Author's Note:
A picture of Denmark from Hetalia 'cause why the hell not.
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Man have I got a lot to say about this. But before I do, I just got to say that I LOVE reader insert stories. I don't know why I do so don't ask me why 'cause I don't have an answer. Despite me liking reader inserts, however, there are certain mistakes that lots of authors do to completely ruin their reader insert story. At least for me. I honestly don't know how preachy or pissed I'm gonna get talking about this, but we'll see. ANYWAYS!!!!
This is perhaps my BIGGEST peeves about fanfiction/reader inserts and it involves the word "cute". I'm not going to rant about it in this chapter. There's going to be a whole chapter dedicated to why I hate the word cute to describe a fully grown woman, teenage girl, etc. Yes, this word pisses me off that much and please be sure to take notes when you read said chapter because I REFUSE to try and go and repeat myself. It's going to be the next chapter, by the way. Prepare for EXTREME RAGE Sugar. (Yes, I'm aware the shortened version of my username sounds like a name a striper might use. Laugh it up all you want, folks.)
With that out of the way, let's talk about stuff that won't have a dedicated chapter for! Such as forced reader characteristics like eye color, clothing choices, hair color, etc. And what I mean by this... DON'T FORCE THE READER TO WEAR CLOTHING ITEMS THAT YOU WOULD PICK!!!! JUST CUT THAT SECTION OUT OF YOUR READER INSERT OR GIVE THEM GENDER NEUTRAL COLOR SCHEMES AND CLOTHING OPTIONS LIKE JEANS OR KNEE HIGH SHORTS!!!! IT'S NOT THAT DIFFICULT!!!! I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES I CRINGED AT READER INSERTS WHEN THEY PUT THE READER IN CLOTHING OPTIONS THAT MAKE ME AND PROBABLY SEVERAL OTHER PEOPLE UNCOMFORTABLE IN!!!! LIKE DRESSES THAT BARELY COVER THE READERS ASS CHEEKS AND SHORT ASS SKIRTS THAT ACT MORE AS A BALLERINA TUTU THAN THEY DO A PROPER SCHOOL UNIFORM!!!! AND WHEN THE AUTHOR OF SAID READER INSERT SAYS TO IGNORE THE CLOTHING OPTIONS THEY FORCE THE READER INTO, IT JUST MAKES THINGS WORSE!!!! IT'S BASICALLY TELLING THE READER "Hey, I could care less about your insecurities and the common practicality in what I'm forcing you to wear! Have fun trying not to flash people when you try to sit down and carry on through your day in my story!" JUST TAKE THE WHOLE CLOTHING PART OUT OF THE READER INSERT OR GIVE GENDER NEUTRAL CLOTHING OPTIONS THAT AREN'T REVEALING!!!! IT'S NOT THAT HARD PEOPLE!!!! AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON MAKEUP!!!! DON'T INCLUDE IT IN YOUR READER INSERT EVER!!!! NOT EVERYBODY LIKES TO WEAR MAKEUP AND YOU SHOULD RESPECT THAT!!!! IF YOU WANT MAKEUP AS A THING SO BADLY, THAN GIVE THE READER A VERY GOOD REASON TO BE WEARING IT!!!! IF YOU DON'T HAVE A GOOD REASON, DON'T INCLUDE IT!!!!
I understand that in some situations, such as the reader is a certain religion or a certain stereotype the options that the author needs to pick clothing and personality traits is needed. But when it's just the reader and nothing stands out or nothing is set to make the reader different then they may be in real life, that's when it gets out of hand and offensive. Not everyone is comfortable is dresses that end mid-thigh (I personally can't stand anything smaller than to my knees. I'm not comfortable showing my thighs) or booty shorts and authors need to respect that. Authors of reader inserts need to put their personal preference of clothing aside and think about how to make everybody reading feel comfortable in what you decide they can wear. That's why you put gender-neutral clothing options instead of fully feminine or masculine clothing. It makes sure that almost everybody, notice I said almost, is completely okay and not about to spam you with messages telling you to fix it. I'll give gender-neutral clothing options down at the end of the chapter so you can use it as a reference.
And then there are the physical descriptions of the reader. This isn't as big as a topic as the clothing one so I'm not going to rant here. I don't usually see this problem because everyone's good at giving you the choice to decide the features, but that doesn't mean I don't see slip-ups every once and a while. When you force features like brown eyes on a reader insert, it isn't a reader insert anymore. Something like dyed hair is fine as long as it's relevant or useful to the plot. But forcing features on the reader insert doesn't make it a reader insert anymore, it makes it an OC story that lets the reader choose the name of said OC. If you're going to make a reader insert, have things like (h/c) for hair color (e/c) for eye color and so on. Again, unless it's relevant to the plot, don't give the reader features they probably don't have.
Welp this has been a long chapter. I hope that covers some of my reader-insert pet peeves. I didn't include every pet peeve because if I did, you'd be here for a while. As promised, I will give gender-neutral clothing options at the end of this. Get ready for the next chapter cause it's going to be a rage-fueled doozy.
Gender neutral clothing options
1) Knee-length jean shorts
2) T-shirts
3) long-sleeve shirts
4) REGULAR jeans
5) simple jewelry
6) SIMPLE ONE-PIECE bathing suits (Not everybody likes showing their tits and ass to the world when swimming guys)
7) SIMPLE jackets
8) baseball caps
9) SIMPLE NON-NAME BRAND SHOES (Not everybody likes name brands like Converse or Adidas. And not everybody likes to wear 1,000-inch stilettos)
10) PLAIN HOODIES (Someone may not like the type of band or TV show you like. So best to be cautious when putting the reader in hoodies)
11) SIMPLE dresses that end BELOW the knee (Not everyone is comfortable to wear a dress ending mid-thigh)
The clothing options to NOT force the reader wear unless it's convenient for the plot(take notes)
1) Makeup (Do I really have to explain myself here?)
2) Booty shorts
3) Name-brand shoes
4) NO STILETTOS!!!! EVER!!!!
5) Dresses that end above the knee
6) band, TV, or movie T-shirts/hoodies
7) Elaborate jewelry like piercings and chockers
8) dyed hair
YOU ARE READING
How To Not Fuck Up Writing a Story In My Personal Opinion
HumorThis is advice for all of those wishing to write stories on Wattpad, or if your wishing to improve your writing. This is also me venting my personal frustrations at people who do everything listed here in their stories.
