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Self-insertion is a literary device in which the author writes themselves into the story under the guise of, or from the perspective of, a fictional character.[1] The character, overtly or otherwise, behaves like, has the personality of, and may even be described as physically resembling the author of the work.
Invisual art, the equivalent of self-insertion is the inserted self-portrait, where the artist includes a self-portrait in a painting of a narrative subject. This has been a common artistic device since at least the European Renaissance.
Among professional writers, the intentional, deliberate use of first-person and third-person self-insertion techniques are commonly considered to be an unoriginal action on the author's part, and represents a paucity of creative thought in their writing.[2][3]
Similar literary devices include the author doubling as the first-person narrator, or writing an author surrogate in the third-person, or adding in a character who is partially based on the author, whether the author included it intentionally or not. Many characters have been described as unintentional self-insertions, implying that their author is unconsciously using them as an author surrogate.[4]
Self-insertion can also be employed in a second-person narrative, utilizing the imagination of the reader and his suspension of disbelief. The reader, referred to in the second person, is depicted as interacting with another character, with the intent to encourage the reader's immersion and psychological projection of himself into the story, imaging that he, himself, is performing the written story.[5] While examples in published fiction of second-person self-insertion are rare, the use of such is common in fan fiction, in which the reader is paired with a fictional character, often in an intimate setting.
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