try to push their way into a fic, whether your "muse" or not, what did you do about it?
6 – When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
7 – Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
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.
9 – Pairings – For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
10 – Pairings – Have you ever gone outside your comfort zone and written a pairing you liked, but found you couldn't write, or a pairing you didn't like, and found you could?
11 – Genre – do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
12 – Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
13 – Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?
14 – Ratings – how high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you're comfortable with NC-17, have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you're writing is G-rated instead?
15 – Warnings – What do you feel it most important to warn for, and what's the strangest thing you've warned for in a fic?
16 – Summaries – Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
17 – Titles – Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the fic? Also, if you do chaptered fic, do you give each chapter a title, or not?
18 – Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka "bunnies") from?
19 – When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
20 –Do you ever get bunnied from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
21 – Sequels – Have you ever written a sequel to a fic you wrote, and if so, why, and if not, how do you feel about sequels?
22 – Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favorite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?
23 – When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
24 – Betaing – How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren't any major flaws in your fic? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?
25 – Music – Do you listen to music while you write? Do you make playlists to get into a certain "mood" to write your fic? Do you need noise in general? Or do you need it completely quiet?
26 – What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you've had to research for a fic?
27 – Where is your favorite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?
28 – Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?
29 – What is your current project or projects?
30 – Do you have a favorite fic you've written? What makes it your favorite? And don't forget to give us a link!
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Anyway: thank you!
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But one can call her a bitch without being accused of misogyny, so hey.
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