I'm not sure what to write about. I made a new character called Sarah, but I don't want her to overshadow the other kids. And I don't want it to be the typical "New girl at Hogwarts" story. I want the story to be amazing.

 

Hi there. I moved your thread to Fanfiction discussion, where you might get some advice.

Though just a character isn't much to write a story.

 

I suggest you stop there until you come up with what you want to write about. There are many ways you can get an idea. Here are a few, off the top of my head:

1. Think what you like reading about and come up with your own version.
2. Look up the numerous "challenges" on FFN and see if anything there strikes your fancy.
3. Take two random things, combine them and make a plot out of it.

Starting with an OC probably isn't the best idea if you're a beginner writer.

Who doesn't, but if you're just starting out, it's probably better to keep your expectations low(er). Most people suck on the first try.

 

OC stories are kind of a mixed bag, and it's really easy to fall into old cliches - especially as a new writer - so make sure you know the territory before you start. This is an example of a terrible OC fic. This one is more mediocre, with some very noticeable flaws. Lastly, this is probably the best one you'll find in Harry Potter, although it's not perfect by any stretch. Unfortunately, there aren't many examples like the latter, but a great place to start is to look at what's been done and see what you can do differently/what you can learn from them.

 

This is so much better than I was expecting

Is this part of the forum just better?

Anyway... My story needs a new villain. But I don't want it to be Voldemort or any Death Eater. I want something new and genuinely terrifying.

 

Why? What's the purpose of making an obsessed, superstitious murderer with a racist cult more terrifying? Instead think about why you want this. Perhaps you could make Voldemort more dangerous, but why? What's the divergence?

 

It sounds to me like you're not actually interested in writing Harry Potter fanfiction at all.

 

I knew I'd get someone like this.

Voldemort was a great villain, but with lines like "Kill his friends. The more, the better!" he sounded like a petulant kid. I get that he's probably scary to some, but I want something scarier. Something to make the stakes higher.

 

You don't need a new villain to achieve that, you just have to make your Voldemort better.

 

So Voldemort comes back to life, revives his Death Eaters, and... what? Goes back to doing what he was doing? He's dead, and I think I need a new villain.

---------- Post automerged at 04:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:24 PM ----------

The villains of a series should get worse as time goes on. That's how it works.

 

So to clarify, because it does need to be stated somewhere: Your fic is set to take place after the events of canon?

 

That's totally a direct quote.

 

Let me get this straight. You want to write a story centered around an OC who you don't want to overshadow the rest and an antagonist scarier than Voldemort who doesn't want to kill the protagonist's friends.

What's the plot of your story? Is the genre adventure? Romance? Thriller? Maybe a bit of everything? What are the characters like? Are they brave? Quirky? Introverted? Extroverted? What about their sense of humour? How do they react to people? Friends? Family? Basically the whole shebang. What are the motivations of the antagonist and how do they affect the heroes and why?

These are some of the questions you need to ask yourself and they're just the tip of the iceberg.

Every writer wants to write an awesome story... precious few actually succeed. Come up with a basic premise for your story and flesh out the characters beyond their name and wanting them to be scarier than Voldemort, put it up here again and I'm sure the feedback would be more constructive.

 

I agree with a lot of what's been said above. crimson son06 makes a good point - you need to think about the basic plot of your story before anything else, and your protagonists main attributes as well. If your premise is just "Female OC named Sarah, with a non-Voldemort related villain.", it's not so much a plot, as it is... well, it isn't really anything yet.

Some things to help you along: What are Sarah's primary motivations - what does she want out of life? What is her desired outcome by the end of the story? More importantly - why should the reader give two shits what happens to Sarah?

If you want a new antagonist, build his/her goals directly in conflict with the protagonists. For example: Mary Sue loves to sit under lollipop trees, but Voldie Stu hates lollipop trees, and wants to chop them all down. Obviously, this is just an example - you want your characters to be more fleshed out, and for their motivations to be more complicated. Maybe Voldie Stu had a traumatic experience involving lollipop trees during his childhood, or something.

Something that I've found to be useful is writing large sections of dialogue - and dialogue only. Write Sarah having an argument with another character. No - even better, have her lose, and have her be proven demonstrably wrong. A lot of fem!OC stories make their OC too perfect - and writing her being wrong is a good way to flesh out her flaws in your own mind.

I'd recommend checking out this thread. It has some good discussion about a lot of problems people tend to have when both reading and writing about OC characters in a fanfic.

Also, I'd recommend checking out this. It's a rather comprehensive collection of advice on writing. You'll probably find something useful there.

 

I want it to be an action story with a lot of fights and battles. I want readers to be on the edge of their seat each time. I want Sarah to go to Hogwarts post-canon with the other kids, grow up, and battle the new villain that outclasses Voldemort the way Majin Buu outclassed Freeza. Sarah comes from an old pureblood family on one side, and on the other... something I made up. Kinda like a viking metal-themed witch hunter with jedi/sith-ish abilities, except there's no force and you can use either type of power without having to pick a side. But I read the sue test, and she passed.

Make her wrong sometimes. Got it. But wouldn't that make her look bad?

 

I strongly recommend you start with a oneshot.

Start with one aspect of your character you want to explore, or a scene you have in mind. Thus you can start with something that, in the end, isn't restricted by any overall plot, but allows you to explore the ideas and characters you have in mind.

Set yourself a goal (3000 words for scene xy), round it up as oneshot, and post it in our Work by Author section.

 

3000 words of fighting? Or just thinking about stuff?

 

Sarah: How about you write a scene about your character receiving the Hogwarts letter?

You have to decide first: Is she Muggleborn? Does she already know about Hogwarts? If she is Muggleborn, who is introducing her to the wizarding world? Does she have a (large / small) family? What are her hobbies? What does she looks like.

Just don't end up with:

Even if it isn't relevant for your later plot: It helps you define your character and her background.

 

You can take a lot of the advice that has been presented. It's good advice. However, in my opinion, you need to figure out why you want to write. What's the point? Do you just want to tell a story that's rumbling around in your head and then share it? That's also fine. But it sounds like you've got a single character in mind and no plot.

It's a beginning, don't get me wrong.

Plot is what drives the story and makes it better than 90% of the stuff out there. Most people on ff.net simply put their strange fantasies into an unorganized accumulation of words and drop them on the site. That's not what we're really about here.

A quote I ran across a while back always comes to mind when I sit down and try to figure out my next project: Write the story you most desperately want to read.

Personally, I like stories that take cliches and turn them on their head to make something totally different and entertaining. I like them to be low on grammar and spelling mistakes, and I like them to have a plot that keeps the ball rolling so to speak.

That's what I attempt to write. I'm not always successful, but I actually try.

What I'm getting at is that you need to sit down and create the bare bones of a plot, the characters you want to include, and a skeleton of how you want to get there. Asking us for help in creating one of these aspects is acceptable, doing it all for you isn't.

Once you get this "story/plot bunny" created, I'm sure you'll find there will be much more useful input from those of us here that want to help.

You might even peruse the Plot Bunny thread for useful ideas and structure to create your own idea.