Author's Notes

📝Writing Guide: OC Basics📝

Howdy! So, as promised, this is the first installment of "A Guide To Writing". I know I'm sounding kinda unprofessional up here, but as soon as the lesson starts, you're gonna get professional_spn_author, no longer just your average_spn_writer. Let's get into it.

For whatever the reason is, you've come here to learn the proper way to begin and author your very own character. Whether the character you want to make is going to be used in a role-play, fan-fiction, or personal story, and whether in or out of a fandom, the main logistics and rules of creation remain the same.

While it may seem tempting to jump directly on to the deep thorough process of creation of a backstory, or the fun, entertaining process of crafting a style, it is really the boring basis that makes the strong foundation for the character. After all, every mansion has the same boring concrete foundation (I think).

Analogies aside, there are really a few main key cornerstone things you need to solidify about your character before you start any of the larger pieces.

For this specific example, a basic outline I want to use for teaching the fundamentals of character building is:

Fandom (optional, only if the character is associated with a fandom):

Name (First-Middle-Last):

Nicknames:

Species:

Affiliation(s):

Gender:

Sexuality:

Birthday:

Death Date:

Birthplace:

Current Residence:

Race:

Heritage:

Fandom: First, and most importantly perhaps is establishing and acknowledging any and all connections to fandom(s). This is key because it pre-establishes the dos and donts of the universe you are operating in. It can be restricting to create a character inside of a fandom, but as long as they abide by the basic laws of physics and other things in that universe, feel free to have fun with it.

Name: As unimportant as a name may seem, names actually largely connect to species and can foreshadowing aspects of the character, or even help to give first impressions. For example, Atticus from the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The name Atticus means wise, just, and smart, which directly foreshadows Atticus' personality throughout the rest of the novel. Choosing a first and last name is your main goal here. Last names can be used to tie this character together with other characters, canon or otherwise created.

Nickname: Nicknames are an interesting part of a character to play around with. Although before developing backstories, nicknames might be offshoots of a character's name, such as Jessica being nicknamed Jess. Nicknames can also be used to more blatantly state a fact about a character's personality or how others view them, such as someone who is hyper and fun being called Sparky.

Species: Species is yet another key component. Depending on the universe, certain species might be off limits, or just would not make sense to add to into a story, such as an extra archangel in Supernatural. Other species simply do not make sense because they do not exist at all in a specific world (ie. dragons in a story intended to be realistic fiction). So it is extremely important to consider the limits of your world when deciding upon the species of your character.