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BeautyAndStrength — {Rules for Writing Reader Inserts}
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Reader Inserts. You either love them or you hate them. My opinion of Reader Inserts is the same as any other type of fanfiction; if it is well-written and interesting, I will read it.
Unfortunately, this is one of the main reasons why some people don't like Reader Inserts, because they are often NOT well-written. And I have seen my fair share of badly written Reader Inserts in my time since I discovered them. That is why I want to lay out these rules on how to write Reader Inserts in a way so that they won't fall horribly flat, whether you're just starting out or have been writing them for a while now. I should point out that some of these things are really just basic rules for writing while others are based off of my own ideas.
1. The Reader is a faceless figure. Keep them that way!Honestly, this one should be obvious. The point of Reader Inserts is to allow the reader to participate in the story.
That means that the reader is not your own OC.
They are whomever is reading the story and that could be anyone. You don't know what the person reading your story will look like and that's why it is crucial to keep the reader in your story as blank as you possibly can. I point this out is because I have seen so many Reader Inserts where the author has given the reader physical features that shouldn't be there. Like one where the reader had "long curly hair, fair skin and freckles".
News flash; NOT EVERYONE IS GOING TO HAVE THOSE FEATURES.
I don't have any of them, save for the fair skin. This is an example of what NOT to do. You must not give the reader any physical features at all. When you write a Reader Insert where the female "reader" has dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, she is NOT a reader anymore. She is an OC, save for her lack of name. If you're going to give the reader a certain physical feature that is somehow important for the story, like a scar or something, that's fine. Otherwise, remove it and keep the reader as blank as you possibly can. Obviously, the most common way people do this by using placeholders in parenthesis for certain features, such as (Y/N), (H/C) and (E/C) for the reader's name, hair color and eye color, respectively. Or just (name) or even ________ for the reader to mentally fill in the blanks.
(By the way, some people think that these placeholders should be omitted altogether. I don't think you necessarily need to do that. It's okay to use placeholders, just use them sparingly. Using (y/n) every once in a while is fine, plus the occasional physical placeholder here and there. Just don't use them all at once. For example; "you had (e/c) eyes and (h/c), (h/l) hair and (s/c) skin...etc, etc" Don't do that! It is unnecessary since the reader already knows what they look like. The only possible exception is when you are writing it from another character's perspective but it would be best if you avoided it completely. I made this mistake once and I have done my best to not do it again.)
In my opinion, the only features that are acceptable to be picked by the author are:
Weight - Usually only if you want to write a story where the reader is a little chubby and insecure about their weight but their canon love tells them they're beautiful. Who doesn't want to be told that?
Age - If you want to make the reader a child for a familial story or even make them older for whatever reason, that is all right. Just as long as you keep them blank, it's acceptable. I personally love child!reader stories because they are simply adorable!
Sex - Oddly, I don't mind when authors decide to make the reader a male. First of all, for inclusion since about 95% of the Reader Inserts that are written are aimed towards and feature female readers. I think it's wonderful to want to include guys in the stories as well, whether it's supposed to be romantic or not, just as long as they are blank, like their female selves. Plus, I love envisioning myself as a man every once in a while, as weird as that sounds.
Gender Identity - If you want to write a story where the reader is gender fluid, transgender, etc, etc, go for it. Like with sex, this is about inclusion since chances are someone will read your stories who does not identify as any gender binary and will often be overlooked, so feel free to let them be included. A friend of mine, , wrote a series of Reader Inserts where she kept the reader so blank, she didn't even include any gender specific pronouns. I think she used the occasional they and them to describe the reader (I have to re-read her stories to make sure) but for the most part she kept the reader fairly gender neutral, so everyone could be involved. I'm not even sure how she did it. That's like pro-level reader insert writing right there.
Sexual Orientation - Again, this is for inclusion. Go right ahead and write a Reader Insert where the reader is a female paired up with a female character or a male reader paired up with a male character (most popular) or any other story like that. Chances are I won't read them but that's because I'm straight and hetero fics are what I tend to stick with. Nevertheless, feel free to write queer Reader Inserts and you will make someone happy.
