See, I lurked for about six months before I started writing any fanfic. And I read some, er, strongly worded criticisms of certain types of fic maybe a week or two into the lurking period. I sometimes think I might have started writing a lot earlier if I hadn't seen that. Anyway, that made me very much aware, possibly too much aware, of the hate some people have for poor little Mary Sue. I still get really insecure about doing some of the things I've seen rants against, even when I know that the friends I've made in LJ are very tolerant and kind, and besides that no one's likely to consider me important enough to set up for public ridicule. :-)

In the fic Claudia's looking at for me now I have sort of the opposite problem from what Lily was talking about. That is, the OFC is fairly prominant in some of the early chapters and then fades into the background, and we get more and more of our favorite hobbits later on. So I almost feel like I need the opposite of a warning, to say, no seriously, folks, she's not going to be the main character! She'll go away soon, I promise!

I like the not too wonderful, not too stupid advice. A lot of my favorite OCs in fanfic are quite flawed, and more believable for that. Thanks for your ideas.