From 'Sue' to Self-Insertion in Original Fiction

7 min read

Deviation Actions

LuanaRayART's avatar
By
Published:
792 Views

** ART COMMISSIONS OPEN! :D See info here: fav.me/dae4a04 **


Would you join a fun Rolamaton contest for its fans and my friends?

You see, Italian law makes it impossible for me to run contests, but I CAN run events (like contests, only without winners)!
You're still in time to join the Rolamaton Spring Event 2017 - there are plenty of special gifts (instead of 'prizes') for all who enter and join the event activities/games :D
Nobody joined since I opened the Event on May 14, so I'd love to see you there!
Just follow the rules in the journal entry linked above.

Remember you can also help support my fiction via Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/robocityworld For every $10 I receive, I will donate $2 to my local library, which is Rolamaton in real life ;) Thanks!

WIN 20170604 13 09 13 Pro by LuanaRayART
It's an 8-year old myself there in the sketch, hugging Aquila Skies from Rolamaton.
This is one of the illustrations for the Foundation Tales of Rolamaton, set in 1993.


Those of you who followed my work over the past 12 years know how I always refused to consider my self-insertion into the Berter Family (previously 'Prime Family'), Rolamaton The Robocity (previous 'Robocity World') and Planet Electronia (previously a sort of 'edited' Transformers universe) worlds as a Mary Sue.

There is nothing perfect about myself. There is nothing perfect about the fantasy/imaginary version of myself either!

The Luana you read about in the Berter Family, Rolamaton and Planet Electronia is still me, only with more opportunities in life, more mental energy and a major inner strength. Because these are things I continually seek to create and achieve in real life, too.

There is nothing wrong with wish fulfilling. Dreaming of living a better life is what makes the world go round. We have imagination to inspire real life, so why not?

Wikipedia states:

Author surrogacy is a frequently observed phenomenon in hobbyist and amateur writing, so much so that fan fiction critics have evolved the term Mary Sue to refer to an idealized author surrogate. The term 'Mary Sue' is thought to evoke the cliché of the adolescent author who uses writing as a vehicle for the indulgence of self-idealization rather than entertaining others. For male author surrogates, similar names such as 'Marty Stu' or 'Gary Stu' are occasionally used.

This is about fanfiction, but original fiction is the same. Who ever said the author surrogate must be a cliché? Who ever said self-idealization is wrong and our work only has to serve others?

Fiction has to serve both: author and readers. If the author is suffering and isn't finding relief in their writing - or writes just for the money - something's missing: heart.

That doesn't mean you need a self-insertion for a work to have heart, of course, but if the author is present in the form of a character, whether that character carries the same name and appearance of the author in real life, or not, it doesn't mean the work is going to suffer from that presence.

Dante Alighieri in the Divine Comedy: one of the biggest Gary Stus of all times?


Think about it: Dante Alighieri's main work - the Divine Comedy - is built around himself (his own self-insertion) journeying from Hell through Purgatory to Heaven, a wonderful discovery journey that also contains much of his wish fulfilling (meeting his beloved Beatrice in Heaven)

Sure, there's a religious allegory underlying the whole work (the journey of a soul toward God), but we really can't ignore the personal side of it, and the author's dreams and feelings incorporated in the work.

And hey, Dante had the Roman poet Virgil be his guide in the first two books!

Imagine if one of us had Stephen King be their guide through a fictional journey in a novel, and have a (platonic or romantic) relationship with the person or character they love - what would people say? Oh, I know they'd be accused to be a Mary Sue/Gary Stu. I just know it.

So, is Dante Alighieri the biggest Gary Stu in the history of literature?

Let's see:

- He self-inserted into his work
- He is the protagonist of his work, and has a prominent role through it all
- He has other authors and characters as his guides/friends/people he interacts with in the work, and they all benefit him somehow
- He fulfills his impossible dream to be (at least platonically, in a faith-based context) with the woman he loves

Yet, he's not only accepted as an author and his work almost venerated worldwide, people find nothing wrong with all the above!

But oh, heaven forbid that one of us common mortals does the same! Then our work is junk. :/

And then you wonder why I'm so upset about these matters...

Self-insertions in original work and fanfiction all deserve respect


I (very) strongly disagree with this Fanfiction.net author here when they say self-insertions should be kept in sketchbooks and notebooks because people want to read about their favorite characters in different contexts/AUs and not people's personal fantasies.

I know for sure I want to read people's hearts in fanfiction as much as I do in original fiction, because that's what makes them authentic, credible, alive - and unique.

Canon-based fanfiction is awesome, just as original fiction without self-insertions, but I honestly feel fandoms would lose so much if people stopped sharing their dreams.

People are not machines - they have feelings, and those feelings can fuel wonderful worlds that may lead them far away from the canon universe of a given book, movie, cartoon... but to what beauty!

As long as the work is credible and portrays human situations without clichés (unless they make sense in the context), self-insertions are just as wonderful as any other character.

To sum it up...


Please, respect self-insertions in original and fan work.

Please. It won't cost you a dime to be kind.

If the self-insertion is handled poorly, by all means tell the author - dream fulfilling doesn't equal sloppy work, and both the author and readers deserve something of high quality that's worth bookmarking and being proud of, not something to forget quickly!

Then, if you really can't stomach self-insertions... go read something else. That work is clearly not for you.

(So no, I will not remove myself from my own works - if they're not your thing, I strongly encourage you to search for other works out there - not every work has self-insertions. I definitely won't change my work for you.)

Thanks for reading. :hug:

P.S. Keep it civil in comments - I have little no tolerance for drama.
Comments5
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
PrincessofDreams123's avatar
Thank you for saying this. :)