# The protagonist is not the author



## aj47 (Oct 10, 2016)

There has to be a term for the fallacy that the protagonist is the author.  Can anyone enlighten me as to what it is?


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## Sam (Oct 10, 2016)

Vicarious authorship?


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## Gavrushka (Oct 10, 2016)

1st person narcissism?


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## Bishop (Oct 10, 2016)

Hey, my life is interesting. You should be so lucky as to read my exploits.

#Bishoped


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## Patrick (Oct 10, 2016)

The autobiographical novel is a fallacy?


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## aj47 (Oct 10, 2016)

No, I mean what do you call it when the reader fallaciously assumes the protagonist is the author? I'm not talking about Mary Sue-type stuff here.  I mean the people who critique your work and say "you" when they mean the protagonist.


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## Cran (Oct 10, 2016)

astroannie said:


> No, I mean what do you call it when the reader fallaciously assumes the protagonist is the author? I'm not talking about Mary Sue-type stuff here.  I mean the people who critique your work and say "you" when they mean the protagonist.



I'm not sure if there is a specific term for this. If there is, I've not encountered it or remembered it. 

It's an incorrect or mistaken application of a phenomenon called *self-insertion* or *author surrogacy*, whereby the author intentionally, or sometimes unintentionally, does insert the self as a character into a fictional story. It is the literary equivalent of a painter including a self portrait within an unrelated (often biblical) scene. Both practices have been around for centuries; Cyrano de Bergerac is a classic example, and the Baron von Munchausen is another.


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## midnightpoet (Oct 11, 2016)

There is a term called author intrusion, but I'm not sure it's the same thing.


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## ppsage (Oct 12, 2016)

I think it's just called a common rookie mistake. I'm pretty sure you're competent to set them straight in a way which will preclude them ever doing it again.


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## aj47 (Oct 12, 2016)

LOL--in actuality, it wasn't my writing.  It was a reading we were doing for a class and I was hoping there was a term for it so I could talk about it more easily (the whole, if-you-can-name-it thing).  Most of my classmates were treating the work like it was autobiographical.  It's difficult to be the only metaphoric adult in an online forum of angsty teens.  I'm sure their grades will reflect their missing the point, but that won't erase my discomfort.  While it's cool being alone like that, it's also a wee bit lonely.


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## Cran (Oct 12, 2016)

You can look at it from the other direction: that of projecting the character or actions onto the author or disseminator; conflating the message with the messenger.*




_*From which we get that famous phrase - don't shoot the horse!_


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## bdcharles (Oct 12, 2016)

Is it always a fallacy though? Depends what's being asked.


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## aj47 (Oct 12, 2016)

No, it isn't.  But when it is, it's nice to be able to refer to it with some sort of term.


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## Teozak (Dec 29, 2016)

There is a Stephen King prison story where the one who narrates is the secondary character and the whole story is focused on the experiences and things he heard about another person. Only near the end we eventually find something about the fate of the narrator.


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## Jay Greenstein (Dec 29, 2016)

It would seem to me that if the reader gains that impression the author has failed to draw them into the story. The idea is to make them feel that they are the character, and living the adventure. Do that well and who cares if the author is relating their own experience or telling a story?


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