yes, i live
If I've been largely absent from LJland lately, I apologize, but I've been hella busy doing Book in a Month (the yahell group, for reference). I was really trying to work on my original novel last night, but I got frustrated and started reading Star Trek and SeaQuest fanfiction instead (yes, random, but when you start link-surfing you end up getting distracted by the most bizarre and OT things from what you originally went online for). After wading through about a bazillion self-insert fics, I got really frustrated, so thus, a rant. And it's here and not on fanficrants because the subject of which I am ranting--self-inserts--isn't purely a problem in fanfiction. They're rampant in published and original fiction as well.
And no, I don't mean Mary Sues--totally diff concepts, IMO. SIs aren't all sparklypoo and perfect and too-good-to-be-true like Mary Sues. While Sues are written entirely for the author's self-indulgence (really, who else could possibly enjoy one?), SIs are written for the reader's self-indulgence. They're the main symptom of the dreaded wish-fulfillment fic, which I pretty much despise more than anything, because while it makes for great daydreams, it makes for shitty fic.
Let me explain.
I think nearly every novice writer (and most fnaficcers are novice writers) falls into the trap of wish-fulfillment fic. Most of my godawful teenage fic was like that. I attribute it to the escapist nature of writing and reading in general--the reason we read is to vicariously experience something more entertaining than our actual life. But the thing is, most writers (I would think) get past the wish-fulfillment stage, and start writing actual characters instead of ideals meant to facilitate the experience of a literary daydream. But it seems now that wish-fulfillment fic is all the rage in the YA market, so there's no escape from it.
Anyway, the reason I hate wish-fulfillment fic is that its staple is cardboard characters. The hero or heroine is supposed to be some kind of everyman/woman--their purpose is so the author (and by extension, the readers) can put themselves in this character's place and live vicariously through them. As a result, they tend to be personality-free and duller than dishwater. They are the equivalent of cafeteria food--bland and inoffensive, but utterly devoid of flavor.
So if the heroine is the SI (for the sake of brevity/clarity, I'm going to talk about female SIs from here, although these same principles can apply to male SIs), then the hero is the object of desire, which is just as boring, as far as I'm concerned. The problem is that the heroine has no characterization beyond being a SI, so the hero has no characterization beyond being an OoD (LOL, the acronym becomes OoD! If you watch Doctor Who, you will see why this is amazing). The author is trying so hard to make them the universal ideal of teenage girl dream vision, you end up with Captain Cardboards or Gary Stus like whoa. This applies more to original fic than fanfic, because in the case of fanfic, the male canon character is the OoD *snickers*, which occasionally leads to total OOCness (see also: Draco in Leather Pants), although better writers tend to leave their canon characterization intact.
I think this meta provides adequate explanation on why I hate Stephanie Meyers' novels so much.
Anyway, SIs are especially infuriating when the writer is otherwise a skilled author. The grammar and spelling is sound, the prose is good, and the characterization is pretty spot-on. There's just this bland, annoying, self-insert character going around offending me with her boringness and getting far more narrative weight than she deserves. The problem with most female SIs is that they're just so gosh-darn nice and inoffensive. They never piss anyone off, or if they do, the canon character gets over it and the SI and canon character become BFFs or hook up or whatever. They usually fit right in with the main cast, like they were always there. I can understand this because if you were to get bamfed into your favorite fandom 'verse, you'd want to fit in with the gang instead of say, pissing people off and having them think you're a jerk, right? But I'm not thinking in terms of myself being bamfed into my fave fandom 'verse when I read and write fic. I don't want to live vicariously, I just want to read the characters doing fun and interesting things.
I like my OCs because they tend to shake things up, unlike most SIs. That's precisely why introduce them--they often make great catalysts to mess with the status quo and with the canon characters' dynamic. In the rare event I write a love interest OC, it's only because I like to write romantic storylines, and I just can't see my male canon character of choice with any of the female canon characters. I craft the OC based on what I feel would be the most fun and intriguing dynamic with the guy. As a result, she's usually a very colorful and quirky character, and nothing like me, because well... writing myself-with-a-different-name into my favorite fictional 'verse is just squicky (to me, anyway). And I'm probably really boring.
So i guess what I'm saying here is that when I read fic--fan or pro--I'm not into reading someone's daydream. I want to read characters that are fun, entertaining, and alarger than life. Not in the Mary Sue/Gary Stu sense, but in the sense that they're just really unique and intriguing. I don't care about identifying with a character so much as I care about liking (or even loving to hate) them. I want some kind of strong reaction--even if that reaction is negative--which a really great character will bring. And since the point of SIs is not to inspire a strong reaction, you can see why I dislike them so much. The kind of OC I dig (not just in my fic, but in other people's as well, on the rare occasion I find one) will clash with the canon characters, piss them off, frustrate them, not fit in... but also will have moments of being just what the story (and characters) needed. Not what I'd want to happen to me if Scotty beamed me up, but fun as heck to read about when it's someone else. Wish fulfillment generally doesn't happen in real life--honestly, does anyone really end up with the stereotypical brooding Byronic hero type? (And why would you want to? Wouldn't all that brooding get really irritating after a while? Give me Seth Cohen over Edward Cullen any day of the week). Life is full of irony, and you generally find out that what makes you happy isn't what you think will make you happy. And I'd rather see fic reflect that than some fantasy you will never achieve and probably don't really want, anyway.