Species - Um, this really only applies to stories that take place in a supernatural or fantasy setting. Like if you're writing a story for Supernatural and you make the reader a vampire. However, I have seen stories where the reader was an animal, like a cat or something. Those are fine, although a bit strange to me.
2. Beware of Miss Mary Sue.That's right! It's not just original characters that can become Mary Sues and Gary Stus. If you're not careful, your reader can become one too!
If you don't know what a Mary Sue is, read this: www.springhole.net/writing/wha…
Seriously, this is basic knowledge when creating characters. You can't just slap together a half-baked character and put them in the story. You have to make sure that you think them through and develop them. The same thing applies to readers, especially if you're planning on making a long Reader Insert series. The problem with most Mary Sues is that they usually poorly developed or are given traits that are unrealistic and idealized.
Common aspects that are often abused with Mary Sues and need careful attention are:
Flaws - Granted, you have no idea who will be reading your story so you don't know what your reader is actually like. This gives you liberty to decide what the reader will be like in the story. When you do, make sure you give them believable flaws. The problem with Mary Sues is that they usually have little to no flaws, making them flat and boring to read about. So don't be afraid to give the reader flaws, even if they are undesirable. Make them shy, awkward, hot-tempered, stubborn, impatient, timid or anything else. Just make sure you know how someone with that flaw would act, especially if you don't have that flaw yourself. I'm a bit of a shy person in real life and I can't stand how some authors write "shy" readers. They tend to stereotype them as blushing and stuttering messes, when in truth shy people don't act that way most of time.
Strengths and weaknesses - This is a common thing with Mary Sues. Often the authors give them too many strengths and not enough weaknesses. This is mainly a problem when it comes to the number of skills the character has. Usually they have a lot of things they are good at and any skills they don't have they can learn really quickly. This makes the character not only unrealistic but also really boring. If they are this perfect, if they have no issues or obstacles, what reason is there to read their story? That's why, as with any character, you have to balance the reader out by giving them an equal number of strengths and weaknesses. Maybe the reader is physically fit but does poorly in school. Maybe the reader is good with computers but is naturally clumsy. Maybe they are really intelligent but have poor social skills, or visa versa. In the end, try to keep them balanced and treat them like they're real people, because they are.
Beauty - Most times, Mary Sues are described as being super beautiful (hence the reason why so many men fall in love with them). It seems strange that I would put this here for Reader Inserts stories when the author doesn't know what the reader looks like and is advised to keep them blank. However, even with no features to go on some authors can still exaggerate the reader's looks. For example, going back to the reader with the freckles that I mentioned in rule #1, the author described the reader's fair skin as "smooth and flawless" and their curly hair as being "silky and gorgeous". This went on for an entire paragraph, with the author doing nothing but exaggerating the reader's looks. Please don't do this. Even though it's nice for someone to be told they are beautiful, don't overdo it. No one wants to waste their time reading that. Simply having the reader's canon love tell them they are beautiful is enough.
The backstory - Every character needs a backstory, otherwise they themselves will fall flat. And your reader is no exception. But you must be careful when creating that backstory. One of the most common things that people tend to put in their character's past is some traumatic event that happened to them years before. Things like their parents dying in a car crash or a loved one being murdered are very commonly used for OCs and readers. Although there is nothing really wrong with that, some authors tend to overdo it. Often the Mary Sue character is will have suffered so many traumatic events; their home was destroyed, their parents were slaughtered along with all their friends and neighbors, they were injured in the process and went through severe healing and rehabilitation. As a result, they have become a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off. Now, it's true that stuff like this can happen in real life. However, when creating your character or the reader, try to keep it mild. A little trauma is enough.
