30 day meme, Day 8; other stuff
I've been a bit busy the past few days. A friend of mine returned from camp, my sister got sick, and Fourth of July celebrations happened. Speaking of, here's my current contextFree project:
The program is still very much a work-in-progress: I still need to figure out drawing the fireworks, then I want to be able to randomize it so it's actually a fireworks generator, not just one picture.
In general writing, I somehow started writing some stuff for Spitfire Week in the YJ fandom. It's not my favorite pairing, by any means, but they're cute. Besides, I need practice writing romance; everything I try it comes off as gen with some implied shipping. In other news, I should start avoiding opportunities to write AU's. They threaten to eat my free time entirely.
I (finally) came up with a plot I like for Avatar Big Bang. Now we'll just have to see if I manage to write it in time.
Meme, day 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.
My first instinct is to say "no," but that's a lie if I think about it. My very first fic involved several OC's. The fic I wrote for atla Mini-bang was entirely OC's. I also have a story idea sitting in the back of my head that would involve OC's. This shouldn't surprise me as much as it does, given that I occasionally daydream about being a... well, a real writer. (This daydream, however, could charitably be called a pipe-dream. Thus far I've had little success abandoning my fanfiction training wheels.)
That first fic I mentioned (no, you don't get a link) died partially because I was convinced that the OC's were going to be Mary Sues. In retrospect, they weren't, if only because they were all massively neurotic.
I don't believe the OC's in the minibang fic were Mary Sues; for one thing, none of them are over-powered except for perhaps the Avatar, and he's supposed to be overpowered. He's trying to conquer the continent and is the human incarnation of the spirit of the world; I think it's justifiable.
As for the other idea i mentioned, it would be driven by a desire to explore the events surrounding a major social change in Tamora Pierce's Tortall books. Some time between Beka Cooper and Alanna the Lioness, Tortall stopped allowing women to become warriors. I'd be trying to a) explore the events that drove this change and b) attempt to emulate Tamora Pierce's writing style, both in terms of pacing and strong characterization. Therefore, I'd be taking cues from the author in how to avoid Mary Sues: the main character would have their own goals and flaws; she (the character would be female) would have to work for success at things rather understanding everything easily because she's "gifted" or "special."
As previously mentioned, this idea is just sitting in the depths of my computer right now. I don't actually have detailed plans yet.
The program is still very much a work-in-progress: I still need to figure out drawing the fireworks, then I want to be able to randomize it so it's actually a fireworks generator, not just one picture.
In general writing, I somehow started writing some stuff for Spitfire Week in the YJ fandom. It's not my favorite pairing, by any means, but they're cute. Besides, I need practice writing romance; everything I try it comes off as gen with some implied shipping. In other news, I should start avoiding opportunities to write AU's. They threaten to eat my free time entirely.
I (finally) came up with a plot I like for Avatar Big Bang. Now we'll just have to see if I manage to write it in time.
Meme, day 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.
My first instinct is to say "no," but that's a lie if I think about it. My very first fic involved several OC's. The fic I wrote for atla Mini-bang was entirely OC's. I also have a story idea sitting in the back of my head that would involve OC's. This shouldn't surprise me as much as it does, given that I occasionally daydream about being a... well, a real writer. (This daydream, however, could charitably be called a pipe-dream. Thus far I've had little success abandoning my fanfiction training wheels.)
That first fic I mentioned (no, you don't get a link) died partially because I was convinced that the OC's were going to be Mary Sues. In retrospect, they weren't, if only because they were all massively neurotic.
I don't believe the OC's in the minibang fic were Mary Sues; for one thing, none of them are over-powered except for perhaps the Avatar, and he's supposed to be overpowered. He's trying to conquer the continent and is the human incarnation of the spirit of the world; I think it's justifiable.
As for the other idea i mentioned, it would be driven by a desire to explore the events surrounding a major social change in Tamora Pierce's Tortall books. Some time between Beka Cooper and Alanna the Lioness, Tortall stopped allowing women to become warriors. I'd be trying to a) explore the events that drove this change and b) attempt to emulate Tamora Pierce's writing style, both in terms of pacing and strong characterization. Therefore, I'd be taking cues from the author in how to avoid Mary Sues: the main character would have their own goals and flaws; she (the character would be female) would have to work for success at things rather understanding everything easily because she's "gifted" or "special."
As previously mentioned, this idea is just sitting in the depths of my computer right now. I don't actually have detailed plans yet.