allyapplepie

I mentioned yesterday that though I write a lot of fanfic, I tend to keep it to myself, largely because a lot of it revolves around the many, MANY OCs that I've made. Character creation is one of my favourite creative exercises, so I often spend more time speculating and thinking up details about my characters than writing them into fic! But having all those extra details to work with when I do get around to writing them makes it that much more gratifying.

Of course, this also leads to my main issue; I feel kinda awkward about posting my fic because of all these OCs I have running around, some of them having multiple versions of themselves for different fandoms, and it almost feels like I'm imposing this disjointed 10+ year mythos of characters I have stored up in my head onto anyone who wants to give a crack at reading my stuff.

So! To my idea; I could do a little series here on DW, an "OC of the Day" post every day where I basically pick a random character from my head and just, talk about them. When I created them, what fandom they were created for, how much they've grown, and so forth. I usually feel like screaming about my thought babies 24/7 anyway, and if just ONE person cares enough about any of them, it might get me in the right frame of mind to not just write more fanfic, but to actually share it for a change.

If this trail of thought continues I might even write up one tonight before bed! We shall see.

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aubadechild

This sounds like such a cool idea! I love OCs as well, even if I mostly use them for original fiction. I adore reading about other people's OCs though, so this sounds like a really fun time!

prixmium

Really, I don't think there's a big difference in making OCs for fandoms and creating OCs for your own worlds. I think the reason that fandom OCs tend to get a bad reputation has to do with the fact that most people's first experiences with them are those that are written by inexperienced, usually very yong writers whose self-inserts or OCs lack discernible character flaws and have no limits and therefore lack definable traits. Developing your own characters is commendable. I tend to prefer focusing on canon characters within my fandoms, but I sometimes have created OCs for a purpose, and I commend people who can do it more comfortably. There's nothing wrong with self-indulgence, but I think that you gain more from it if you're giving yourself and opportunity to develop a skill while you are working with it, such as authentic character development that includes the kinds of things I said some OCs people make in their first attempts sometimes lack.