Well first step is you pull off their pants...

>>30115

Dang it, I knew someone was going to make a joke like that.

By finding common ground you can use to relate to them with. That or try to understand what they're thinking/feeling.

>>30114
u have to take off their pantsus first

>>30118
I don't think I ever really related to another character before. They are always so much better than me.

Self-insert is when the writer writes himself into the story.
The jargon of 'self-insert' is used by hypocrites who love characters 'they can relate to', but when they can't it's 'shitty self-insert'.

Is it too much to ask for a little courtesy from these people?

>>30804
This. What OP was looking for was "How do you project onto characters?".

I can't and it causes me much angst. There's almost no characters like me, in any way.
Those that I can relate to are there to be hated and ridiculed.