[@ZAVAZggg] [i]*low whistle*[/i] Okay, I am not qualified to unpack literally any of that.

I will just say that putting a piece of yourself into a character isn't about self-insertion. It's about authenticity. I've never been hijacked from a place that was supposed to protect me, turned into a genetic experiment, and then made to harvest corpses while hiding in vents for my life like my character has. But I have been homeless before, I have had authority figures who were supposed to look after my best interest toss me aside when it was convenient. I have had experiences that while not in any way the same in amplitude to what a girl in Rapture might undergo, are similar on a much smaller scale which I can put into writing her. Whereas a writer with the same concept who had never had those experiences may provide a more wooden take on the concept. If there's none of that in your characters then it becomes very easy to dash off a character sheet, write them for a month, and then toss them aside. And as it relates to a cooperative writer experience, well, if you don't care about your character, why should we?

It should also be noted that "My character isn't god." is not the same thing as "This isn't a power fantasy." Just because technically speaking you've made your character mortal, doesn't mean you haven't given them an extensive amount of power. Mortal, killable, has weaknesses, should be a perquisite for 99% of characters, not given as proof that they aren't overpowered.

But I am not really qualified to give a lecture on writing theory. Here, you might find this helpful.

[YouTube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ouv5CJ7Ig7c[/YouTube]