The canon world - The worst offence any author can commit with a reader or OC is to allow their presence to alter the world they have been inserted into. The most unacceptable way is by changing the characters from that world. I've seen so many stories where some canon character acted incredibly out of character due to the presence of the Mary Sue. It makes no sense for a character who is usually gruff and suspicious to suddenly start trusting the reader or OC, especially if they just met. Having a character who is smart and well-spoken suddenly become a bumbling mess or having a character who is wicked suddenly become a good person when they're around the reader or OC is stupid and unrealistic. Make sure when you write your story that you don't let the reader's presence change the canon characters around them. Unless you're writing a story that takes place in a AU where everyone is different somehow, keep everyone in character, please.
NOTE: It is my opinion that just because a character or reader possesses one or two Sue-ish qualities, that does not make them a Mary Sue. I have seen OCs before who have had a few Sue-ish qualities yet they were as far from Mary Sues as you can get. It all depends on how those qualities are handled by the author.
3. Be careful with the family ties.A common thing found in Reader Inserts-and other fanfictions- is when the main person (reader or OC) has a biological or familial tie to one of the canon characters. Most people will say to avoid this but I think you can do it just as long as you're careful.
If you're going to have the reader be so-and-so's sister, brother, cousin, daughter, son, etc, make sure that relation makes sense. Do your research on the character's family tree and make sure that the possibility of the reader being their cousin fits, just as you would with an OC. Because if you don't and you make the reader so-and-so's cousin on their mother's side, when in truth she had no siblings, people are going to get suspicious.
However, one of the main reasons why you need to be careful with the family ties is because of genetics. At least with an OC you get to decide what they look like but with readers you don't have that option. Remember, you're supposed to be keeping the reader blank. If you tie them to a character in a way that requires them to have certain features, then you have a problem.
For example, say you want to make a reader insert for Sherlock and you want to make the reader be someone's young child, the best thing to do is not have them be John and Mary's kid. The reason is because both John and Mary are blonde haired and Caucasian and if the person reading your story happens to be African-American, they're going to have a difficult time believing it. On the flip-side, if you want the reader to be Sherlock's kid, one thing you could do is mention the reader's biological mother but not describe her physically or have her features match the reader's (keep the mother blank as well). That way the person reading the story is less likely to question it. However, in both cases, having the reader be adopted would be a better option.
In the case of siblings, you have a bit more leeway although you still need to be careful since most times siblings share some physical features with one another. One loophole to this is to not show the parents or at least show only one of them. However, if both of the parents are known or have been seen, just stick with the reader being adopted. Adoption is always the best resort when all else fails. That, and making the reader their half sibling or step sibling.
But, the number one thing to avoid with reader inserts is twins. Do NOT make the reader the twin of any canon character, and the reason should be obvious. Every twin, whether identical or fraternal, always shares physical features with the other twin, especially the identical ones. So if you make the reader be, say, Harry Potter's twin sister, she has to have dark hair, blue eyes and fair skin like him. There is no way around it, you have to do it that way. I have seen reader inserts where the reader was so-and-so's twin. As a result the author gave them the same features as that character and that is right away breaking rule #1. Not to mention that people aren't going to want to read the story if they can't relate to it. If you want to create an OC that is someone's twin, go right ahead. But please, try to avoid it in a reader insert.
4. Proof-read your writing.Writers, please! This is one of the most important rules when writing anything! Reader inserts, OC fanfictions, original works, non-fiction, poetry, it doesn't matter! Whatever you are writing, YOU MUST GO BACK AND PROOF-READ YOUR WORK.
For me, one of the most excruciatingly painful things I have done is trying to read written work that is just riddled with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. I'm not kidding, it actually physically hurts for me to even try to read it, and it probably hurts other people too. Most people will stop reading the story altogether if there are a ton of spelling and grammar mistakes. So please, spare us all the pain and don't be lazy; proof-reading is important.
When proof-reading you must always.....
-Check spelling, obviously. Otherwise people will get confused. For example, I've seen people use the word loose when they should be using the word lose. So the sentence says something like; "I don't want to loose you!" he cried. It sounds ridiculous! And that's not even the half of it. Go back to make sure that you didn't accidentally write sounded when you meant to say wounded. And check for words you may have forgotten to write. And make sure you know all the homophones: you're and your or their, there and they're or its and it's or two, to and too, etc, and when to use them.
