Canon Characters (and making them your own)

[Finefrenzy__]

 

Canon Characters and Making Them Your Own

 

Writing already developed characters can sometimes be challenging, but also rewarding. I for one generally try to avoid writing canon characters in detail, leaning more towards either the Marauder Era or Next Gen in the HP fandom. I find there is a bit more freedom there, and I'm also not going to tamper and mess up JKRs characterisations. I know I am selectively talking about Harry Potter here, but this can be applied to any fandom obviously. I'm just exclusively a Potterhead. But that's just me...

 

How do you approach writing canon characters?

Do you feel hindered by canon? Or do you enjoy the challenge of it?

How do you add your own flavour to canon characters? (eg. Likes, Dislikes, Hopes, Fears)

What canon characters do you struggle to write?

On the flip side to the previous question, are there any canon characters that you can slip straight into writing?

Are there any canon characters that you refuse to write? If so, for what reasons?

 

 

[Eleventh Hour]

Oooh, interesting topic! I, too, am someone who is strictly a Potterhead when it comes to fanfic, so all my answers will be related to that. 

How do you approach writing canon characters? I don't really have a set-in-stone way of doing things. I'm always coming up with random plot ideas, and when the motivation strikes, I'll just start writing. Occasionally, I'll check with the HP wiki to make sure I'm getting little details and/or the timing of certain things right. 

Do you feel hindered by canon? Or do you enjoy the challenge of it? Personally, I adore the challenge. With the exception of a few fics I've written over the years, I have a somewhat annoying desire to make everything canon-compliant. "Missing moment" type stories, or even stories that add context to a brief moment in canon, are my favorite kinds of things to write. The benefit to this when writing HP is that the entire canon is told in Harry's POV, and Harry is about as observant as a brick wall. So... it really isn't hard to keep things canon-compliant.  There's a lot of wiggle room!

How do you add your own flavour to canon characters? (eg. Likes, Dislikes, Hopes, Fears) For characters I really like and/or write often, I've built up my own extensive head-canons for them, and I tend to sprinkle little things about those head-canons across my fics. (That's another weird thing I do - I have a habit of making all of my fics agree with each other, with a handful of exceptions.)

What canon characters do you struggle to write? As much as I love her, I've always found writing Luna to be extremely difficult. She has such a unique personally and distinct way of talking that's tough to replicate. Fleur is also a challenge for me for the same reasons (not to mention the accent.) Despite being female myself, I tend to have a harder time writing female characters. No idea why!

On the flip side to the previous question, are there any canon characters that you can slip straight into writing? The Weasley boys, particularly Bill, Charlie, and Ron. I haven't written them often, but Remus and Sirius came easily to me as well. 

Are there any canon characters that you refuse to write? If so, for what reasons? With the exception of him being a supporting character, I don't really care for writing Harry; I feel like his story has been told and I don't need to add to it. Also,  I... don't like Neville.  I'm sorry. I don't know what it is. I know he's a beloved character and he did some awesome stuff and had a great arc, but I just don't find him interesting. I'm a bad fan. 

[TreacleTart]

How do you approach writing canon characters?

I try to put myself into their mind based on what I know of them from canon. 

Do you feel hindered by canon? Or do you enjoy the challenge of it?

I enjoy the challenge of it. I think it's fun writing personalities that I might not naturally gravitate towards and trying to understand those motivations.

How do you add your own flavour to canon characters? (eg. Likes, Dislikes, Hopes, Fears)

I try to create moments that add depth to whatever the character is feeling or that explains their motivations. 

What canon characters do you struggle to write?

Snape. He is literally the hardest character ever.

On the flip side to the previous question, are there any canon characters that you can slip straight into writing?

McGonagall, Harry, Ron, Dumbledore, Dobby

Are there any canon characters that you refuse to write? If so, for what reasons?

Nope.

[VaguelyCreativeName]

I love this thread! It's so interesting to see how different people approach these characters, when a lot of times, we're writing about one and the same character, but in drastically different ways!

 

How do you approach writing canon characters?

To be fair, I mostly focus on very minor characters, so there's so little we know that there's not much of a difference to writing original characters because nobody could honestly tell me that, say, Caradoc Dearborn didn't have a squib sister  If I write about more popular characters, where there's a decent bit of information I try to merge my own personal headcanons with what is common in fanon, so that they are recognisable, but still characters that I care about, and that I find interesting enough to write about!

Do you feel hindered by canon? Or do you enjoy the challenge of it?

Hindered, definitely - there's a reason I tend to write mostly about the First War, and stay away from anything that actually happened within the novels themselves!