And no, I don't mean Mary Sues--totally diff concepts, IMO. SIs aren't all sparklypoo and perfect and too-good-to-be-true like Mary Sues. While Sues are written entirely for the author's self-indulgence (really, who else could possibly enjoy one?), SIs are written for the reader's self-indulgence. They're the main symptom of the dreaded wish-fulfillment fic, which I pretty much despise more than anything, because while it makes for great daydreams, it makes for shitty fic.
Let me explain.
I think nearly every novice writer (and most fnaficcers are novice writers) falls into the trap of wish-fulfillment fic. Most of my godawful teenage fic was like that. I attribute it to the escapist nature of writing and reading in general--the reason we read is to vicariously experience something more entertaining than our actual life. But the thing is, most writers (I would think) get past the wish-fulfillment stage, and start writing actual characters instead of ideals meant to facilitate the experience of a literary daydream. But it seems now that wish-fulfillment fic is all the rage in the YA market, so there's no escape from it.
Anyway, the reason I hate wish-fulfillment fic is that its staple is cardboard characters. The hero or heroine is supposed to be some kind of everyman/woman--their purpose is so the author (and by extension, the readers) can put themselves in this character's place and live vicariously through them. As a result, they tend to be personality-free and duller than dishwater. They are the equivalent of cafeteria food--bland and inoffensive, but utterly devoid of flavor.
So if the heroine is the SI (for the sake of brevity/clarity, I'm going to talk about female SIs from here, although these same principles can apply to male SIs), then the hero is the object of desire, which is just as boring, as far as I'm concerned. The problem is that the heroine has no characterization beyond being a SI, so the hero has no characterization beyond being an OoD (LOL, the acronym becomes OoD! If you watch Doctor Who, you will see why this is amazing). The author is trying so hard to make them the universal ideal of teenage girl dream vision, you end up with Captain Cardboards or Gary Stus like whoa. This applies more to original fic than fanfic, because in the case of fanfic, the male canon character is the OoD *snickers*, which occasionally leads to total OOCness (see also: Draco in Leather Pants), although better writers tend to leave their canon characterization intact.
I think this meta provides adequate explanation on why I hate Stephanie Meyers' novels so much.
Anyway, SIs are especially infuriating when the writer is otherwise a skilled author. The grammar and spelling is sound, the prose is good, and the characterization is pretty spot-on. There's just this bland, annoying, self-insert character going around offending me with her boringness and getting far more narrative weight than she deserves. The problem with most female SIs is that they're just so gosh-darn nice and inoffensive. They never piss anyone off, or if they do, the canon character gets over it and the SI and canon character become BFFs or hook up or whatever. They usually fit right in with the main cast, like they were always there. I can understand this because if you were to get bamfed into your favorite fandom 'verse, you'd want to fit in with the gang instead of say, pissing people off and having them think you're a jerk, right? But I'm not thinking in terms of myself being bamfed into my fave fandom 'verse when I read and write fic. I don't want to live vicariously, I just want to read the characters doing fun and interesting things.
I like my OCs because they tend to shake things up, unlike most SIs. That's precisely why introduce them--they often make great catalysts to mess with the status quo and with the canon characters' dynamic. In the rare event I write a love interest OC, it's only because I like to write romantic storylines, and I just can't see my male canon character of choice with any of the female canon characters. I craft the OC based on what I feel would be the most fun and intriguing dynamic with the guy. As a result, she's usually a very colorful and quirky character, and nothing like me, because well... writing myself-with-a-different-name into my favorite fictional 'verse is just squicky (to me, anyway). And I'm probably really boring.
So i guess what I'm saying here is that when I read fic--fan or pro--I'm not into reading someone's daydream. I want to read characters that are fun, entertaining, and alarger than life. Not in the Mary Sue/Gary Stu sense, but in the sense that they're just really unique and intriguing. I don't care about identifying with a character so much as I care about liking (or even loving to hate) them. I want some kind of strong reaction--even if that reaction is negative--which a really great character will bring. And since the point of SIs is not to inspire a strong reaction, you can see why I dislike them so much. The kind of OC I dig (not just in my fic, but in other people's as well, on the rare occasion I find one) will clash with the canon characters, piss them off, frustrate them, not fit in... but also will have moments of being just what the story (and characters) needed. Not what I'd want to happen to me if Scotty beamed me up, but fun as heck to read about when it's someone else. Wish fulfillment generally doesn't happen in real life--honestly, does anyone really end up with the stereotypical brooding Byronic hero type? (And why would you want to? Wouldn't all that brooding get really irritating after a while? Give me Seth Cohen over Edward Cullen any day of the week). Life is full of irony, and you generally find out that what makes you happy isn't what you think will make you happy. And I'd rather see fic reflect that than some fantasy you will never achieve and probably don't really want, anyway.