-Make sure that you pick a tense and stick with it. Same thing with perspectives. I've seen so many stories where the author used third person pronouns (her, she, him, he, them, etc) in one sentence then randomly switched to second person pronouns (you, your, yours) in the next sentence or even first person pronouns (I, me, mine). Also, if you are using first person, don't switch POVs (points of view) in the middle of the chapter. If you do that, just make sure you specify who is speaking otherwise it will disrupt the flow of the story. At least that's what it does for me.
-Remember punctuation and capitalization. Obviously you were taught where question marks, periods and exclamation marks go when you were a kid. If you don't know that basic stuff then you have a serious problem. But even if you're an expert on that, you still need to know how to use other punctuation marks, like colons, semicolons, hyphens and, of course, commas, etc. Also, try to not overuse certain punctuation marks and only use them when it is necessary. One time I was in a creative writing workshop and people told me on one of my pieces that I used too many semicolons and needed to cut back. Also, don't forget which words need to be capitalized.
-Remember, spaces are your friend! One of the biggest pains for me is trying to read a story with no spacing. It hurts my brain when the story is just a whole bunch of words, actions and dialogue all clumped together. I know that you might want to make sure that your piece is not too long, but please don't! It's more important that your readers can understand what you're writing. That's why you must insert line spaces and paragraph breaks. It's just easier for people to read when there are spaces. Also, don't put two different characters' dialogue side-by-side, like: "She said this." "He said that." It's confusing when it's written that way. Keep them separate. When I write, I don't even put two peoples' dialogue in the same paragraph together.
-Don't be afraid of cutting and editing, especially with dialogue. Nothing repels me more than crappy dialogue. Unfortunately some reader inserts have extremely crappy dialogue, especially the romantic ones. So go back and re-read your entire text multiple times. You'd be surprised how often a line of dialogue that seemed good at the time suddenly is revealed to be not so good after all. This happens with normal text too. Be 100% certain before you post the story.
-Make sure you have a good program. If you don't want to take the time to focus on all these things, just make sure you use a good program to write with. On Deviantart there is Sta.sh writer. I like Sta.sh writer because it makes editing works post upload really easy. However, when it comes to correcting some spelling mistakes and grammatical errors it's not all that efficient. So, if you're using Sta.sh, be sure to ask someone to read your story and check for mistakes, maybe a parent or someone you know who is good with grammar or English, especially if English is not your mother language or your forte. But if you're not comfortable with that (I'm sure most of you guys went "NOOOOOO" as soon as I said that), just take a moment and copy+paste your text onto Microsoft Word, if you have it. You don't have to save it if you don't want to. Microsoft will immediately highlight all the mistakes and tell you what to do when you right click on it. For me, Microsoft Word is one of the best programs for writing.
NOTE: This is really just a personal opinion of mine, but don't use the verb giggle. For example; you giggled/she giggled/I giggled. Use another verb, like chuckle, snicker, laugh lightly etc. To me giggling is something that a child does, and when you have the "adult" or "teenage" reader do it, it makes them sound immature, childish or overly flirtatious. I can't take the reader's character seriously when they giggle, unless they're actually a child. But again, that's just my opinion.
Here are some more articles on reader inserts and fanfiction (not mine).
FANFICTION WRITING TIPSLots of people have asked me, "How do you write fan fiction? I can totally imagine [insert Hetalia character name here] doing that!" I haven't had a good response up until now, although I've given out chunks of advice at a time to many people who have asked via comment or note. I've thought over it; what do I think about myself when I come down to writing fan fiction related to Hetalia or something else? Do I try to relate to myself, or to everyone around me? Here are some tips I found handy
1. Make sure that your grammar and spelling are absolutely fantastic.I've come across lots of fan fictions I just couldn't bear to read because of the...
Now, I know it may seem daunting having all these things to remember. But please, just take a deep breath, relax and have fun.
