When I wrote Frozen in Time, I was a real newcomer to fanfic, and didn't realize the dangers of the Mary Sue. There have been arguments over whether Ellen is a Mary Sue or not. The basis of the argument seems to come down to whether the reader feels like any OFC is a Mary Sue.
Most people liked the story. This may be in part because I started the story with the OFC, rather than bringing her in after. In other words, people probably weren't tempted to read very far if they didn't like the way the story was going. I eventually started posting it with the warning that if you didn't like the OFC in the first two chapters, you most likely wouldn't like the fic.
Personally, I think one thing that allowed it to work was that there were a lot of OCs; not just the 'heroine' through whose eyes the story developed, but five of the seven characters.
Should the OFC be like you or not like you? I've heard it said that any character you write is a facet of yourself. Just make sure she's a 'real' person; an interesting character - not too wonderful, not too stupid.
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Most people liked the story. This may be in part because I started the story with the OFC, rather than bringing her in after. In other words, people probably weren't tempted to read very far if they didn't like the way the story was going. I eventually started posting it with the warning that if you didn't like the OFC in the first two chapters, you most likely wouldn't like the fic.
Personally, I think one thing that allowed it to work was that there were a lot of OCs; not just the 'heroine' through whose eyes the story developed, but five of the seven characters.
Should the OFC be like you or not like you? I've heard it said that any character you write is a facet of yourself. Just make sure she's a 'real' person; an interesting character - not too wonderful, not too stupid.