How to Make Your Story Suck Less Chapter 2: Characters, a harry potter fanfic

2. Characters: one of the people portrayed in a book, play, or movie

These guys are the lifeblood of a story. HP has a whole slew of them. The thing that makes JKR's characters so believable is the fact that they are so layered. Voldemort is the total evil in the books, yet you can't help but to feel sorry for him. Harry is totally good, yet you want to punch his face sometimes. Draco Malfoy: Is he good, or is he evil? "Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting someone back in Azkaban for?" (Lupin, HP 3). And the most notorious of all good people, Severus Snape. His intentions were revealed, yet some people still hate him. (Personally, I've loved him all along!)

There are two types of characters. No, not good and bad. "The world isn't divided into good people and bad people" (Sirius, HP 5). I am talking about OCs and originals. An OC character (I'm using 'OC character' because I have no idea what OC stands for XD) is basically a character by a fan fiction writer. I'm talking the real pretty girl who gets sorted into Slytherin and wins the heart of the ice-cold sex god Draco Malfoy. That is an OC. They never existed in the actual book, yet you make them exist in fan fiction because as humans, we like playing God. There is a whole section dedicated to them later on in this chapter. An original character is simply a character of the author's work. I'm talking HP, Malfoy, Oliver Wood (who we always call by his first and last name in the beginning- anyone notice that?), Sirius, Regulus, Hermione, Luna, Ginny… you get the idea. Basically, we don't own them. Most don't have any trouble with originals, except for one little thing.

If you use an author's characters in fan fiction, you have to keep them in character! Unless it's a parody, or if the author (that's you!) explicitly says that the characters are OOC (Out Of Character). If a character is OOC, and there is no warning, the reader wants to bang their head against the wall. Or, the die-hards will flame. And let's face it: flaming hurts. But, honestly, what do you expect when you make Dumbledore drop f-bombs? And on that happy note, let's go on to OCs.

OC Characters:

The thing that makes OC characters tricky is the fact that you have to have a good balance. They can't be perfect (Mary Sue / Gary Stu), but they can't be totally flawed nut jobs either (cough-cough My Immortal).

Here's how to avoid a Mary Sue/Gary Stu:

1. Don't make their story tragic or perfect. Some writers can get the perfect balance (I.e. JKR), while others BS it (I.e. SM). So, the best thing to do is keep a fairly normal childhood. Put a few important elements to your plot. DO NOT OVERDO IT! It makes the character look pathetic.

2. When describing your character, don't go overboard. A perfect example of this: My Immortal. Very few people are born with purple or black eyes. Don't go off and say 'My hair is mid-thigh… I keep it long to represent what I have been through…If someone tries to cut my hair, I will attack.' Just DON'T! Do vague descriptions and go further in. For example: 'I guess I look like your average girl-next-door… The wind whipped my dark brown hair around my face… The coat's dark colors made my face look even more angular'…etc. The … 's are supposed to represent passages in between. What I am doing is slowly building up my character so the reader gets a richer image of them as the story progresses. Now, I'm not saying a nice little "I have dark brown hair and blue eyes" is unacceptable. But, I'm saying don't give the reader your life story in the first, like two sentences.

3. For God's sake PLEASE DO NOT MAKE THEIR NAME ANNOYING! Example: My Immortal's Ebony-Enoby thing. An extensive disgustingly pretty name for an OC is like calling Professor McGonagall Princess Buttercup Shiny Face Thing. Keep the names nice and simple. Or, if you want, pick a style of name, and then keep BOTH the first and last name in the same style. Example: Alice Prewitt (She's Neville's mum). Mrs. Future-Longbottom's name is simple, yet it has that sort of rustic English feel to it. Both her first name and her last name are like this. (And, "her name sounds right.") JKR is a total genius. She has connotations to all of her names, like Sirius Black, named after the dog star and can turn into a black dog. Now, most of us do not have the time to do the totally awesome stuff that JKR did. So we make up a name. Do not do a SM and go with 'Beautiful Swan.' That is not only cheesy, but it's crap. Pick normal names. Go with names that you might actually name your kid, like Annabeth or Luke [Here's to all you PJO fans].

4. Relations. If you don't want a Mary/Gary, here's the number one way to avoid it. If you are doing a HP/PJO/Whatever-you-want fan fiction, and your OC is related to one of the HP people, make it believable. Here is the number one no-no for OC brother-sister: Harry. HE HAS NO FAMILY LEFT! That has been drilled into our heads for the entire damn series. Same thing with the rest of the Golden Trio. Hermione has no siblings. Ron has, if not, too many awesome siblings. Pick odd characters to have siblings, like, say Oliver Wood. However, if these characters do have siblings, pay attention to any mentioning of them. If Oliver really did have a sibling, it is likely they would be in either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.

Since this is a chapter and not a whole effing book, I won't go into extreme specifics, so for further reference, go here. I hope the link works. If it doesn't, the link is: .net/s/4468720/1/A_Guide_To_Original_Characters

Read it. It's amazingly helpful.

Okay. Here's some practice. Can you tell me if this OC character is a Mary Sue? (This is just a character profile)

Calypso Jamie Knightbridge is of average height and has dark red hair and green eyes. She is known to be excessively random and funny. She is very short-tempered, and she spares no one with her tongue. She is very impulsive, and often does things she regrets later. She has always admired Artemis [ARTEMIS'S AWESOME!], and learned the ways of the hunt. Later on, she discovered her ability to (for lack of a better term-I hate this word in this context) control fire. She goes to Hogwarts and is sorted as a Gryffindor, and dies dueling Bellatrix Lestrange after Dumbledore's death.

Okay: Here's a test for you: Is she a Mary-Sue? E-cookies to the right answer!

A/N: That's all for today folks! I'm debating what I should do next, and seeing as finals are coming up… BUT: My finals are over on Tuesday! YAY! So, hopefully I'll update sooner. Any particular requests?

The main reason why I got this chapter up so soon was because of the reviews I got within hours of posting the settings chapter.

PS: THANK YOU WALLS OF JERICHO, VIVIRIVIAMA, MELODIUX AND NOCTURNE OF ECLIPSE (I totally agree with what you have to say. Made me feel dumb for not putting that up, but hey, that's why we have reviews right? :D)