A while back I posted an essay in defense of reader insert fanfiction in which I stated at least twice that many, if not most, reader inserts are not well-written (but that everyone needed to calm their tits anyway).
Other than reader insert writers practicing more, reading up on writing techniques, and improving their skills bit by bit (or more experienced writers jumping into the tidepool), there's not much that can solve the most prevalent issue with self inserts, which is, as I stated, lackluster technical skills in writing and story-telling. With practice and with time, those things will come, but for now I do have a few suggestions that could improve the quality of ReaderX fics by restructuring some of the conventions of the genre.
So now, for your consideration, I suggest to you:
1. Do away with (y/n), (f/c), etc.
Y/N, Your Name, F/C, Favorite Color, E/C, Eye Color, H/C, Hair color, F/F, Favorite Food, the list goes on; this vague parenthetical command is meant to draw the reader deeper into the narrative by allowing them to insert their own name, appearance, and various favorite things.
The goal is noble, but the result is more distancing; having to read the clinical projection cues time after time only serves to remind us that we're reading a story, not experiencing it first-hand. That's why Pokemon has you input your name before the game and then inserts it into the coding, rather than leaving a blank space or a (y/n) in the game text.
In place of the parentheticals, a short description works better. Because these stories are written in the second person, we're already experiencing the story as ourselves; it's okay to say, "You give them your name," or something like that.
Doesn't, "You told them your name and they repeated it joyfully, thrusting their glasses in the air" flow better than, "'My name is (y/n).' '(y/n)!' they shouted joyfully, thrusting their glasses in the air"?
If something is going on that your character's name is said so often that it's necessary for it to be included in quotations rather than just in narration, an easy out is to have one of the other characters give "you" a nickname--either something cutesy/related to the fanwork, or something that has to do with the plot of your AU. I'd be hard-pressed to find a place where a (y/n) is ever strictly necessary.
There are a lot of places where the details are entirely superfluous anyway--because the author is already projecting their own tastes when they do things like design costumes, it seems silly to bring the audience out of the spell for the sake of a color. Still, "She handed you a dress in your favorite color, much to your delight" is more seamless than "She handed you a (f/c) dress, much to your delight," and as I've discussed before, making sure your audience stays trapped in the reality of your story is The Most Important Thing, ESPECIALLY for a reader insert story.
2. Fewer protagonists in default white
As a white girl, I see myself reflected much more prevalently than any other race in pretty much every form of media. The tides are turning of course, and many of us creative types are doing our damnedest to see more representation find its way into the public eye, but it's been hard work trying to break the back of this institution.
But ReaderX fics are all about making sure that the audience is as absorbed as possible in the reality before them, right? That's why we have the (y/n) (f/c) convention in the first place. So it's extremely jarring to me when the author, who will be hard-pressed to describe concretely something as relatively inconsequential as an eye color or favorite type of burger, describes the POV character's skin color--invariably something along the lines of, "your peaches-and-cream complexion" or "the contrast between your white hand and his gray one."
The white default is a setting that a lot of people haven't yet unlearned; we're taught from a young age that white skin is "normal," and the rest of the spectrum is "other," so when we go to read fiction a lot of people just assume that their characters are, of course, white! And writers will do the same thing, which leads to entire series of books where the only characters who get a description of skin color are the ones that aren't white, because they are Not The Default.
This is harmful for a lot of reasons, not least of all because it alienates people who aren't white and reinforces the idea that they are Not Normal. In a reader insert story, it also reads as a statement from the author to any non-white person reading it that it wasn't meant for them to enjoy. I know most people don't mean for it to come across that way, you just did what so many people do and went along with what you think of as the default skin tone, the same way we think of 5'4 as a default height for a woman or pizza as a default meal for Americans, but it can still hurt.
If you had blue eyes and every ReaderX story you read had brown-eyed protagonists, you might feel excluded, right? Like you were being ignored or worse, singled out--like you didn't belong in that fic, that "space."
The best thing to do with a ReaderX fic in regards to skin color is just--don't mention it. Unless race is super important (or you're some kind of alien creature with a canon skin color), leave it completely out of the equation. Don't default to white; default to blank slate, the same way you did with the eye and hair colors.
3. Give the character a stronger background/personality
A lot of characters are these mostly blank slates with a tiny bit of personality and a smidgen of backstory. Blank slate is great and all, especially with reader inserts, but part of the fun of imaging that you're in a different world is imagining yourself as having lived a different life. In a lot of stories this is already a prerequisite--most of us don't live in the city that the story takes place in (if any of us do), and sometimes we're placed on entirely different planets, or in universes in which magic is real, etc.
Don't be afraid to let the character have a bit of history. Any detail you include in a story is going to make it so someone isn't going to be able to project themselves fully into that character without some cognitive dissonance, so you might as well make them interesting and less cardboard while you're at it.
Giving a character a strong personality is also a risky business in this situation; you don't want it so strong that it's overpowering, because then people are going to be constantly saying, "I would never do that!" Then again, the reason you read a ReaderX is because you'd never do what you're reading about doing.
