When I was making my characters, I was a little picky and had trouble, for I am not the best at decision making. However, when I do come up with characters, I usually get some of their concepts from research of the supernatural or symbolism in objects or philosophy to make a character of it.
So far, I've only came up around four characters. All of these are still in development, which means their concepts and character can change. However, I have some form of feeling towards a particular one. I relate a lot to this character, and feel that they are my favorite. Comparing this one to the other characters, I relate to them the most and the ones I like a lot and put lots of thought too. And I like to put myself in their perspectives to make me understand how to write them, but also because I like them as a character.
But this made me question if this character of mine is a self insert or I'm just projecting myself to them, which would still be considered a self insert, would it not? So here comes the question: is it a self-insert or not? And how can I avoid it or overcome it?