Part of the joy of writing, as with any form of art, is being able to create new stories, new characters, new situations and express yourself. Yes, it's not always easy, but if it was, it would be boring. Some of the best things in life are challenging and that's part of the fun. People need something to challenge them or they won't grow and develop themselves.
So hold your head high, step up to the plate and you will create something amazing!
Good luck!
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Personally, if there's a fantasy setting, I think a fairly decent way around the whole "different appearance" thing is "waking up in a new body". It provides a more sensical reason why certain features could described. Also, if there's a situation where the in-story reader-character has to make a specific decision (otherwise the plot wouldn't move forward in this extremely specific situation), then the whole "new body" thing could also be an excuse for that because if you have a different body, you wouldn't know how much of your brain is different. For all you know, it could only be your memories and train of thought that were put into the new body.
What's your opinion on this?
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Whoa! Very, very late reply! My apologies!
As for your question, I don't quite understand what you're asking. Are you referring to those instances in supernatural or fantasy settings where the reader somehow swaps bodies with another character by magic, or something? If so, then yes. A reader will obviously have different features if they are in someone else's body. I don't know about different thoughts, since often whether it's the soul or the mind that has been swapped, the reader would still make the same decisions they normally would (in the story). But if the reader is supposed to be the reader and not the reader in a new body (most of my what-not-to-do examples have been the former), then there's no excuse.
Is that what you were going for?
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It's close, but not quite it. I'd have to make up a scenario just to explain it, but basically lets say you want to live with dragons or something like that, so a bunch of sci-fi mages make a new dragon body and shove you in it. It's not your old body so it doesn't work the same.
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Do you think it would be alright if I only used they/them pronouns? I'd really like to keep the genders neutral for readers to enjoy. But I worry that it would get excessive over time and confuse the reader?
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If you can make it work, sure. Personally, I don't care for reader inserts that only use they/them, because referring to the reader as plural instead of singular takes me out of the story a bit. I can't explain why. In the case of the friend I mentioned in the article, she wrote her stories in 2nd person, and was careful not to use words that would tack a gender onto the reader. The theoretical they/them she used every once in a great while were only used when other characters talked about the reader. She didn't do them very often, because she had the other characters refer to the reader using other titles. For example, in one story the reader was a knight, so the other characters mainly referred to her/him as "knight" or "the knight."
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Ah, I see what you mean. Thanks for the advice!
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Do you think it would be considered fine if I only used they/them pronouns in most of my reader inserts? I'd like to keep the genders neutral for readers to enjoy, but I'm worried it may confuse people every now and then.
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I agree with you completely! I tend to only use they/them/their pronouns in my reader inserts, which I don't really have much of. I found this pretty helpful too. Thanks a bunch!
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I am a girl but i prefer to see male readers
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I agree. There should be more Male!reader stories. I'm not opposed to fem!reader stories, it's just that there is so many of them.
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Thank you so much for this information but I want someone to see my progress. If you don't mind, can you see if my writing is good
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Sure, I can give it a look. Could you send it to me in a note?
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Aah, Chérie I'm sorry, it's me again!
I have another question, hope it's alright for you!
Is it better if you write (M/N) or [Name]? I mean, is it better if you write it in the short form or written-out? Would the same goes for (H/C) & ect. too?
Again I apologise for asking you another question.
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It's OK. You can ask me as many questions as you like. I find it flattering that you consider my advice valuable enough to keep coming back for more.
Anyway, for your question, this is another thing where it doesn't really matter what you do. If it's easier for you to write (h/c) instead of (hair color), go right ahead. Most people like to write them short because it is easier, but you can do whatever you like. My only suggestion is that it would be best if you didn't use (m/n) for the reader's name. (m/n) is often translated as Male Name (for when the reader is male), or Middle Name. So, you would only use that for those reasons. Should you use the short version, (y/n) would be better, since it means Your Name, in other words, the reader's name.
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Hello Cherié
I have another tiny question, though only if thats alright with you.
If I would write in 3rd person, is it better if I use/write the characters name more often than the pronounces? I read that it sounds more naturaly if the Characters name is written/used more often then he or she! But when I would do it, it feels like I would overuse it(?)
