writing self-insertion
The Mary Sue debate hasn't raised its head in a while, has it? I've been thinking about it anyway, or, well, about self-insertion in writing. One of fandoms oldest no-nos seem to be this one: do not write Sues. To avoid it: be wary of original characters. Don't write self-insertions.
One of the oldest of writing mantras is of course write what you know. Which is still pretty sound advice I think, because it gives you a chance to write things that feel real, and realistic. And here things start clashing for me. Why is a self-insertion then such a bad thing? Oneself is probably what one knows the most about - and therefore could be expected to write properly.
I don't want all writing to be autobiographical, by any means. But to me, the process of writing is this: it is taking parts of yourself and/or your life and transforming it, replacing it, turning it around and about and into fiction, into art if you're good - making something that you know into something else and bigger, more universal, or specific to another life than your own.
Someone said that I write my characters with a lot of empathy and I think this might be the reason for that. All the characters I write are at one level or another essentially me. (At the very least pov-characters in things I'm happy with.) It can be anything in them: patterns of thought, reactions to events, quirky habits, general outlook on life or just a detail they notice. I can't write something I can't relate to. I can't write a character having thoughts I can't imagine having.
Is this simply the difference between using characters for wish-fulfillment and using yourself to create fuller characters? Thoughts, you all?
One of the oldest of writing mantras is of course write what you know. Which is still pretty sound advice I think, because it gives you a chance to write things that feel real, and realistic. And here things start clashing for me. Why is a self-insertion then such a bad thing? Oneself is probably what one knows the most about - and therefore could be expected to write properly.
I don't want all writing to be autobiographical, by any means. But to me, the process of writing is this: it is taking parts of yourself and/or your life and transforming it, replacing it, turning it around and about and into fiction, into art if you're good - making something that you know into something else and bigger, more universal, or specific to another life than your own.
Someone said that I write my characters with a lot of empathy and I think this might be the reason for that. All the characters I write are at one level or another essentially me. (At the very least pov-characters in things I'm happy with.) It can be anything in them: patterns of thought, reactions to events, quirky habits, general outlook on life or just a detail they notice. I can't write something I can't relate to. I can't write a character having thoughts I can't imagine having.
Is this simply the difference between using characters for wish-fulfillment and using yourself to create fuller characters? Thoughts, you all?