Writing Tips and Reviews

Self-Inserts

Self-inserts can be done well... when they're not beaten by the Mary Sue hammer and dumbed down to the point SAO looks like genius writing.

Mary Sue syndrome:

I, and everyone else, hate it when writers make their self insert a Mary Sue. They make the entire story revolves around one character and god forbid anything bad to happen to the character or someone talk down to them. And I don't just mean fan fiction, as we've seen with "When the Stars Align", original works are not immune to Mary Sue syndrome. It just takes an idiot to create a world, create characters around it, and somehow make everything collapse in on itself so Mary Sue can look on top.

Mary Sues are known for being the worst type of character, and second-generation ones, the ones who whine about their "suffering" all the time, do not make things better. So, making your self insert a Mary Sue does not look good on you. If your self-insert is constantly crying about their "suffering", which is being told "don't cheat on a test", and demonizes everyone who disagrees with them, then you look like a piece of shit.

Take it from someone who's read Greg's work, it doesn't make you look like an alpha human, it makes you look like an intolerable prick who no one wants to be friends with.

Let's not forget about how people can't talk down to them or that they can never lose a fight. Or that they're "pure good" and every wrongdoing is sugar-coated so much, hummingbirds are getting a sugar high. Or that the wrongdoings of the "pure evil bad guys" are amplified to a maximum, to the point Goetia from FGO is having a better sentence, and he's a demon who wanted to destroy the world. These people said "no" to a Mary Sue, they don't deserve a worse sentence than Goetia.

In all, making your self insert a Mary Sue looks awful on you and making the other characters "pure good" or "pure evil" based on if they agree or disagree with Mary Sue doesn't make it any better. Don't do it, don't make yourself look like the worst human alive because you made your self insert a whiny bitch who calls not being satisfied with daddy's EXPENSIVE gifts "suffering" and who calls daddy "pure evil" because of it.

Ultra Powerful:

Yes, these are separate from the Mary Sue syndrome part because that focuses on the world bending backward for the character. Everything else is a symptom of the disease, not the disease itself. So let's talk about the symptoms.

A self-insert who is a super-powerful version of you isn't the worst thing to exist. It's when things go into the unrealistic power Fantasy area that everything goes downhill.

You see, humans have their strengths and weakness, you don't need a list of weaknesses to prove your character isn't a Mary Sue, all they need is a team that they can support and who can support them. That is the easiest way to avoid Mary Sue syndrome with powers. But if your self-insert can do everything without a team and they're only around to worship the self-insert, that's when we head into Mary Sue territory. Why bother having a team when Mary Sue can do everything on their own and never need to put effort into their work? Why bother to have a conflict if Mary Sue can defeat the enemy effortlessly in two seconds?

While a cool idea, keep it to yourself. No one wants to read that. Make a team and if you want your self insert to be stronger than everyone else, give them a reason while still allowing the others to pull their weight. And don't make their one flaw "they're not using their power to its fullest", we don't want Mulan 2020, do we?

Sympathetic:

No one sympathies with "I'm not satisfied with daddy's gifts anymore! He's trying to destroy the world and I'm suffering from his evil ways!" That's second-generation Mary Sue syndrome.

Making people care means putting effort into your work, and if you don't feel comfortable telling people about your life through your self-insert, then change it up while keeping the core of what's bothering you. Writing can be a great way to vent, and sometimes overcoming them in stories can help you in real life. What doesn't help is when Mary Sue overcomes everything with no effort and her "suffering" is something no one cares about. Mary Sue got caught for doing something illegal but she's the victim? No one is going to feel sorry for that.

Making different people:

Self-inserts don't have to be you, they can be a part of you. Let me explain, my OCS, not the characters I make for my original series, the ones I use for fan fiction, are a part of me but not me as a whole. They're not the same person with a different name and appearance. One has my trait of being shy while another has my trait of being an artist.

This can help you overcome your weaknesses or release your stress because the self-insert isn't exactly like you, so they don't have the setbacks you have that keep you from moving on. 

The same person in a different environment:

If your self-inserts are the same person with a different name and appearance, then the people around them and the environment will be the difference in the story. This can lead to you developing yourself insert further because of the differences in the environment. While you might be brave in a haunted house, you could be scared to death of flying in a plane. The different stories allow you to express yourself in other ways and give people a better insight into who you are.

But, if all your self-inserts react the same way to everything, why bother?

Everyone loves your self insert:

Again, we head into Mary Sue syndrome territory.

If you have every character, minus the antagonist, flock to your self-insert, and constantly praise them. Then good luck. Without a proper reason, such as being famous or extremely cute, this is unrealistic. To make an example of Katrina Claes, she is popular from the get-go because she's the fiancé of a prince and the daughter of a nobleman. Maria Campbell has rare light magic. Sophia Ascart has a strange appearance.

Give them a reason beyond "I want my self insert to be the most loved person in the story", and you'll be fine.

This also applies to "everyone hates my self insert".

Alpha human:

Where do I start?

The big badass of the story and better than everyone else. Give them a reason beyond "I want my self insert to be the best!" And don't make the adults be scared of a little kid screaming at them, that's bad writing. When Yandere Simulator understands that better than your story, then you're doing something wrong.

Alpha males/females tend to go into Mary Sue territory because they're portrayed as better than everyone else and are never spoken down to because they're just so "terrifying". If your self-insert is younger than twenty, that's not happening, because adults are not going to take shit from them.

"No more parties for you!"

"I can do whatever I want and you can't tell me what to do!"

"Then you're going to my office and you're going to give me one reason why I shouldn't suspend you!"

Not "I'm going to leave you alone because you're so scary!" Are you an adult or are you a little bitch? She's a fourth of your age and you're the headmaster, you deal with this shit daily! I just explained Arthur from Stones to Abigale. If your self-insert can be described in the same light as Arthur, then you're doing something wrong.

All I can say is to not do this, give them moments when they're not in power, and being talked down to. Because we all have those moments.

Conclusion:

Self-inserts can right be a great exploration into who you are as a person and how you would deal with certain situations. If you're going for a power fantasy, then build a team, if you're going for most popular and loved by all, give a reason, if you're going to explore your feelings, then think twice before you make a fool out of yourself. You'll either head into the second-generation "feel sorry for me" Mary Sues, or just an annoying brat if you're not careful.

When done wrong, they make you look like an intolerable little shit. No one wants to see your self insert win every battle with no effort, demonize people who disagree with them, hear about some "suffering" that no one cares about, or listen to them call themselves an alpha. No one liked it when Stones to Abigale did it, they're not going to like it if you do it.