How do you add your own flavour to canon characters? (eg. Likes, Dislikes, Hopes, Fears)

This is a pretty difficult question - I wouldn't say that my methods are really all that different to writing OCs. I try to think about their motivations and what makes them tick within the context of the narrative, and once I've got a decent understanding of the situations they're likely to get themselves in, the rest usually happens pretty naturally. This is a super vague answer, I'm sorry, but I've never really thought about it methodically!

What canon characters do you struggle to write?

Pretty much any Death Eater - but I struggle with villains in general because I find it difficult to make sense of their morals and motivations.

On the flip side to the previous question, are there any canon characters that you can slip straight into writing?

Any very minor character, for the reasons mentioned above! I also feel I've got a decent grasp of Remus, Lily, and James.

Are there any canon characters that you refuse to write? If so, for what reasons?

I don't think I'll ever write anyone from the main trio, at least not during their Hogwarts years - there's too many restrictions for me to make sense of them!

[sibilant]

omggg I love this thread!

How do you approach writing canon characters? Mostly, I start with characters who have a very compelling tension or characteristic that I want to explore or debunk (for ex: Neville's courage, or Cho's crying). I love to play with canon characters who have been reduced in many ways by JKR and bring some fullness back to them.

Do you feel hindered by canon? Or do you enjoy the challenge of it? Sometimes there are parts of canon that I'd like to just ignore since I don't agree with the character decisions made. My perspective is basically just: fuck JKR, I'll do what I want? lol. Sometimes I am particularly committed to taking canon and subverting it, specifically to illustrate why decisions about the character were soooo flawed. That's challenging but super fun and rewarding. (See: any fic I've written about Cho).

How do you add your own flavour to canon characters? (eg. Likes, Dislikes, Hopes, Fears)

I make them mermaids

I like to take characters that are defined by particular characteristics and add dimensions to those characteristics. For instance, because Neville is highly associated with unexpected, emergent heroism and courage, I tried to dive deeper into that heroism and add layers to it--especially through connection with his family, his relationship with his friends, etc. Basically, it's tying together many pieces that exist independently that JKR didn't put the energy into to actually connecting them. 

With other characters, I like to expound on their personalities; this is what I've done with Padma and Parvati, since they were basically given no personalities of their own.

What canon characters do you struggle to write? I'm kinda nervous (and honestly disinterested) to write stories about Hermione, Harry, or Ron. It feels like they already got a lot of airtime, and I prefer to instead give airtime to other characters.

On the flip side to the previous question, are there any canon characters that you can slip straight into writing?

Padma and Parvati are soooo easy for me. And I also love writing Hermione too; there's some aspects of her character that are incredibly easy for me to write. Also apparently, I'm really good at writing Crookshanks

Are there any canon characters that you refuse to write? If so, for what reasons? I will never write positively about Snape. Would also struggle immensely to write about Dumbledore, since he's so...dumb, for lack of a better word  I would also refuse to write anyone from Fantastic Beasts.

[nott theodore]

This is such an interesting thread!  Other people's answers are really fun to read

 

How do you approach writing canon characters?
I... don't? That's not entirely true - I do write canon characters, but they tend to be much more minor, or next generation.  I've only ever written the main characters from the books a handful of times.  I think what's key to me is that the character has a story that needs telling.  I do try and take the few details that we know about a character from canon in that case (especially their family, if that's important to the story) and go from there, but I do try to explore canon characters in ways that haven't been done before and tell their story that way.

 

Do you feel hindered by canon? Or do you enjoy the challenge of it?
When I started writing fic, I cared a lot about canon (at least as far as pairings etc. went).  In the intervening years, that's changed quite a bit.  I do still try and comply with canon, but canon for me is only the first seven books, and nothing else.  When I'm writing, I ignore all the other material around it, and if I'm hindered by canon (which does happen occasionally, but since I write more next gen characters, not that much) then I usually find a way to write around it, or, more recently, barrel ahead and decide that my way is better  I think one thing that I've come to realise in recent years (and this reveals my privilege and sheltered background) is that canon just isn't representative of real life in so many ways, not to mention that there's a fair amount of it that doesn't make sense.  So I guess I enjoy the challenge of finding ways to deal with that or fix it more than I enjoy complying with canon itself.

 

How do you add your own flavour to canon characters? (eg. Likes, Dislikes, Hopes, Fears)
This probably sounds odd, but once I start thinking about a character and writing their story, these sorts of things tend to come to me more naturally - it's not usually a deliberate attempt to add my own flavour, just a natural part of fleshing them out.  Sometimes all of those aspects will be important in one story and at other times they won't.  But I tend to take the character that we've seen in the books and think about what we do know about them before then imagining a much fuller life.