So go ahead and give us a strong, interesting personality. Just make sure the character the audience is playing isn't too obnoxious; this is one of those times that a protagonist pretty much has to be likeable. Otherwise the audience will feel like they're being insulted and will piss off.
4. Less blushing please
One thing that really gets my goat is how much blushing goes on in these stories; you'd think everyone had rosacea! One blush for every three chapters should be the max, I'd say. Some people may blush a lot in real life, but reading about it gets old. Especially when it's in almost every ReaderX.
Blushing is boring. Blushing is the status quo. It's time we break free of that. And this is more than just about the blushing. This is about a specific type of personality that we've seen a thousand million times, and maybe it's just person taste, but as a reader insert reader I am sick to death of blushing and stumbling over myself every other sentence. I've been that person IRL; I don't need to read about being that way.
Let your characters be confident, charmed and charming in return; let them be flustered when flustered is appropriate, sure, but don't make the protagonist go all stupid every time they accidentally touch the main love interest. Most of us in real life hold our lives together pretty well, no matter how punchdrunk we are around our special someone, and don't let ourselves fall to pieces just because they know our name.
We're not the stereotype that Disney created, and I think it's time that reader inserts explored a fuller range of emotion.
5. More realistic flaws
ReaderXes suffer from a lot of the same problems as OC fanfiction, because every reader insert is an OC on top of being a more-or-less blank slate. One of those problems is the Mary Sue issue; no flaws. Or, if there are flaws, only those which don't impact the plot.
Problems are never their fault, they may stumble around cutely, but they're not going to do something like embarrass their date because they have no table manners, or become possessive or something of the like. Try to give your characters flaws that will influence and even drive the plot; we're not perfect. The protagonist doesn't have to be perfect, either.
Alternatively, we see characters that are just walking Flaw-Bombs waiting to go off. They're obnoxious, they make unnecessary drama, and no one should like them, yet for some reason everyone does. Make sure your other characters are responding accordingly to the stimuli provided them, no matter how pretty your protagonist is.
6. Fewer miscommunication plots
Rule of thumb; if your plot can be resolved in under two minutes if your characters just sat and talked, it's not enough of a plot to warrant a serious story. Miscommunication is great for comedy, but in serious plots it gets frustrating.
The whole "This isn't what it looks like!" storyline, for example: if a character can say, "Tom, he's my cousin," and the whole thing is resolved? Not worth more than five hundred words as conflicts go. If a character says "Tom, he's my cousin," but she's lying, on the other hand, or it's not the whole story, then that warrants a fuller investigation.
Also, if your character is so jealous they can't even wait around for someone to explain themselves after being caught in a compromising position, they clearly don't trust their partner, which is a red flag as far as the health of the relationship goes. In fact, if they're walking out on them without an explanation, they clearly don't respect their partner, and to me that's a "break the camel's back" kind of straw.
Be careful with your melodrama.
7. More male POV characters
Or better yet; more characters with no specified gender.
There may not be as many men/boys who read reader inserts as there are girls, but that may also just be a confirmation bias; how do you know they wouldn't like it if they aren't given a chance? Plus, there are many girls who wouldn't mind adopting a male persona over the course of your story, and a lot of people who don't fit into the gender binary who would like to see themselves reflected in the story.
More stories written with a broader audience focus would be beneficial; anyone can write a story from a male perspective now and again, and you can easily write a story in the second person without using gendered pronouns for the POV character.
Give it a shot; let's make the protagonists a little more diversely applicable.
8. More female love interests
Male love interests are the default in ReaderX land, but there are a lot of people interested in the female characters of a given work, whether boys who like girls, girls who like girls, nonbinary folks who like girls, etc.
Even outside the context of romance there's a dearth of female characters. I'd like to see more involvement of the female characters in these types of works, not just as love interests but as friends, colleagues, even siblings. Don't turn them into strawman bitches "getting in the way" of your self ship or ignore them altogether; give them a chance to get in the mix, too.
I guess the title of number eight should really be More strong female characters, not just as love interests.
And as a side note, friends in general are always good! Too many ReaderX protagonists are lone wolves who have no one to talk to except the person they love; people need friends outside of a romantic relationship. Whether it's a character or characters in the cast or an OC, let the insert have some companionship.
9. More choose-your-own-adventure type stories
These needn't be the complex type you see on the shelves of your local library, but I'm a sucker for a ReaderX that sets me up with a storyline, then veers off into different paths that I can choose from. Do I want to pursue this character, or this character? (I'll probably choose one, then go back and read the other bc I'm a fiction ho, shhh ;) )
This semblance of interaction makes the audience feel like a part of the story, and wraps them up further in the protagonist's skin; it gives us agency, and we all love to feel like our choices matter. After all, if our choices matter it serves to reason that we matter, right?
So there you have it folks; my take on how to improve the ReaderX genre as it stands. Do you have any opinions on the ReaderX genre? Do you have any suggestions I might be missing? Or am I the only self-indulgent asshole with a writing blog? Leave a comment below, so that I might one day embark a journey to become self-aware. ;)
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