Self - Inserts

OC Critiques - Yeyuh! When I get submissions there's always a chance that I'm reading about a self insert character. I get the submission and I'm like "Oh boy! Time to learn about this new character! It's gonna be fantastic!" I go through the list of information and there comes a point where I say to myself, "This character feels like a Self-Insert." I get this little wave of depression on my face and I sigh gently to myself. "I can't critique this piece of" - Yeah what's up? Glad you asked! The Self-Insert is a character in a media that represents the creator. Self-Inserts aren't inherently bad things. Odds are well with you that you've created a Self-Insert at one point in time. We've all done it. As characters go, a Self-Insert is probably going to be the most authentic character you're going to create. It's you. You're a person. With... Characteristics. Yeah. Well that's the problem with term "Self-Insert" How much can you change about a character before it stops being a Self-Insert? Where is that line drawn? Suppose I make a character, and he wears a black coat with blue trim, and he's really dashing and handsome, and he has a hat, and his name is... NIck! Well it's not me now, is it? That is why the current definition of Self-Insert is not accurate. There's something more to what makes a Self-Insert than having them correspond to their physical and personality traits. If we were to take my entire physical makeup and change it completely around we could make a strong case that the character is in fact, no longer me. We could even change some of the personality traits of Nick so he can be a bit more supportive instead of being critical he can actually be really slow. We can also make him super sensitive but even with all those changes, Nick will still feel like a Self-Insert unless I do two critical changes. We'll get to why you need to do these two in a moment but I need to explain the underlying cause why these two are the things you need to change. I refuse to critique Self-Insert characters because I'd have to address the feelings and personality traits of an actual person. I can't judge real people. I can't say the personality of this person is SCHTUPID because that is actually how someone is and I'm sure that person is a FINE HUMAN BEING. Now here's the critical junction and what really sets us up for why Self-Insert characters are bad. Since we are human beings, and we tend to favor certain aspects of a media over others, our characters also gravitate toward those aspects as well. if you're gonna make a character for a certain media you're gonna make it part of something you like, right? This is where it gets dangerous. I used the example of Chutes & Ladders to describe a piece of media. Everyone goes to start, and they go along, interacting with different parts of that media. Imagine that specific characters and events reside at certain ranges of spaces, so, we take the chutes and ladders as they come, and eventually we're having a grand ol time. A person, though who is so invested in one aspect of the media, is gonna put their OC exactly where they want it to be. Say... at space 20. It comes up to their turn, they roll the dice, and they move on to a space that hitches them all the way to space 70. Alright! That'll be fun! New characters! New stuff! Cool! Great! For whatever reason they don't go. They aren't interested in that part of the media. They only want to tool around where their favorite character is. They'll ride back and forth between spaces 20 and 30 never taking any chutes or any ladders, happily going back and forth in that limited area. This will put the rest of us off as this characters is only interested in that one aspect of the media. The OC's physical and personality makeup may not resemble the creator at all, but the OC shares something deeply in common with the creator. "I love Princess Luna!" the creator says. If their OC shares the same ideals as the creator you have the potential Self-Insert. This is where the second part comes in. The character has to focus on the setting. In Chutes & Ladders example, I talk about how the creator refuses to take the chutes or ladders, instead choosing to stay near to choose state nearby the area where their favorite character is. They aren't willing to explore the rest of the media. Since the characters is so strongly focused on the particular aspect the creator personally likes, we start to draw the connection that the creator is using the OC as way to drive their own personal desires forward and that right there is a more true indication of a Self-Insert. That's something completely different. The creator naturally is gonna like every aspect of their own work. In our Chutes & Ladders example, this means there will be one OC that covers the entire board instead of being relegated to one area. Any detractions that OC will suffer will be the ones that the creator personally has gone through themselves. We may not know what they are but we can quickly pick up on details that sound particularly odd or specific they're usually little bits of information that have nothing to do with the rest of the story. If there's something you have experienced that you personally want to explore, that's fine. The trouble is you need to actually explore it. For example, if people bodyshame you at the gym, you do not make a story where your main character comes in and ends up beating the crap out of them. If you want people to understand your problem, you do not write a story that comes in with that problem and a quick resolution. You come in and show a problem and explore different sides of that problem Why do these people make fun of others at the gym? What is a good way to deal with this problem? Can your character overcome the risk involved of having to deal with these people? What happens at the end? Punching through your feelings feels more as a satisfactory power fantasy for the creator. For your audience it feels as though someone is venting and that puts us off. Self-Inserts aren't bad and they can be fun if they're involved in the media they are in they're also fun if the creator isn't the center of the universe and if they can take a joke!