 

What canon characters do you struggle to write?
Harry and the other main characters always intimidate me.  I think I feel the pressure when I'm writing them, though I have done it a couple of times.  And I struggle to write any characters that I can't find a way of understanding or sympathising with in some way - so Voldemort and Bellatrix are both challenges for me.

 

On the flip side to the previous question, are there any canon characters that you can slip straight into writing?
Does Roxanne Weasley count? There's a version of Lavender that I wrote a few years ago that I find it easy to slip back into, plus Demelza Robins.  Maybe I should write more of them?

 

Are there any canon characters that you refuse to write? If so, for what reasons?
Hagrid - though I love him, his dialogue is too intimidating.  Like Shreya, I don't think I could ever write a positive portrayal of Snape, and while I've written about Dumbledore a couple of times, it's mainly as a peripheral character or when he's much, much younger than we see him in the books.

[ShazaLupin]

How do you approach writing canon characters?

It's not very fun but I try to give them a story line that's relevant/probable to them. This just makes it easier to keep them in character while still being able to add my own identity/adventure to them.

Do you feel hindered by canon? Or do you enjoy the challenge of it?

I think it's quite intimidating but I love the characters so I think it's quite fun as well. It's a good challenge because it's trying to fit what you already know about them to a new situation. However, if I'm writing something that doesn't align with something canon then I'm not too fussed, i'll still write it.  

How do you add your own flavour to canon characters? (eg. Likes, Dislikes, Hopes, Fears)

If it's major canon characters like Harry then I try to put him in new situations or make him think a little differently, but if it's someone more minor like Next-Gen or someone we don't know much about then I'll just add whatever I want to them, I'll write them the way I see them.

What canon characters do you struggle to write?

A lot of males...Dumbledore, Snape, Arthur etc. I think I just struggle to write from a male perspective, not sure why. 

On the flip side to the previous question, are there any canon characters that you can slip straight into writing?

Tonks, Hermione, any next gen because they're so flexible and I write them how I imagine them which makes it a lot easier. I think it depends how much I write them, the more I write them the better I get at it. 

Are there any canon characters that you refuse to write? If so, for what reasons?

No, I don't think so. I'll try anyone, can't promise it'll turn out well though!

[shadowycorner]

How do you approach writing canon characters? I try to look at their behavior throughout the books, see what makes them tick, notice all the little things, and then sprinkle that into my own story where that character’s concerned. Also take their insecurities and build larger fears from that, or maybe it’s just reading too much into different things they’ve said.

Do you feel hindered by canon? Or do you enjoy the challenge of it?

I enjoy the challenge of it. I love fitting my story to the constraints of canon, most of the time it just makes me more creative rather than doing what I want.

How do you add your own flavour to canon characters? (eg. Likes, Dislikes, Hopes, Fears)

I try to take the different personalities and other details and compare or combine them with situations I know about from my own or other people’s real lives. For example, I think Ron deals with a lot of insecurity, which has always been my huge problem, and so some of his thought processes and choices are maybe similar to my own.

What canon characters do you struggle to write?

Luna – I’m always torn between making her too whimsical and not enough whimsical. I like writing her as an adult, more mature and reserved, but still a bit weird, but it’s a pain.

Also funny characters, like Fred and George, because I’m rubbish at being funny.

On the flip side to the previous question, are there any canon characters that you can slip straight into writing?

I like writing Ron, though sometimes I worry I’m making him too much like me and so I’m not sure how canon he ends up being. I do enjoy writing Harry post-war when I imagine him to be a bit more chilled out, but still kind of awkward.

Are there any canon characters that you refuse to write? If so, for what reasons?

I think Snape, just because I’m not that interested in exploring his problematic character traits. I have an opinion about him, it’s quite negative, and while I’ve read some very good and insightful and interesting stories about him, I just have no interest in giving him more than just a random cameo.

 

[queenonyx]

How do you approach writing canon characters?

I may get in trouble for this but Harry himself feels like an underdeveloped character within the series because I don’t really see much character development. I mean, why does he go happily along with Dumbledore’s for the Greater Good speal? 

Do you feel hindered by canon? Or do you enjoy the challenge of it?

I think I might be one of the ones that feels hindered by canon because I have my own ideas that I want to pursue. I also feel like taking the characters in another direction gives them a chance to make different choices.

How do you add your own flavour to canon characters? (eg. Likes, Dislikes, Hopes, Fears)

I tend to write out new personalities for canon characters to extend my creativeness and allow me new ways of how they are doing life.  

What canon characters do you struggle to write?

I feel like I’d struggle with writing Hermione because she is logical and I don’t think I use logic at all. 

On the flip side to the previous question, are there any canon characters that you can slip straight into writing?

I love slipping into Draco because he and I have a lot in common. 

Are there any canon characters that you refuse to write? If so, for what reasons?

No because I like giving myself a challenge.