Hi, MysteryAgain here! I'm a reviewer, critic, advisor, and SYOC fanatic!

I have a deviantArt account. I'm not much of an artist, but you want, you can visit it at I've got a few of my OC pictures there.

You may be asking, "Why the Unown in my avatar?" Because Unowns are cool, that's why! :P

Common Fanfic Terms:

AU - Alternate Universe. A setting or series of events that is different than what happened in the canon media. Sometimes, the changes are small, like sparing a character's life or changing the pairings. Other times, they can be bigger, like changing the setting from a fantasy world to an oridinary high school.

Canon - Occuring in the original story, show, etc. This can refer to characters, events, rules of the universe, and much more.

Character Bashing - When a character is portrayed negatively because the writer doesn't like them. The character in question will often be OOC, frequently becoming mean or stupid. Other characters that got along with them just fine in canon will hate them in the fanfic. This is generally frowned upon.

Crack Fic - A fanfic that has a bizarre plot or premise. Usually written for laughs.

OC - Original Character. A fan-created character.

OOC - Out of Character. This means that a character is not behaving the way they do in canon.

Self-Insert - A fan-created character that a writer bases on themself.

SYOC - Submit Your Original Character. A story where the writer requests that their readers send in OCs. The writer then selects some of them and uses them in the story.

A Little Info About Mary Sues:

If you ask different people what a Mary Sue is, you'll get different answers. Sometimes, they are defined as characters that are too perfect to be realistic. Another view is that they are simply poorly-written characters. Most of them show up in stories written by younger, less experienced authors. What probably happens is that the author, wanting their character to be liked, tries to cram everything they like into the character. What typically results is some unnatural character that represents what the author wants to be.

Here's a few traits that often get an OC labeled as a Mary Sue. Remember, there's no set standard, therefore some of these characteristics may not necessarily make a Sue. Sometimes, it's not even the character concept itself, but rather, the way the character was written that makes an OC a Sue.

The OC has a name that's weird for the setting: This is not the most horrifying trait an OC can have, but it can be unintentionally funny or cringeworthy. Common examples include overly long names (Jane Olivia Triston Kennedy Jones), names that don't fit the OC's nationality (A Japanese girl named Kristen, an American girl named Sakura), and words that aren't normally used as names (Shadow). This is something that varies wildly between universes. Whichever universe you're writing for, it's often helpful to follow the naming scheme. Marvel characters have names similar to those in the real world. My Little Pony characters have cutsy non-names often related to their talent or personality. RWBY characters have color-related names. If you're stumped, baby naming and ancestry sites have lists of common names from various countries.

The OC has an excessively beautiful/cool/unnatural appearance: I get it, almost no one wants their character to be ugly. In fact, there's nothing wrong with creating a character that can be considered attractive. However, red flags pop up if the author uses terms like "flowing ebony tresses" and "shimmering emerald eyes" over and over again when "long black hair" and "green eyes" would have worked just fine. Avoid constantly stating how an OC's appearance makes all of the girls/ladies swoon or the boys/men fumble their words. Also, if the description of the OC mentions curves or cup size, that tends to creep out readers (even more so if the character's a teenager). Keep appearances realistic for the setting.

Physical traits that are impossible for humans (or whatever species the OC is) in the canon universe. Harry Potter OCs shouldn't have naturally pink hair and eyes; it isn't normal. When it comes to X-men Evolution OCs, your character's weird trait will stand a much better chance if it makes sense with their mutation. A green-haired plant manipulator or a cat shifter whose human form has the ears and tail both make sense. A telepath with yellow eyes and a wolf's tail doesn't. If you have your heart set on making a purple-haired and pink-eyed character, there're always hair dye and contacts.

The OC has unreasonably tragic elements in their story: Tragic elements include but aren't limited to: the loss a parent/friend/romantic interest/family member, illnesses and disorders (both physical and mental), evil family members, a history of being bullied, abuse, and rape. And, there's nothing wrong with an OC that has some of these elements. However, problems arise when these elements are misused.

One common misuse is sympathy. The writer will give the Sue a tragic past in hopes of gaining sympathy from the other characters and the reader. Some Sues take it to absurd levels, having backstories with several tragic events stacked on top of each other. Unfortunately, if the tragic elements have no other purpose beyond giving the character something to cry about, they just make them look whiny. After all, there are canon characters with tragic pasts, and they don't whine about it all the time.

Another common misuse is to try to make the character appear cool, tough for going through it. Again, if the tragic elements serve no purpose beyond that, they're unnecessary.

Tragic elements work better if they're important to the story, explaining why a character is the way they are or actually being part of the plot. A character with a terminal illness might want to live life to the fullest before going. A character with a villainous family member might constantly be dealing with said family member's evil schemes.

For more triggering topics, I strongly recommend doing research if you don't know from personal experience. Otherwise, an inaccurate depiction could come off as an insult to those who've experienced such events.

The OC has godly powers and/or skills: Their power and skill set overshadows those of the other characters. If the smartest canon character can hack a computer in ten minutes, the Sue can do it in five. If canon chacters only have one power each, then the Sue will have two. Or three. Or five. Or more. This is bad because they solve problems way too easily and make other characters, both good and bad guys, look useless. It's best to keep their power and skill levels on par with their canon peers.

Again, this is something that varies between universes, meaning that adjustments may need to be made if you're taking an OC you made for one universe and placing them in another. For example character who controls the four elements would be fine in a Teen Titans fanfic, but way overpowered in a My Hero Academia story.

