It probably says a lot about my age in fandom...

[jedibuttercup]

... that when I'm surfing AO3 and see something like "(Y/N) Stark is the youngest daughter of Eddard and Catelyn Stark" in a fic summary, I immediately think "Yes/No" instead of "Your Name". It trips me up every time, and even after I remember, I have a hard time seeing the appeal. I did read some of those Choose Your Own Adventure books that were popular when I was a kid in the 80s; but even then, I had to sit down with a notebook and plot out which pages jumped where so I could figure out which was the most satisfying ending -- and most of them actually weren't. I read -- and write-- fic to explore the characters and/or world(s) I loved in canon, not to insert myself into it, especially not a reader-fic version of my self that will (because genericized) be by default OOC.

I know, I know. Different people want different things out of fic; a lot of people do prefer it as escapist wish-fulfillment. Or ... maybe it's just that online fandom wasn't a thing until after I was through my own Mary Sue phase, and the shape of that trope's changed a lot in the years since? For me, it was a bunch of short stories scribbled in erasable ballpoint pen in a spiral-bound notebook, telling stories about how I and my BFFs and my defected-from-the-enemy made-up boyfriend survived an apocalypse in my hometown, or got caught in a time-loop and had to save the world, or became sexy spies, or were born into a fantasy universe where different bloodlines had special magic powers, etc. I'm pretty sure those stories still exist, somewhere in a dusty box; I'm equally glad they'll never again see the light of day. Maybe I would have been one of those people writing up those kinds of fic-ified imagines to share with others, if wifi and smartphones and Tumblr were a thing when I was thirteen instead of dial-up slow-as-fuck AOL. :)

Anyway. You may have noticed I've made a resolution to blog more this year; I'm hoping more engagement will help keep me from sliding back into last year's blue fugue.

Along similar lines: I'll be signing up for this year's getyourwordsout - signups run through Jan 15, and their commitment levels start at 75,000 words. I'm not sure yet which level I'll sign up for, but their accountability posts should help keep me going. :)

Comments

[ffutures]

Really with you on that one - apart from anything else, it's a fairly good sign that the story will be unreadable.

[sulien]

Now that you mention it, I think I did see some LotR and Stargate based self insert fics over on AO3 and wondered WTF, then made sure to skip anything by those authors, Y/N tag or not. Just NO.

Forgive me for saying, but I have the feeling that your early Sue's would still be worlds better than the stuff getting published on paper these days, especially if you gave them a going over. I made the mistake of buying the All Souls trilogy because the author is a history professor at USC. The books are very well written and she's great with historical characters and details, but that's about the only thing that elevates them above Stephenie Meyers' Twilight books. X-p I swear, I have gotten spoiled rotten by the better fic authors out there, yourself included. :-/

[grundyscribbling]

It's not just you. I read your first sentence and started to trying to figure out why Ned and Catelyn's youngest daughter was named Yes/No before I got to the "Your Name" part. *headdesk*

[tassosss]

I really like the habit pledges at getyourwordsout. It takes some of the pressure off the daily or monthly word count goals but because I’m sitting down to write more even the small days add up.

[james]

Is THAT what Y/N stands for! I could never figure it out. (I knew it was self-insert, but couldn't figure out what it meant.)

[edenfalling]

I've never quite understood the appeal of Character/Reader style insert fics. I mean, even if I do a search-and-replace on the (Y/N) thing to stick my own name in there, the insert character is clearly NOT going to be me. It won't even be an idealized version of me. So I'd be left either with someone so bland as to make me wonder what anyone sees in them, or that same sense of dissonance I always get when reading stories about somebody who shares my legal first name.

Maybe they personalize better if you're the kind of person who enjoys that kind of story? Since the writers are tailoring their inserts to be recognizable to that type of reader?

[rose_griffes]

Yes-No is my first internal translation when I see that, too. It took me a very long time to figure out what it actually meant. I've come across those stories mostly in Star Wars fandom, and that's a such a huge group that it's hard to say if this is trending upward, or if it's just the size of the fandom.

(Those those stories have zero appeal for me, but I was wondering if I could change that. Maybe: [Y/N] runs Kylo Ren through with a lightsaber. [Y/N] slips poison into Kylo Ren's coffee caf drink. [Y/N] looks on in grim satisfaction as Kylo Ren gets tried in front of an inter-galactic tribunal for war crimes, and is sentenced to life in prison.)

[pronker]

not to insert myself into it This, so much.

Thanks for clarifying the Y/N tag and hee, one Choose Your Own Adventure book had me flipping back and forth between p.24 and p.47 in a time loop trap. I blame Youngest for bringing the thing home from the library. On the other hand, Y/N could be considered just another format to write in, like Five Things That Character X Did And One Thing He Didn't ... *trails off, pondering ... *

Best of luck on Get Your Words Out!

EAD: Also like to read that you wrote in erasable ink, easier to read for Tenth Walker stories (or whatever you enjoyed at the time) and easy to edit, too. :)

[flingslass]

Y/N, same response. And Your Name just screams Mary Sue at me!