(I hope my question makes again sense!) Thank you for reading
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Again, your question makes perfect sense, don't worry.
That's a tricky one. It is always so easy to overuse the reader or character's name or pronoun. I'd say do the same thing that you would do when you're worried about overusing the "you" in 2nd person; go back and edit any sentence where you feel you overused it so that you don't have to use it so much. In some cases, it's better to use a lot of one or the other. For example, you have a female reader who is interacting with a female character, in that case you should use the reader or character's names more often, just to clarify who's speaking when.
Another thing you can to is give the reader or character nicknames or other titles that you can use interchangeably with their real name and pronoun. Another example, I am currently writing a male!reader story for Marvel in 3rd person, and the reader is a soldier from California. In that case I may also refer to him as "the soldier" or "the young soldier" or whatever his rank will be (private, sergeant, etc) and "the Californian." I will also occasionally call him by his nickname, Hermes. Try to create at least two other names or titles, and be careful to not overuse them as well.
I hope that helps.
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Aah, thank you so much!💐 Again you really helped me!💐💜
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Thank you. So sick of people writing OC stories and tagging them as 'Reader Inserts' simply for more views.
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Hm, I don't think I've ever really seen that before. I've just seen ones where the author wrote a story that was half Reader Insert (using placeholders for the name and favorite color and stuff) and half OC story (actually giving the "reader" a hair color, eye color, etc). I just want people to right one or the other and not some deformed hybrid of both.
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It's a strange concept - sometimes they don't even try to hide it, it'll be written in third person POV and have a character with a name, description, etc but they still tag it as reader-insert, more than likely for views. And agreed on the hybrid thingie...it really is annoying.
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I guess that makes sense, in a way. In some cases people are more likely to read Reader Inserts than OC stories, since most times OCs have a tendency to be Mary Sues/Gary Stues. But still, it's a pretty pathetic thing to do.
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Alright, but how much does it matter, if your using 1st, 2nd or 3rd point of view, for an xReader story? I mean which point of view is the best to use? I personally tend to write xReader's in 3rd person, because it's somehow a bit easy I think(?) But I would like to know which point of view is more acceptable? (I hope my questions makes somehow sense......)
Then if you write an xReader in 2nd person, is there or would be there any limit of how many times you're allowed to use "you/your/you're"? I mean, when I try to write in 2nd view, it feels that I use too much of the "you". (I also hope that question makes sense....)
Thank you for reading though.
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Don't worry. Your questions make perfect sense.
I honestly don't think it really matters which POV you use. While most Reader Inserts, including most of mine, have been written in 2nd person (the most popular one, for some reason. Maybe because it seems to make the interactive story even more interactive? I don't really know), there is no rule that says you have to write it that way. No one is going to say that you're doing it wrong if you choose to write in 3rd person. I've seen Reader Inserts written in each perspective. I've even been trying to write more Reader Inserts in 1st and 3rd person myself. Basically, I think you should write in whichever POV works for you and your story. Just as long as you remain consistent with the pronouns, as I said in the article.
As for your other question, I completely understand. I often feel like I am using the "you" too much when I write in 2nd person. Technically, there is no limit for how many times you should use the 2nd person pronouns. However, to keep your story smooth and flowing nicely, you might want to cut back a bit, if you're really worried about that. This is where cutting and editing comes in handy. Go back and look over all the places where you feel there is a problem and try to reconstruct the sentences in ways that don't require you to use the "you" so many times. However, if this proves to be impossible for you, 3rd person is always a good alternative, since it makes it easier to keep stuff like that varied.
I hope this helps.
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Thank you so much for the help!🙏🏻💐
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You're welcome, sweetie! Good luck!
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agh the first rule is so true, i dont understand why make a undertale if your going to make them based off your OC.
I mean they could have a few similarities in their backstory here and there
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Yeah, I know. I've seen that done far more than I should.
