(Most) all of my OCs start as a canon character/real person that I just hit with the AU stick. A lot. I think that's a great way to start out: pick a canon character you Appreciate and extrapolate a self-indulgent AU idea. Play around with time periods, genres, genders, whatever makes your heart sing. 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
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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