Canon Self-Insert Original Fic: How to do it well?

I am thinking of writing a novel where I am suddenly gets transported into my own fictional universe and ends up become an alternate dimension gamer (ala Sword Art Online but that is virtual reality gaming) with a partner who guides me to adjust my life. How should I write so that I don't end up making myself something akin to a Mary Sue?

Alright. For the time being, I'm going to just focus on your question- how to pull off a self-insert. The ability to produce workable fiction that just happens to have yourself as a character depends on humility, a realistic awareness of your own faults, and a level of detachment that allows you to step back and see if story!you needs to be tweaked to fit in with everybody else or for the sake of the rest of the story. Since you've decided to make yourself the protagonist and thus the focus of your story, you're going to have a much harder time especially if you don't have those aforementioned abilities down.

A word of caution, though: if you plan on releasing your finished novel for public consumption, you should not expect a good portion of your audience to like it, especially if it's evident that it's Self-Insert Fic. Simply knowing that can and will turn people off to your novel, even you as a person. I'm not trying to be a pessimist or put you or your work down, but the fact of the matter is that most people find what you're trying to do inherently self-indulgent no matter how well-written. People don't like to read what they perceive to be somebody else's fairy tale.

But even if you're just writing this novel for your own pleasure and simply want to make something you're proud of, still keep those aforementioned abilities in mind anyways.

edited 4th May '13 7:36:20 AM by CrystalGlacia

That is brilliant. I am going to make sure that he cannot compete against anyone from my previous installment since that they are top players and he is a newbie. He might have the knowledge of his fictional universe, but he has shallow insight of other characters, which is certainly used against him.