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I'm sorry, I know you wrote this a long time ago, but I'm still quite confused. I've seen so many of the codes change ( the ones to insert name appearance and favorite stuff), and I'm confused to which one is the correct one. I can't seem to find a list of codes, and I was wondering if you knew.. I'm sorry for bothering you.
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It's quite all right. Feel free to bother me any time. I don't mind.
As for your question, I am the one who should be apologizing because I don't quite understand what you mean. Do you mean whether it would be more correct to use (Y/N), (Name), or (_______) in your story? Because if it is, I would say it doesn't matter which one you use. If that's not what you mean then you're going to have to clarify because I don't really understand what you're asking.
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Ah... well. People use codes like this : " (f/d) " for favorite drink. I was wondering what all the other codes would be.
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Oh, you mean the placeholders? I can't really give you all of them because there are way too many, and people keep on making up more. Basically, for any one of those placeholders, just use the code (initial/initial) of the physical feature. For example, the most common ones are (y/n) for the reader's name, (e/c) for eye color, (h/c) for hair color, and (s/c) for skin color. Some people have even used (h/l) for hair length, (h/t) for hair texture and (f/n) (l/n) for the reader's first name and last name. Otherwise, do whatever you can make up. If you have a lot, it would be best to have a list before your fic giving the placeholders and what they stand for, so that people don't get confused. If you can't remember any of them, just put the physical feature into parenthesis, like (name) or (eye color) etc. I hope this helps.
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Lately, some people who writes reader inserts with chapters then after they have gain quite a lot of fav/loves and readers they suddenly change it to an oc insert. What are your opinions on that?
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How do you mean? Like, they write the first chapters with a reader then go back and edit it into an OC? Or, they write the first chapters with a reader, leave it, then write the rest with an OC?
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^^^^^^^^^^^^ All of this! I'm so glad to be mentioned in this article. It points out everything I've been trying to do and point out to other authors, the appearance of the reader being one of the main issues, I think.
It isn't rocket science, but writing can be very difficult, especially something that incorporates the reader into the story. It can take some getting use to, and even with practice, it can be hard to make a good reader insert, since your adding one or more characters into a story. There are a million other factors that play into it to, like what others have and haven't done, and how you want to portray the reader, and so many other things.
I wish reader inserts were discussed more, since there are many good ones, but since the bad ones outweigh the good ones so much, people tend to avoid them altogether. I think the problem also is that so many more younger people, like preteens and such, are the majority that write reader inserts. I think that if they continue to write and learn, reader inserts and other forms of fanficition in general will get better.
Anyway, I love how you put this. Thank you so much for including me and having amazing stories too!
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Thank you for letting me mention you here. You're doing a wonderful job with your story (I can't wait for the next update, by the way ). The fact that you were able to write the story without using any pronouns for the reader, as well as physical placeholders is amazing. Like I said, pro-level. I wish more people would give reader inserts a chance as well. There are good ones out there, like yours, and to assume that they are all crap based on a few bad ones is unfair. And I agree, writing isn't always easy. I'm an aspiring writer and I know how difficult it is. It was strange for me when I first started writing reader inserts (the second person pronouns were the big thing) but once I got into it I loved it. It can be fun and beautiful for everyone, just as long as they are willing to put some effort into it.
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Okay, i do have a small caveat. Recessive genes. My children all have the same two parents, both of us dark haired and brown eyed.
My youngest is blonde and blue eyed. Fraternal twins, while they'll share some things, won't necessarily share all things. and, as you said, as long as one parent's a mystery, then the reader remains mostly a blank.
right?
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Eh, I still think it's best to avoid it. Because even if you bring up the recessive genes in the story, there is still a slight chance that the person reading will actually have the same features as their "parents", making the whole recessive genes thing pointless and unbelievable to them. But I see what you're getting at.
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oh yah, vaguer the better, though really, some of the most jarring things to me, is reading an insert, and the 'reader' does something i just couldn't or wouldn't do.
so, catch 22 all around.
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I know what you mean. I mentioned how people write shy readers and I, as a shy person, do not act like that.
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