Create an ‘OC’
Creativity is...creating an original character
We’re back with creative duo Bea & Jill for week 2 of their November takeover with us!
“We are Bea and Jill, a creative duo who work together as one artist. Bea (they/them) is an autistic young person. Jill (she/her) is their mum and carer. Our creative practice explores identity and community. We like to play games, tell stories and help others to do so too, especially those whose voice is unheard, presumed or overlooked.”
Thier weekly creative prompts are inspired by thier recent project ‘Pillow Palace’ a virtual art exhibition, built in Minecraft, for and by autistic young people. Pillow Palace is a place where a visitor is also an exhibit and exhibitor, in their own exhibition for one. Discover it here!
“Some of our Pillow Palace artists reproduced scenes, characters or story elements from their favourite books, TV shows or films. We had lots of conversations about the settings or narratives we’d love to live in and who we would be: our backstories, personalities and other characteristics, jobs and even pets.
‘OC’ is short for ‘original character’ - a relatively new slang term - that describes a character in an existing fictional ‘universe’ that has been developed by a fan writer. An OC is usually a completely new character created to live in that imaginary place - it could be anywhere from My Little Pony to Star Wars to Eastenders - or could be developed from a minor character who already exists in the story.
OCs are often developed on a ‘character sheet’ that combines details about that character’s traits, personality and skills along with a depiction of their appearance.
It’s a different way of immersing yourself in a story you love and sharing why it is so important to you. Some people like to create lots of different characters fairly quickly, others prefer to develop and refine one OC that they identify with, exploring their ideas over weeks, months or years!”
Do
Listen to the creative prompt below
1. Decide on the fictional world you would love to live in, it could be from a book, cartoon, TV series or film.
2. Then think about an original character that you would find in that world.
3. Start with simple written or voice notes - as detailed as you like: from name, age, gender, species, physical features through to clothing, magical powers, loves, fears, motivations, pets… and on and on!
4. Bring your OC to life in any medium you like, writing or imagery, or you can flesh out your OC in your mind only. It’s up to you! You could create a character sheet for your OC - the important elements will depend on the universe they live in and the design/style of your character sheet could also reflect this.
Bea has created a character within the world of the recent Barbie film - meet Tired Barbie.
Jill has created a character for a new series of Stranger Things - Jay Vella, a conflicted AI scientist. Jay’s face was generated using an AI image tool which felt apt! Meet Jay Vella
Bea and Jill have created a long list of things you could consider for your OC with some guidance notes - find it here.
Send your character sheet to a friend and invite them to create one too. You could quiz each other about what your OCs would do in different situations or dilemmas. Could you develop a role play and act out a storyline for your OCs together?
Think
What storylines could you develop for your OC? Which of the existing major characters in that fictional world would be involved? Could you rework an existing story to make more of your character within it? If your OC was one of the major characters, how would it change the story or universe?
Share
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