I hope you're well. I've been meaning to ask you a few questions about the process of turning your fanfic written with the-alchemist "When stars Ignite" into an original story, particularly as regards the characters.
I don't have any similar projects, but I'm incorrigibly curious.😅 That said, feel free to ignore my questions if you don't want to answer.
How do you manage to give the characters a new depth and an identity of their own, while retaining the essence that appealed to readers of the fanfic?
What difficulties have you encountered in transforming fanfiction characters into original characters?
To what extent do you change their story arcs and character traits?
Thanks in advance for sharing your experience and I wish you all the best in this project (and in life!!!)🌺🌺🌺
This ask has been sitting in my ask box for an embarrassingly long time, and no small part of the reason was just how absolutely emotional your interest in the project (despite having read the first version already) has made me.
Knowing that there are people out there who are interested in this project I've put (and am still putting) the greatest part of my blood, sweat and tears into... I am very, very grateful for that.
And ofc, I'm grateful for these incredible questions too, so let's get into them!
How do you manage to give the characters a new depth and an identity of their own, while retaining the essence that appealed to readers of the fanfic?
If you looked at the latest draft I have sitting printed out on my desk, you'd notice that the characters are anything but consistent (yet). That is because, as in fanfiction as well, the more you write them in their adapted state, the more you get to know them. Towards the end of the book, the characterisations become more and more consistent as compared to the beginning, when you can still see the "old" personalities shining through. It's a hard balance to strike between wanting to preserve personalities that have made the story work and trusting your characters enough to let them grow into their own, at the risk of running into dynamic problems further down the line.
Ultimately though, I have yet to go wrong with trusting my gut.
2. What difficulties have you encountered in transforming fanfiction characters into original characters?
When the rewrite process started, I thought it was a matter of splashing some new paint (aka names) on the established characters and polish up the writing. I thought, it would take maybe one or two months to do.
As well as the points mentioned in question 1, the safety net of background knowledge fandom characters bring to the table cannot be overestimated. With my new set of characters, and an audience in mind who had no idea about the quirks, personalities, or conflicts of these characters, you slowly begin to realise that a whole new method of introducing them is necessary. Also, many things you'd put into an AU as an easteregg suddenly doesn't make sense anymore in an original story, looking very strange and out of place if left in the manuscript, so all these things needed to change and be adapted.
That being said, the biggest difficulty I encountered was the added pressure of knowing that the characters only have one chance at a first impression. Only the things I put into this book and the way I make them translate to the readers are how my characters are going to be perceived. It's a very scary and stifling thing, which took me quite some time to overcome (and might still take a little more).
3. To what extent do you change their story arcs and character traits?
It's hard to say at this point. Some of the background stories obv were very different, with esp dynamics being entirely new compared to the canon characters back then. Most of these things were kept, but even early in the writing process, the characters began to diverge from where they started (esp Orion/Leon were growing apart in personality so quickly, it was astonishing). I've tried to retain their core characteristics but as mentioned above, at some point I decided to go with my gut and let the characters do as they saw fit. For some, this resulted in monumental changes, for others less so, but I think we've reached a good balance by now, or so I hope.
