A friend of mine on Quotev messaged me with this idea, and she asked me to re-write her words for her, as her first language is not English. This is her view on self-inserts.
Self-inserts are often what new authors write as their first novel or story. The self-insert usually becomes something of a Mary Sue or Gary Stu, and the plotline suffers terribly from it. Instead of talking about how terrible these kind of characters are, I want to discuss the dangers of writing an effective self-insert.
Right now, think of three flaws about yourself. Just three.
Now, I want you to think of one good thing about yourself. One character trait you truly like.
This is what happens when someone writes in a good self-insert. They put more flaws in their character than strengths, thus making themselves overly self-aware. Everytime they have a conversation, in the back of ther mind they are analyizing every detail of their flaws.
My Adam's apple is making a weird motion.
If I gesture in a different way, maybe my motives will come across better.
I'm not assertive enough.
You're speech is so stupid compared to everyone else.
These thoughts will overtake you on a day to day basis, until it's all you think about. Anxiety attacks could become a common occurence. Relationships will become strained, and you may even sink into depression.
I've been through it.
I was so sick of cliched romance stories, that I wrote a story from my own perspective about my relationship. As I edited the finished product, I found myself questioning my boyfriend more and more. I was increasingly negative around him and I often questioned if he actually loved me. For a solid year I grated on him, and it finally made him snap. He'd had enough. He couldn't figure out what had caused me to go from a positive ray of sunshine, to a depressing cloud of angst. So he dumped me.
I'm not saying that all self-inserts that are written well can turn out this bad, but before you decide to write a self-insert of yourself, make sure you're ready to deal with over analyizing every flaw in your existence. Just be sure you know what you're getting into.
~Anonymous
