Apologies to
SwordofMercy1, I was asked a question and ended up writing an essay,
!
I hope you can sift through it, and it is useful. Still, I felt the urge to post it here as well, as I'd like to hear other opinions on the issue of OC's, and characterization in general...
ME3's roster is small. However, I think it ISN'T because of numbers, so much as richness of character. The reason nobody complained about ME1's roster was twofold: we are meeting the char's for the 1st time, and they have rich backstory and development.
Move to ME2: just like ME1, a few old favorites to keep us grounded, AND there's a plethora. So many, in fact, that we'll never use all of them, but they all have backstory to establish an emotional connection.
Now to ME3: we get LESS than we had before, even though a large stable of characters has been established. I would have accepted that most of ME2's crew was busy, except for two characters...
Vega and Javik. Let's face it, we just don't get any time to grow acclimatized to these people. Vega comes across as a boring caricature, and Javik comes across as an elitist jackass. Had we been given the time to enjoy getting to know them, it would not have been a problem. The [deleted] trial scene [for Shepard] would have alleviated that for Vega. We really needed a mission where Javik got to lay his ghosts to rest (even a "wipe out the remnant Collectors" mission), despite the large war. The specter of war killed character development.
The main offender here is that the hole left by those missing characters is filled by uninteresting new characters.
That segues into my next point, adding OC's. There's room for it, but I choose to do it in a memorable and logical way. I need to learn to love these characters, and they need to serve a purpose. Also, I want to avoid adding too many, and confuse the reader.
For example, I find it difficult to read Game of Thrones, b/c there's just too many characters in it, half of whom I don't care about. Seeing the show actually helped ground me in the lore, even though I'd read the books FIRST. My point here is: don't confuse the reader, make the characters distinct, but also give them personality and purpose.
In my own story, I actually nixed 3 or so OC's. Why? The ship was getting crowded (bear in mind I gave Shep and Garrus their own ships). It seemed wasteful to me to have so many people who did nothing.
I literally had ONE character who was around for ONE scene and served NO purpose outside of that scene. It was very difficult for me to cut her, b/c I liked her character. However, several things happened once I decided to remove her...
1) it got easier to keep track of the remaining characters
2) it gave everyone else something to do (namely the tasks that were slated for her)
3) b/c they had more to do, it made those characters more important
On the other hand, I fell in love with another OC that I had done NO legwork on, no premeditation on. He just grew from the exposition, and I couldn't bear to say goodbye. This also worked out well, b/c I still
1) had things for him to do (many new wrinkles I'd not considered before)
2) had new ways for him to interact with the familiar characters
3) raised new questions just by having him around
The character I cut will appear in a forthcoming story, b/c I have a good hook for her. The character that I newly created will not likely go past this current story, having served a grander purpose. At the end of the day, you have to do what interests you. Are you excited to write these characters? If you are, are they distinct and memorable? Do they serve a purpose, other than to be more bodies? You don't want them to be like Jenkins from ME1, a [empty] plot device and nothing else.
Incidentally, some of my crew don't even fight, serving a different purpose (Padok Wiks replaced Mordin as scientist, but never fights, staying on Normandy) . Even EDI is relegated to staying on the ship. She still has purpose, but the role of combat is filled by some of my OC's. Again, you have to do what speaks to you, but I always find characters with purpose and uniqueness to be the most compelling.
Sorry for the rant. To close, I'll leave you with my final crew list...
Shep's Squad: Liara, Jack, Ashley, Kirrahe, Grunt, Shiala, Javik, OC (plot related), OC (for fun, but has purpose), OC (plot twist*)
Shep's Crew: EDI, Joker, Chakwas, Donnely/Daniels, Traynor
Garrus' Squad: Tali, Falere, Kolyat, Miranda, Zaeed, Kasumi, Samara, OC (minor plot beats), OC (dramatic plot twist*)
Garrus' Crew: Padok Wiks, Cortez, [Dr.] Michel, [Engineer] Adams, Kelly
Some of the crew I never even address, I just know they are there in my head. Some of the OC's don't serve any other purpose than to prop up the other characters. For instance, Ashley and Garrus have a defining moment as affected by the OC's with the *.
Sorry again for the verbosity!
**************************************
TL;DR: do what you enjoy writing, and it will be fun for others to read!
I'd like to reiterate that I find necessity the mother of invention, there has to be a rhyme and reason for something's creation, be it character or plot. It's fun to waffle about sometimes too, and that serves it's own purpose as well (it allows us a break and a breather).
However, it always comes back to your vision, your plans for the payoff.
Modifié par Seracen, 11 juillet 2013 - 06:26 .
Retour en haut
.
my envisaged backgrounds and motivations for said character just don't really add anything to my tale.
