Talk:Zoey McKeala/@comment-35061565-20180321003013

Hello, those whom are around to listen. I am the creator of this OC, and as suspected, I am much older now then I was when I first made Zoey! She's still around though, albeit having gone through much development and is a very different person from when she started out.

I was young when I introduced Zoey to the world, barely in middle school. I was easily influenced by what those thought of my OCs, my stories, etc. I didn't have an original bone in my body at the time - or so I suspected. My point being: I was scared. I was self-conscious. I didn't know what I was going to receive when I put myself out there.

This was my first attempt.

And if you see the comments below me? Didn't exactly go over well.

I'm not here to have people feel sorry for me. I grew up, I changed the dynamics of my characters, and I'm on my way to making stories and worlds that work for me. And I'm happy. This negative backlash of my 'perfect' character didn't scar me for life. I moved on. But I'm not like other people.

Young people are so scared of putting out their work. Most hearts are pounding once they hit that enter button, and there's no going back. It's brave to put a story out into the world, especially at such an impressionable age.

I'm just asking the commenters: Most of you probably suspected that I was young, given my grammar and just Zoey's arching, larger-than-life personality that couldn't fit into a normal human being. She wasn't well-developed in the beginning. But that's what it was - a beginning.

Be careful with new creators. Acknowledge that nobody came out of the womb with these well-rounded, well-developed ideas. Once you put yourself out there, you're susceptible to criticism, of course. Be polite. Don't just say 'wow this sucks lol', give respectful reasons that you may not 100% like the OC they've made. Don't tease the writer - it's most likely they don't know any better (and, seeing how I acted as a child? They most likely don't, haha). You're allowed to speak your mind. You're allowed to roll your eyes when you spot a, dare I say, 'Mary Sue'. But people do grow and change - it's not like I'm a rare case, we writers/artists/developers change things all the time!

Don't underestimate children, is all I ask. Their 'Mary Sue' could become the next Katniss Everdeen, the next Harry Potter, the next Percy Jackson with enough care and consideration. But they may need your help to set them on the right path, and I promise you, for better or worse: what you say will stick with them for a long, long time.

Thank you for listening.