Question on opinions of Mary-Sues...
In your opinions, is it bad to do a self-insertion fanfic? Not for Blake's 7, but Harry Potter, I've had an idea I've been toying with for a long time, that would put me and a few other people I know at Hogwarts. It's pretty blatantly Mary-Sue-ish, in that I'd have some dramatic adventures, but also realistic, in that I'd have humiliating moments, difficulties dealing with people, and it would NOT connect directly with the Harry story arc. (i.e., I'd be at the school but not helping Harry solve his problems, I'd have problems of my own). I don't suppose that's much of a description, but does that sound to fans who know the series like an interesting spinoff or a mere excercise in vanity? And yes, I am my real age in the story-- that's the first clue there's a mystery-- owls rarely fail to make a delivery, but three Wizards were NOT informed of their abilities until they reached adulthood due to owl interceptions.
In your opinions, is it bad to do a self-insertion fanfic?
If it inspires you to write, and you enjoy writing it, then how can it possibly be a bad thing? No-one else ever knows you as well as you know yourself, and once you step into the sort of make-believe associated with self-insertion, you can't help but change yourself slightly too. Even people who know you well will be unlikely to be thinking about the real you while reading the story, so there is little practical difference between self-insertion and standard fan-fic. Most fiction has a degree of self-insertion, if I'm honest, even fan-fic. It's almost impossible to avoid it. We all have our own biases, preferences and world-views. In the end, the piece will stand or fall on its merits as a story, not on whether or not the viewpoint character happens to have the same name as the author or not.
I don't suppose that's much of a description, but does that sound to fans who know the series like an interesting spinoff or a mere excercise in vanity?
Heh. Most writing is an exercise in vanity, particularly stuff that's shown to other people. I'm as guilty as anyone -- I turned professional for the thrill of holding a properly printed copy of something I'd written, and that of seeing my name on a bookshop shelf. I don't know any professional writer who isn't exactly the same. As for what other people think, well, some people will like it, some won't care, and some will hate it. That's always the same, no matter what. Only the ratios vary 8-).
Self-insertion is a bit cheesy. No way round that. After all, you could write the piece, and then simply do a search/replace to swap your own name with a different character name before you show it to anyone. However, plenty of people like a bit of cheese, and most readers will quickly forget that the character is a self-insertion while they're reading anyway.
However, if self-insertion inspires you, you might enjoy playing some RPGs. Seriously. Role-playing is the ultimate in collaborative self-insertion, with the added extra of not being in total control of events. Yes, role-playing games can be childish... if they're done wrong. There's nothing about them that automatically makes them like that, though. A Harry Potter RPG is scheduled for release soon, too...
Tim.
(A prodigal son returns... it's been a few years, but a big "Hi!" to anyone who still remembers me from my last stay here...) -- Imagine there were two of you. Which one would win?
tim@midnight.demon.co.uk
At 21:31 28/12/01 -0800, you wrote:
Question on opinions of Mary-Sues...
In your opinions, is it bad to do a self-insertion fanfic?
That depends what you mean by 'bad', and what you want the fiction to achieve.
If you mean 'bad' in the sense of 'fewer people will want to read it', then almost certainly yes. I think it's generally true that people who read fanfic want to read about the canonical characters, or variations of them that fit their preferences. This is a problem with *any* OC, not just self-insertion. As soon as you start giving OCs of any flavour a large part to play in the story, then you're going to lose the interest of that portion of your potential audience who want to see just canon characters.
What you then have to decide is whether or not you care.
I don't suppose that's much of a description, but does that sound to fans who know the series like an interesting spinoff or a mere excercise in vanity?
I don't think I'd read it. However, I don't read any Harry Potter fanfiction, so I'm a rotten test subject. :-)
One way to look at it would be to ask yourself--*honestly*--if you'd find the story interesting if it involved characters in the same situation but who weren't closely based on yourself and the other people you know. Or were someone else's self-insertions. If you'd still want to read it, then there's a chance other people would like your story.
However, in the end, what I'd say is: write it if *you* want to read it.
That's why I, personally, write fanfic--I want to read the stories myself. It's a bonus if other people like them too, and an even bigger bonus if they tell me so, but esentially I'm just happy to have a big pile of stories on my hard drive that are the kind of stories *I* want to read. The fact that most of them are in an very variant AU involving few canonical characters and lots of OCs taking up most of the plot is irrelevant--since I don't go around strapping other people into chairs and forcibly reading my fic to them, who cares?
In the case of your idea, writing it for myself and the other people being put into the story would be plenty enough for me. Publishing is not compulsory, nor is a large potential audience the only measure of a story's success.
love Anna
Anna wrote...
However, in the end, what I'd say is: write it if *you* want to read it. That's why I, personally, write fanfic--I want to read the stories myself. It's a bonus if other people like them too, and an even bigger bonus if they tell me so, but esentially I'm just happy to have a big pile of stories on my hard drive that are the kind of stories *I* want to read.
Yup. Agree wholeheartedly.
Leia
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Anna Simpson -
Helen Krummenacker -
Leia Fee -
Tim