Introducing an Original Character into Fan Fiction
I can't really pick an option on the poll. When a non-canon character is intruduced, I just don't give it too much thought. It is later when I start thinking if it is being weirdly handled, or if it is suspicious.
Good article. I don't know if that's how it works or not, but I think it's an interesting topic.
I know little about writing fanfiction, and I've never created an original character (but that's probably just that I'm not a story-teller), so my advice would not be very valuable. But I've read fanfiction for the last 10 years, for different fandoms and in 2 different languages (and yes, it makes a difference sometimes). I've seen people following authors through different fandoms even when they were not familiar with the canon story, just because they liked the writer's work, so I wouldn't say all fans hate new things.
But, as a kind of 'expert' , or at least experienced reader , I'd say three things should always be kept in mind:
a) Fans hate, as you called it, 'false advertising'. They like surprises, but just to an extent. They want all the warnings, the characteristics, the gender, the romantic pairings involved, etc clearly estated. And that obviously means when reading a fanfic, they want a fanfic. An original story disguised as fanfiction is rarely welcome.
b) Fans love the characters more than they love the story or settling. That's why AU's are not seen as a no-no (quite the opposite). That's why BBC can take Sherlock Holmes away from his usual Victorian world and they still manage to gather a large fanbase (haven't seen the show, so forgive me if I'm wrong, that's what I've heard).
c) I remember that, as a child, I loved to draw new characters (sorry, I lied a few lines above; I created OCs, it seems, just never as an adult). They were a lot of fun: I had the chance o draw new hairstyles, new clothing, give them new names, etc. Some weiters have this same 'syndrome' and they just love to create and create and create new characters. It's more common in some fandoms than others, but I once was in one were it was done way too often and, instead of enrichening the story, it made it superficial and childish. And, as you also said, it's hard for OCs to grow on the reader when there are loads of them (this happens to me both in fanfiction and original fiction, btw).
Not sure if those are actually useful while writing, just felt like giving my 2 cents as a reader.
SilviaAm, Feb 22, 2012