OCs with an expert amount of skill in certain areas also tend to fare better if their pasts and daily lives explain why they have said skill. An OC that knows swordfighting who took a lot of lessons as a child and practices often is believable. An OC that knows swordfighting that was locked in a closet most of their life is not. Additionally, powers and skills take time to master; a character who's new to the superhero gig is probably not going to outperform more established heroes.

The OC lacks any notable personality flaws: Let's face it: no one's perfect. Character flaws are a necessity for believable OCs. It helps to consider the downsides a positive personality trait might have. Maybe an intelligent character is also conceited, thinking they are surrounded by idiots. Perhaps a light-hearted jokester doesn't take something important as seriously as he or she should. Having flaws like those cause issues for your character is what makes the character real. As a side note, clumsiness can be an amusing trait, but it is not a good flaw.

The OC has a completely unlikable, even outright nasty personality: Sometimes, this is a result of taking an OC's flaws too far; other times, it's from trying to make them cool and edgy. Either way, it's tough to root for a character who, for example, constantly says mean things to their "friends" or acts in a terrifyingly violent manner. Make sure the OC has traits that readers can sympathize with. Avoid playing flaws to the extreme (ie. "Temper" meaning they'll attack the person who hurt their friend is much more sympathetic than "temper" meaning they'll attack the person who accidentally bumped into them). When the OC does do something bad, make them face consequences for their actions. Said consequences could even be good character development, helping them realize their flaws and grow as a person.

The OC is constantly stated to be X, but comes off as anything but: Maybe the OC's supposed to be smart, but all the "clever" things they do only work because the rest of the cast dropped several IQ points. Maybe the OC's called cool by the rest of the cast, but the reader finds them hostile, pretentious, or arrogant. Perhaps they're stated to be mature, yet they throw a tantrum when things don't go their way. When writing, take a step back and ask yourself if your character's really coming off the way you intended.

All of the characters like the OC: If a character doesn't, they are either evil or just wrong, and it's never the Sue's fault. This even is seen when the Sue is a complete jerk to everyone. Let friendships and romances play out at a natural pace; it'll make a lot more sense.

The OC's romantic relationship(s) is poorly written: This could be things like the love interest falling for the OC right away or several characters showing interest in the OC even though the OC doesn't have an attractive personality. OCxCanon relationships can work, but the relationship needs to progress naturally and in an in-character fashion. What tends to happen with Sues is that they show up, and the canon character of the writer's choice falls for them instantly (and often in an out of character fashion). After that, there is often no plot. If there is, it frequently involves the canon character's insanely jealous "ex" trying to get in the way of the OC to keep the canon character for herself.

The OC is a copy of a canon character: That is, they have nearly the exact appearance, personality, skills, powers, etc. of a canon character. While similarity is justifiable if the OC is related to the canon character, if they're just a genderbent or "upgraded" version of them, that's just unoriginal. It helps to go for traits that aren't already covered by the main cast. There are tons to choose from.

The canon characters act OOC: This is more related to the writing than the OC, but readers will still blame the OC. People don't like it if Starfire degenerates into a jealous #$@$ because an OC is getting too close to Robin, if Nightcrawler acts... em... less gentlemanly than he does in the canon, or if Slade becomes an incompetent buffoon that's easily trounced. It doesn't matter if you hate Ron Weasley or Starfire. Turning them into bad guys or moving their IQ down ninety points is known as character bashing, and it rarely sits well with the readers who like those characters. In a similar manner, just because you think Pietro and Draco are good-looking doesn't mean they'll instantly become good because of your OC's love or friendship. The fact is, some characters, no matter how hot you think they are, are jerks in canon and will, by logic, stay jerks, unless they go through some very well-written character development.

Everything revolves around the OC: While the Sue is doing everything in the story, the canon characters will be sitting around, saying or doing little to affect the plot and receiving no character development. While an OC can be the main character in a story, the canon characters shouldn't be ignored. They will have their own in-character responses to situations as well as the OC's actions. For example, if an OC is fighting a baddie, don't make the canon characters just stand there and watch! Have them join in the fight! Is a canon character is known for being smart? Let them come up with the game-winning plan! Does a canon character have a personal score to settle with the baddie? Let them get some good hits in! Let all, both canons and OCs, have their momements to shine!

And, don't simply rewrite canon scenes to insert your OC. One, readers will usually know what will happen and therefore be bored, and two, it's can be like ripping the awesome moments from the canon characters and unfairly giving them to the OC.

Again, this list is not complete nor final. But, I hope this helps people. I'm open to PMs if anyone has questions or comments about this. If you've read this, think it is helpful, and want to copy it onto your profile, be my guest! :)

Other Stuff that Might Help a Story:

-Grammar, grammar, grammar, a lot rests on the grammar. The more typo-ridden a story is, the more painful it is to read. Proofreading helps! My advice is to make your story something that you wouldn't be ashamed to turn into your English teacher. That also means no textspeak! I know grammar isn't everybody's strong suit, but there are plenty of Beta readers that can help.

-Big walls of text make readers tremble in fear. It helps tremendously if the story has paragraphs. Also, it's good form to start a new paragraph each time you change speakers.

-The summary is what makes people decide if they want to read a story. Again, proper grammar helps. A good summary will give readers an idea of the plot without giving too much away. On a different note, summaries like "I suck at summaries. Please read," and "I wrote this awesome story. Read it," do a disservice.

-Author's notes. They're helpful if you want to send readers a message along with your new chapter, but disruptive if placed smack dab in the middle of a chapter. Either before or after the chapter is a good place to put a note.

-Begging for reviews is a don't. Most people don't like it if a writer holds their story hostage by refusing to add another chapter until they get X amount of reviews. Politely asking for reviewer's thoughts in an author's note is a good way to get honest critique. :)