Magical Gal Brainrot

Amu Hinamori from Shugo Chara

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Well, one thing that weirdly helps me is knowing that no matter how good I do, someone out there is going to dislike my au- and that’s perfectly okay. I mean, even the best books out there have one star reviews on Amazon, after all. We all have different tastes and interests, which is awesome, actually.

The thing is though, there is always someone out there who will LOVE your work- it’s exactly their thing. One thing I’ve learned is that if you like what you create, others will too (if you want to create a story, chances are there are people out there who want to see exactly the thing your writing about in a story as much as you do).

I am a people pleaser unfortunately, so I worry about people’s perception of me all the time. Keeping this in mind helps a lot with that.

The way I personally get past my own concerns about being ooc or not being good enough is by realizing that all I really need to do is try my best. There’s no way my renditions of specific characters will be completely in character all the time. I mean, look at all the most popular fanfics out there- I guarantee a good number of the characters in those fics are ooc. But that’s what’s cool about fanfiction- we all have our different takes on characters- and I think that’s cool. Personally, I think it’s fine for characters to be ooc, not only because it shows the author’s creativity and intent, but, well, also cuz it’s inevitable honestly. So, as long as you’re happy with how you wrote the character, don’t worry too much about them being ooc.

Now, if I ever feel like I’m not getting a character, or am unsatisfied with the way I wrote them, I often ask for another opinion (usually from my sister). She thinks very differently from me, which is helpful for writing characters I wouldn’t otherwise get very well (Lila and Adrien- looking at you). She thinks of all sorts of things I never would have thought of on my own (big thanks to her for being my pseudo editor, haha).

So I would say having a small group of irl or online friends to share your work with really helps- even if it’s just one person. They can give helpful feedback and can offer some support too.