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serpentinemaligni find it so inspiring going through peoples character rosters in art trade events and personal websites. seeing peoples expressions of their desires, glimmers of types they love... it's wonderful. it makes me want a roster that big for myself, for trades and roleplaying. characters who exist more as avatars for collaborative storytelling and 'OC fandom', where i am less precious about their precise plotlines.
but i wonder how to do it myself.
if you have original characters, i invite you to tell me what the process was like in terms of making them and their world. did they come from a story you were already working on, or did they sprout *before* a narrative? how did you create them? was it a long process? how did they evolve? how did you know *that* character was the one to continue developing? what do you use them for?
for me, i think there are several problems that i am encountering.
1. 'respectability' or recognisability when juggling multiple pseudonyms. i have my projects that are attached to my 'professional' creative profile, in fact some characters which started out intended for this account have wound up there. then i have projects that are specifically for 'serpentinemalign', which are horny/designed for PWP and/or are untenably edgy for traditional publishing. so, i mean i know what OCs *could* belong here... but i don't know if i could resist slipping them into the projects i want to get professionally published. or vice versa, wanting to use my professional OCs for horny purposes. i think i just like attention too much, and when i write a banger i want to somehow put that banger everywhere. but i honestly have no idea how to compartmentalise and decide 'oh, this is a character for serpentine' vs 'this is a character for something i actually want to get published professionally' or vice versa.
2. making a compelling character, or multiple characters with compelling dynamics is difficult! i fear that they will begin to blend into one another, because i would say a lot of my more 'serious' writing (i hate that, like i'm not also serious about my fanworks - but you get what i mean!) is built off an autobiographical perspective. that is, it is kind of self-obsessed and the characters are very obviously based off an aspect of me. i guess most people's characters are? but i would love to know how to build characters that are more distinct. maybe that isn't necessarily the point and i am just overthinking it.
3. there is a utilitarian aspect to writing PWP with at least one canon character. it is much easier to get an invested audience, and it is also an easier process than building a character from scratch, provided that you know the character well enough. (i guess by the point you know one of your own characters well enough, it's probably about even, if not easier. so it's an easy route vs a hard route that is by a certain point, possibly, effortless.) there is less friction to play with canons because a lot of groundwork was already done. but... i also like doing OC trades, i like making OCs that i can get fannishly obsessed with. i just don't know where to begin.
mat, despite being an author surrogate, was kind of perfect as an example. a character who is distinct and has interesting common traits but who is flexible enough to fit into many situations. maybe i just need to think about how mat came into being and just keep building like that lol. i think probably the core is just pure self-indulgence, and possibly also a degree of genre ambivalence - the ability to take many incarnations, almost like a legacy character or a character with many parallel universe versions, because the core traits are strong and distinctive enough. the obvious next step would be to make an original love interest for mat, i guess? or think about 'wishlist' situations that aren't fulfilled well by a canon character? ah. a lot of thinking, probably more than can be done in this journal. anyway, be sure to tell me about your own processes for making/developing/using OCs. i am super curious š¤
but i wonder how to do it myself.
if you have original characters, i invite you to tell me what the process was like in terms of making them and their world. did they come from a story you were already working on, or did they sprout *before* a narrative? how did you create them? was it a long process? how did they evolve? how did you know *that* character was the one to continue developing? what do you use them for?
for me, i think there are several problems that i am encountering.
1. 'respectability' or recognisability when juggling multiple pseudonyms. i have my projects that are attached to my 'professional' creative profile, in fact some characters which started out intended for this account have wound up there. then i have projects that are specifically for 'serpentinemalign', which are horny/designed for PWP and/or are untenably edgy for traditional publishing. so, i mean i know what OCs *could* belong here... but i don't know if i could resist slipping them into the projects i want to get professionally published. or vice versa, wanting to use my professional OCs for horny purposes. i think i just like attention too much, and when i write a banger i want to somehow put that banger everywhere. but i honestly have no idea how to compartmentalise and decide 'oh, this is a character for serpentine' vs 'this is a character for something i actually want to get published professionally' or vice versa.
2. making a compelling character, or multiple characters with compelling dynamics is difficult! i fear that they will begin to blend into one another, because i would say a lot of my more 'serious' writing (i hate that, like i'm not also serious about my fanworks - but you get what i mean!) is built off an autobiographical perspective. that is, it is kind of self-obsessed and the characters are very obviously based off an aspect of me. i guess most people's characters are? but i would love to know how to build characters that are more distinct. maybe that isn't necessarily the point and i am just overthinking it.
