Meditation on Self Insertion

I have this friend who once said something very wise.  Well, not just once
he's constantly saying rather intelligent things.  Anyway...
I cannot remember the word for word dictation of his remark, but he spoke 
of how all writing is a form of self-insertion. That is, writers write by 
envisioning themselves in the character's positions.  (This wise friend also 
had a remark about a lemon fics that has made me unable to say self-insertion 
without cracking a smile.)

When write, I am speaking of writing fictional stories.  To write a character,
it's a very intimate thing.  For the duration of the time working with that
character, you are allowed to step into their heads and *be* them.  You think
for them, you act for them.  They are you.  It may be an extension of yourself,
but it is still you.

My friend went on to say that was why certain characters are easier to write
than others.  Indeed, it accounts for why certain people are attracted to
writing for specific Impros.  They feel a connection with those characters;
they feel as though they can give something to those stories.

But... Impro is more of a character rental place.  For a week we can climb
inside someone's head and think and act for them... but at the end of the
week, we have to give them back.  We can put a piece of ourselves in that
character, but it could be ripped out by the next author.  It's a risk you
agree to take.  Unless you've created the character, actually created them,
you're only contributing; you're only borrowing.  We have to tread
lightly when walking in borrowed character's heads.  There's a lot of stuff
in there already that we can trip over.  It's why first-person impro is
usually more difficult than third-person.  We don't all think the same, and
successfully refraining from making a character into a DID victim is 
something that all Improers should fell happy about having been a part of.

Ah, but a repeat character, someone we've been inside the head of many
times... someone that we "know" as well as ourselves, those are the
best characters.  They're like old friends.  We don't even have to think
to know what they'd say or do.  We. Just. Know.

Maybe we can't explain why it seems right that they should do that, but
that's just a part of how we don't always understand why we do things. A
sign of a good writer is character motivation, but it's also a sign of
understanding people and oneself.

I guess that's why we sometimes wish stories could just continue.  It's
hard to put a stop to a story that we've allowed to become a part of
ourselves.  It's like killing a part of us.  But, it's also not.  The
characters live on in us, both our in imaginations and through our shared 
traits. Perhaps it's why (some) people perfer happy endings.  Is this a 
reflection of how they seek out happiness in their own lives?

It's a commonly held belief amongst actors that you shouldn't play someone
that you wouldn't want to be in reality.  The same might be said about
writing.  Because you do take a part of that character with you.  However,
we must accept that there are so many facets to our personalities.  Just
because one person can write a villian who makes us cringe, dosesn't mean
they enjoy causing others pain.  It might simply mean they are aware of
their Shadow.  They are exploring that Shadow, trying to understand and
incorporate it into their lives in a heathly way.

You see, we are actors of the written word.  Our audience is our reader.

A sign of a good writer is someone who can write a variety of genres
and characters.  A sign of a good actor is someone who can play a
variety of characters in a variety of genres.  There both also expressions
of the complexity and varition within individual people.

So, next time someone says "self-insertion", don't sneer and turn your
nose up at it.  There's nothing wrong with self-insertion.  We do it
all the time.

~ ~ ~ ~

Most of the ideas in this are mine, except for the ones I mentioned as
belonging to someone else. (Hi John.  ^_^)

This was mostly a flow of consciousness writing, so my apologises if it
doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense.  ^^;

Lady Chaos

Inu: Not bad... but it needs more cowbell.


The Sunburst Project, Week 6
http://www.chaoseed.com/btr/sbp/
4/20/00