Self-inserting

[AliceShiki]

Yes. Guess it depends. Self inserting to daydreams funny/fluff/romance is fun.

Self insert into horror/tragedy is not so fun.

*has fun self-inserting into tragedy*
*whiiiiistles*

 

[Derin_Edala]

I've never done self-inserts or inserts of anyone I know; that would require me to understand people a lot better than I do. It's easier to invent fictional characters from scratch.

I do tend to use them to rant about things that people are bored of hearing me rant about though. This one time I got a character blind drunk just so they could spend half a chapter ranting about the anthrocentrism of the word 'skeleton'.

 

[Deleted member 45782]

*has fun self-inserting into tragedy*
*whiiiiistles*

And this is why I say its my characters, not me or anyone inserted into the story. XD

 

[AliceShiki]

I've never done self-inserts or inserts of anyone I know; that would require me to understand people a lot better than I do. It's easier to invent fictional characters from scratch.

I do tend to use them to rant about things that people are bored of hearing me rant about though. This one time I got a character blind drunk just so they could spend half a chapter ranting about the anthrocentrism of the word 'skeleton'.

... I can't help being curious about what was the gist of the rant.

And this is why I say its my characters, not me or anyone inserted into the story. XD

*pat pat pat*

 

[lnv]

mmon, like... A character may look similar to you... Or maybe they have the same morals as you, or maybe they resemble you back when you were a child, or maybe they share your view on religion, or maybe t

I see, thanks for explaining!

To add to that, self-insert can also not be limited to just you as yourself but also how you perceive yourself or how you wish to be. This is why a lot of self-inserts end up being wish fulfillment. Your ideal self.

I sometimes insert myself into my own novel as a side character but readers tend to believe that the character is so unrealistic that it is clearly a made up character which they got surprise at how original I made him.

Whenever that happens, I turn to the mirror and started to cry since people think I'm weird and basically don't do self-insert anymore.

To be fair, I find that actually normal where a lot of readers read so many novels. They sometimes start thinking that fictional things is how normal people act. So when they get exposed to an action of a character that is actually normal, they think it being unrealistic.

 

[AliceShiki]

To be fair, I find that actually normal where a lot of readers read so many novels. They sometimes start thinking that fictional things is how normal people act. So when they get exposed to an action of a character that is actually normal, they think it being unrealistic.

The counterpoint to that is that reality can sometimes just be so crazy that you think reality itself is unrealistic.

Even if you interact with plenty of people and don't spend that much time reading, sometimes you just find out a real story and go like, "WTF? This must be fake."

... Which leads to the maximum of "reality is stranger than fiction." If you try making a fictional character based on a real person that happens to be involved in really absurd stuff or behave in really strange ways, people will probably think of that character as unrealistic because... Well, if you told other people about said person IRL, they wouldn't believe you, at least not immediately.

 

[EternalSunset0]

Personally, I don't go all-in on it. Although I do split my personality traits and scatter them around in my characters. The main character and one of the main girls are quite molded from my personality, but the guy MC's definitely more open to new experiences and is friendlier or more assertive to tie with the nature of the story's arcs and plot requirements.

I guess it does count if you try to use your characters as outlets for your philosophies or social commentaries (since mine deals with anime high schoolers and all) but I never imagined myself as so all-in on it like those activists who pretend to be writers (for lack of better term)

And if it makes sense, I also never imagine myself as really being one of the characters or outright "live in that world," so to speak. Doing so helps me pull back on making characters too perfect or not giving them ample comeuppance.

 

[H0LL0W]

A main character's uncle has the same name as me, but he never appears, and is rarely mentioned.
My name is extremely common.
So, I have my cake and don't ruin my story through silly wish fufillment.

 

[K5Rakitan]

those activists who pretend to be writers

I feel seen

 

[Cipiteca396]

As a reader, I tend to put myself in the shoes of every character that catches my attention. A bit traumatic, actually.

As a writer though, I tend to either draw from cool ideas I saw in other people's books, or just whatever cool or strange ideas catch my fancy. Then I sculpt a character around them. Maybe you could say I'm inserting traits from myself or others into an edgy shell. Like the generic harem seeking protagonist + who has trouble making intimate connections with others. That was the basic idea for a side character I was working on. Then I slowly added unto him and a couple days ago I found out he used to work in a café. No idea why. It just sorta happened.

 

[ShrimpShady]

I feel like the term self-insert is hard to define. If self-inserting just means inserting aspects of your real life and personality into your writing, then that's how everyone writes. Like, if you're a chemistry student in college, it makes sense that you'd be inclined to write about a character who's a chemist or something. It's familiar and you have more knowledge of the subject than if you wrote about an architect.

Some of the most iconic characters in fiction are in some ways self-inserts or inserts of the people the author knows in life, such as almost all the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, Guts and the Band of the Hawk from Berserk who were inspired by Miura (rest in power) and his old friend group, etc. etc.

The most important thing about writing self-inserts is making sure the characters are also interesting people or otherwise well-written characters. With that in mind, self-insert all you want. If your writing's good, then your audience won't notice or care.

 

[EternalSunset0]

I feel seen

Oops. No offense intended though.

Haven't even read your work haha

 

[Derin_Edala]

... I can't help being curious about what was the gist of the rant.

It's here.

 

[Kitsura]

I don't believe I've self inserted, but I would say that I would be friends with my MC if they were a real person.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Oops. No offense intended though.

Haven't even read your work haha

I'm difficult to offend, no worries!

 

[Cipiteca396]

I feel like the term self-insert is hard to define.

It's not really. It's just a load of other stuff gets tacked on and makes people all shifty eyed when you mention it. Especially since self insert is usually applied to fanfiction, meaning other people's stories. The famous Mary Sue. Nobody likes it when you screw with their favorite characters.

Spoiler: Some definitions

Self-Insert Fic - TV Tropes

As the name implies, a Self-Insert Fic is one where the author has made a simulacrum of themselves, commonly called an avatar, in the story's world as a key character (usually The Protagonist, but any other role that's vital to the story …

tvtropes.org

Author Avatar - TV Tropes

A fictionalized version of an author who appears as a character in the events of the story. While many characters may be inspired by some aspect of their creator (it's hard to write a hero you have nothing in common with) an Author Avatar is a …

tvtropes.org

Write Who You Know - TV Tropes

The easiest character to write is one who comes premade. For various reasons, an author writes themselves or their friends into the story, as themselves. Maybe it's an in-joke. Maybe it's a message. Maybe they're just seizing the nearest source …

tvtropes.org

 

[Agentt]

All my characters are self insert.

If anyone wants to do a self insert, but has trouble doing so, my advice is to just take one characteristic of yourself. Don't insert yourself completely. Have one character who is just as kind as you, one who has same sense of humor as you.

 

[gaylolis]

i'm not sure. the more i tried to self-insert, the more that character ends up different than myself.

i felt like an actor sometimes.

sometimes i just write since i had fun trying to be someone else.

 

[GodlyKamui]

Well, I sually give my characters traits that I can relate to. All of my characters like coffee, because I'm addicted to caffeine. Or I make them like the same genres of music so I can build their personalities from that. Otherwise, it becomes very difficult for me to write the character.

 

[melbisbelbis]

I do not self-insert into any characters while reading because it presents an emotional attachment and an expectation for them to always act exactly as you want them to.
As an author, self-insertion is a very useful tool to ensure consistency in your characters’ personalities, as no personality is more consistent than one that actually exists.