Reader Insert

This section is about the reader's point of view. Generally, I like to write with past tense verbs, it just sounds better to me in my head, so technically I write in 2nd POV. (I definitely had to look up what 2nd was but anyway-). But what I feel is most important is the name.

The name changes, how are you supposed to put a name down?

Some people just decide to change it from reader insert to original character at that point, finding that they want to give the reader a name, having grown attached to them and thinking of them as a separate entity. That's fine, but that's not what I'm helping with (although-). I personally like to never put the reader's name in a situation where you would need to see it or read it, and that's because I dislike seeing Y/N.

I just don't like it.

It disrupts the experience to me because you're reading, immersed in the story and you stumble across any variation of it. Y/N, (Y/N), [Y/N], (Your Name), [Your Name], or my personal favorite YOUR NAME.

Instead, I refer to the reader's name but never write it. Of course, this is just my opinion, you can do what you want, and I still read fics that refer to the reader in this way, they're still good, I just prefer not to.

_

"What's your name?"

You give your name to her timidly, unsure of yourself already because of course, you are. 

_

"No!" they cry out your name desperately.

_

...it's mostly the () and [] that bother me the most as well as the capitalization.

After that is decided, however...well it gets even more complicated.

What kind of reader do you want? You can't write a fic with no personality, you have to cater to a specific kind of reader, or make the reader feel as if they really did go through all of that, or at the very least keep them entertained enough to keep reading even if they feel like they've been slightly disconnected.

If you've read anything of mine, you know I put voice into my works. Usually sarcastic, utterly done, with a pinch of insecurity. Generally, in reader inserts, authors will put their personality into it (at least at first) to make it seem better, and more real.

And that is exactly what I would recommend you do.

I know right? You weren't expecting me to say that, and honestly, me a few months back? Wouldn't have even expected me to write reader inserts at all, let alone say that to you. But it's true because you ARE a reader. You are the best person to insert because you know you, you know what you would feel, think, and say in those moments. And that is going to apply to a lot of your readers. 

There are a lot of things going on with this, but now I'll talk about the actual reader's point of view and how things should be written. You. [You] is going to be your best friend. Your. All of the personal verbs to refer to yourself. 1st pov is the generally chosen pov for reader insert, but again, I write 2nd. It's just like writing for a character except - well - it's YOU. It's also more similar to 3rd, making it easier for you to transition to writing reader inserts.

That's all I can really think of at the moment, but I do have one warning. It's easy to get stuck writing the reader's POV, so if you attempt to go back to character...it's not going to be pretty...do writing warm-ups before trying to just switch back. 

This is from the character you're shipping the reader with(it's far more likely) or just any character that interacts with the reader or is observing. This is probably ten million times easier to write going from a 3rd pov writer to reader insert. 

Again, I recommend avoiding the (), [], and CAPITALIZATION, and vaguely referring to the reader's name. I would also recommend avoiding descriptions of the reader's features, only small things, and small life experiences to enhance the character so you're more motivated to write, but not to the point where a reader can't relate at all to what the reader is like. 

This is when gender pronouns are far more likely to come up.

Because the character can't use the reader's name, they have to vaguely refer to them. So make a choice, f!reader, m!reader, or nb!reader. Those are generally the top three. Authors I'm here to tell you nb!reader is a lot harder than it looks because they/them gets really hard to distinguish between crowd references. It's probably going to be difficult to write for a gender that you don't personally align yourself with, but if you really want to just go for it! Maybe ask another writer for help with certain viewpoints. Personally, I struggle to write for m!reader and I honestly don't even want to try again, but me and f!reader + nb!reader are really happy together.