3. there is a utilitarian aspect to writing PWP with at least one canon character. it is much easier to get an invested audience, and it is also an easier process than building a character from scratch, provided that you know the character well enough. (i guess by the point you know one of your own characters well enough, it's probably about even, if not easier. so it's an easy route vs a hard route that is by a certain point, possibly, effortless.) there is less friction to play with canons because a lot of groundwork was already done. but... i also like doing OC trades, i like making OCs that i can get fannishly obsessed with. i just don't know where to begin.
mat, despite being an author surrogate, was kind of perfect as an example. a character who is distinct and has interesting common traits but who is flexible enough to fit into many situations. maybe i just need to think about how mat came into being and just keep building like that lol. i think probably the core is just pure self-indulgence, and possibly also a degree of genre ambivalence - the ability to take many incarnations, almost like a legacy character or a character with many parallel universe versions, because the core traits are strong and distinctive enough. the obvious next step would be to make an original love interest for mat, i guess? or think about 'wishlist' situations that aren't fulfilled well by a canon character? ah. a lot of thinking, probably more than can be done in this journal. anyway, be sure to tell me about your own processes for making/developing/using OCs. i am super curious š¤
no subject
Date: 2024-09-29 07:11 am (UTC)but i honestly have no idea how to compartmentalise and decide 'oh, this is a character for serpentine' vs 'this is a character for something i actually want to get published professionally' or vice versa.
I don't really have any suggestions re: this point, but I do sympathize. FWIW at some point I decided that it was fine for "tropicsbear" to overlap with my IRL identity, but eventually regretted that decision. I think it's better to err on the side of caution and privacy and not let any overlaps happen.
no subject
Date: 2024-09-29 12:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-29 03:22 pm (UTC)Strangely, I don't think I ran into this problem when writing my first original-work smut. However, I think it was because the charas I was using had randomly-generated traits from multiple generators, and also because I was on a time limit to put the work out (it was for a CitrusCon panel for context). So I didn't have as much of a problem with the chara-building process if I stuck to those principles? Idk. Maybe fooling around with random traits and a tight time limit could be a good creative exercise for horny OC works?
no subject
Date: 2024-10-09 12:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-29 04:41 pm (UTC)tbh, yeah, I think making OCs just boils down to self-indulgence. because some of mine started as random doodles I liked the design of, while some were made because I asked myself "wouldn't it be fucked up/funny/hot if this happened?" and I chased that train of thought wherever it went. some of my OCs are even just AUs of AUs of my other characters. for me, it all comes from having something I want to try or see or just have fun with!
I don't have much advice for point 1 because I have a similar problem, but I think it'll help to consider how much you care about your image vs your creative wants. how much would it bother you if people knew you for your preferred themes the same way people look at Bryan Fuller for Hannibal or GRRM for Game of Thrones?
for point 2, I think it comes down to motive and background. because I can give 3 different OCs the exact same trait from me, but if they want different things and lead different lives then they'd all be distinct people. for dynamics, I tend to do a mix of looking at shows and stuff I enjoy and figuring out why I find them compelling along with applying personal experiences kinda? like I might not know exactly how it feels to be a serial killer and a detective with Tensionā¢ļø, but I do know what themes I like and how obsession feels so.
for point 3, I think that goes back to self-indulgence, so I feel like a good start is to try making an OC associated with something you're already obsessed with. you know how some people are like "go for the jugular" when they talk about writing? go for your own! (that sounds so much worse than I intended it to be, I'm so sorry.) sometimes you just gotta make something so catered towards yourself that going feral is inevitable. that's how it works for me, at least.
sorry about how long this got š¤” I love OCs and hope you have a lot of fun making yours!
no subject
Date: 2024-10-09 12:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-10-11 07:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-29 07:47 pm (UTC)It can become a six degrees of separation thing, where you've put in lots of your own traits/themes that it feels transformed from the canon character... but You Know. In your heart. <3 You get the best of both worlds, I think, in having the groundwork from the canon but also the freedom to do pretty much anything. Highly recommend.
All of my OCs come in pairs, so when I make them I try to utilize dynamics I'm feral for: Sunshine x Grump is my FAVE, and I put that shit everywhere. But it can help me figure out the personalities of the pair a little more easily than doing it with just one character. Sometimes I know character A really well, and the challenge comes in making character B to be their foil and/or romantic partner. Traits that clash can be interesting, as well as traits that compliment each other.
With PWP, I feel like people are searching for kinks more than fandom/characters? So if a oneshot has a kink they're into, they'll read it regardless of canon familiarity. That's just my gut feeling, I've never written OW PWP so take my opinion with a grain of salt lol
no subject
Date: 2024-10-09 12:34 am (UTC)and that's very true! i've actually become intrigued by new fandoms because of PWP kink fics. so i guess not only does the character source material maybe matter a bit less, but also, it may be a good place to mine for canon inspiration as well!