herbology | advice for authors

。character perspectives

We all love the marauders. We all love the Weasley twins. We love Colin Creevey, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger. Why? Because we saw them from the perspective of Harry in the books, and Harry liked them.

But is it necessary that everyone should like them? Lavender obviously disliked Hermione. And as impossible as it may sound, I'm sure many disliked the Weasley twins too, for example, people like Percy who just cannot tell a joke even when it dances naked in front of him wearing Dobby's tea cosy. People may dislike Neville for his incompetency or feel superior over him.

One way to make your fanfiction more interesting is to offer a different perspective to the characters we have seen in the original books. Not everyone is Harry. So not everyone would feel the same way towards the other characters as he feels. Your OC doesn't have to like the twins. He/she can be someone who feels afraid of them or intimidated because they once turned their books into a pile of rats. He/she can hate them with all their heart because they just don't have an ounce of humour in them.

We've read the original books plenty of times and we're tired of seeing Hermione as, at times, an annoying know it all who also is kind and helpful. I want to see her as someone who takes away the opportunities of your OC to shine in class. I don't want to see Ginny as a cheerful girl who is loved by everyone and is fantastic at quidditch. She can be someone who doesn't get along well with your OC and has arguments. Maybe your OC feels jealous of her. Maybe she downright hates her. Colin doesn't have to be as annoying to everyone as he is to Harry. He can be a sweet and caring boy who loves talking about his muggle life and about muggle things with purebloods.

Just because these characters never (or hardly) had fights with Harry, doesn't mean they can't have fights with others. Make them lash out to your OC, make them irrational at times. Give us a different side to these characters without making them a completely different person. Because honestly, we all act different in front of different people.

These different perspectives would make your story more interesting to read.

Let's take Harry as an example. The whole series was written from his point of view, and from his actions and thoughts we can deduce his character. But he is an introvert, and talks to a select few people. Other students from other houses cannot read his mind, so they don't know the struggles he has to go through, or the reasons behind his actions. Some, like Colin, admire him. Many think he is an attention seeker. Many are jealous of him. So just because Harry is the main character doesn't mean your OC has to like him. You can make your OC feel jealous of him, resent him, or simply make them indifferent towards him.

This goes the other way round too. A character who was despised by Harry may be liked by your OC. Harry wasn't particularly fond of Zacharias Smith or Cormac McLaggen. But that was because of their attitude towards him. Maybe they are different to their friends. Maybe Percy is extremely generous and caring towards his friend (whether canon or OC). Maybe Zacharias isn't as pompous to his room mates. While Oliver always talks about quidditch, when it comes to his best friend, maybe he puts his likes aside and listens to their rambling of their favourite things. Like eating. Or Potions. The whole fandom hates Marrietta Edgecombe for ratting on the DA, but Cho Chang remained loyal to her. Why? Because she was a bad person like her? No. It was because she was her best friend and knew the sides of her that Harry and his gang didn't see.

So when you make an OC, make them interact with various of the canon characters and give a different perspective towards them. Cedric can seem like a haughty person from their viewpoint, and Percy can be a sweet angel to them. Hell, even Crabbe and Goyle can be fucking likable to them. We never knew much about them except from Harry's view, especially the Slytherin students. Give your OC a well developed personality and decide which of the canon characters they'd get along with and which they'd absolutely loathe.

Also remember that if your OC hates a character, they don't necessarily have to fall in love with them at the end. Or, if they like a character, at the end of the story they could become separate and start hating each other because of a betrayal, or any other reason. Fill your story with plot twists and give us a whole different perspective with which to look at the characters Rowling has crafted so beautifully.

written by LeviosaDragon