How far should you insert yourself in characters?

[Kitty]

So, really, how far is too far of putting yourself in a character?

You've this lovely idea for a character, they like to read, can't cook, rather weak and extremely argumentative or something like that, and then you sit down to write and it hits you, you've just thought of some of your own traits. Do you scrape it, cut out part of it, or just keep it?

We are told to write what we can write about, and we know everything about ourselves, and yet, I've heard from people to not write about yourself. Now besides the Mary Sue/Gary Stu factor that you can turn your character into who you want to be, is self-insertion in writing really such a bad thing?

[DarkRaven]

You see there are two very conflicting pieces of advice out there:

1) Write what you know.
2) Do not make self-insert characters.

Given that the person you know the most in this world is yourself, it's logical that they will be based on some level on yourself. The problem only becomes a problem, when readers notice that a lot of what the character does is what you do. And even then it's a fairly petty complaint to make.

[Optional Toaster]

When I'm characterizing, I often find many of my own traits in my characters, and it's an easy and almost subconscious thing. Yes, generally it's best to write about what you know, but then again, think about "Saw." If we write about what we know, then...

I think creating an original character that is not you at all is a good challenge and good practice. It's difficult sometimes if you completely disagree with your character, but that's the fun of it, and it also helps you to see all sides, so really what I'm trying to say is that having a character completely opposite of yourself can help you as a writer. Become accustomed to personalities other than your own or the ones that you gravitate toward.

If you want the character to reflect you, then I'd say no more than three traits. Your character should have his or her own personality.

Something important to remember, too, is to make your characters believable and human. What I mean by that is to keep them real; keep them emotional, and they should have general reactions. If someone attacks your character with a knife and they're unarmed, what would they most likely do? Remember that you are creating a person, and that person must be a real person, not a fake who seems to have perfection. Remember flaws, bad habits, all that jazz.

I feel like I'm pointlessly ranting now. I'll stop, and I hope that I was able to help you.

[Rapsca]

Write what you know, but cut out the boring bits. As long as your character stands off the page and interests the reader, it doesn't matter.

[sfhdweb]

You see there are two very conflicting pieces of advice out there:

1) Write what you know.
2) Do not make self-insert characters.

Given that the person you know the most in this world is yourself, it's logical that they will be based on some level on yourself. The problem only becomes a problem, when readers notice that a lot of what the character does is what you do. And even then it's a fairly petty complaint to make.

i agree with you

[Bowie20049]

You see there are two very conflicting pieces of advice out there:

1) Write what you know.
2) Do not make self-insert characters.

Given that the person you know the most in this world is yourself, it's logical that they will be based on some level on yourself. The problem only becomes a problem, when readers notice that a lot of what the character does is what you do. And even then it's a fairly petty complaint to make.

If we take a lesson from Twilight, self-insert characters are boring. They have so little personality that anyone can put themselves within the little shell the author called a character.

You write what you know based on experiences to form a personality. The experiences could range from anything that made you feel happy, sad or angry. You put these feelings aside so they can 'incubate' into something more.

Doesn't make sense at all, but that's how I always thought of it.

[Rage]

All the way to the base, insert yourself real deep. :sarcasm:

[I am the violist]

My friend does some screenwriting, basically a play on our lives. Inserting yourself into your character is basically attributes, likes, and talents, except for the fact that you're just going by a different name, and the people around you/love interests/friends should have different names too, with similar characteristics of their reality-alias. Point is, inserting yourself in characters is a really good thing to do, if you have a lot of hope in your writing AND if you plan on changing your entire image so that its untraceable when the writing is published. Hope this helped.