Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Quinpilix — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:02:56 -0500

Okay, I've been introduced to the idea where people act like their characters are real people who talk about what they want. "My character told me X" and whatnot. Am I the only person who gets a little weirded out by this? I mean it's a perfectly fine little exercise, but sometimes it really just makes me want to back slowly out of the room.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Brightdreamer — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:54:41 -0500

I don't hear voices. Well, not from my characters, at any rate... ;-) I tend to visualize my stories, like little movies... and while I'll admit that sometimes they wander in unexpected directions, where the scenes I thought I'd reach and the solutions I thought I'd find simply don't work, I've never heard "the voice" outright tell me what to do. It's more a matter of feeling out the story, figuring out what fits best and what should be saved for another tale.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Michael S. Repton — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:23:06 -0500

It took me a long time to develop my ear for character voices. My friend Erika, who is a much better writer than I will ever be, has a really good ear for characters, and I've always been envious of her. But now that I've started to be able to do it myself, no, it's not weird. It's not unlike the way my stories have always developed in my subconscious, gradually adding more details to what "really" happened -- it's just a more character-driven version of that.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

GatsbyGal — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:33:06 -0500

I don't hear my characters talking to me so much as I can go into my imagination and play a scene out like a movie and hear the characters speaking within that environment. But no, I also don't understand the whole 'Such-n-such MC of mine told me he didn't want to be be with his love interest, so now I have to make him a new one!' thing. It always struck me as sort of a "only younger writers" do this sort of deal, but I've read about a lot of older writers do it too, and I'm just like... :\ Characters do not have "lives of their own" - YOU made them and you can do whatever you want with them. They don't get to dictate what happens.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

paradoxotaur — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:10:40 -0500

I've never had a character actually speak to me. Different people have different processes when it comes to writing; we're all wired in different ways. So while someone else might be able to actually converse with their characters, I only really hear mine when I'm actually writing or when I'm imagining them in various scenarios. Sometimes I feel like they talk to my keyboard instead of me: their voices come out most clearly when I'm sitting down and writing. If that makes ANY sense at all. I have to make a conscious effort to imagine those voices; they don't come out of nowhere. So no, you're not alone. As for the phrase "my character told me X" - I get that. When I use it, I don't mean that one of my characters popped into my head and said "hey, O Most Powerful Overlord! By the way, X." I just get a sense from my characters. I'm able to think to myself - "no, he wouldn't think that" or "no, that's not like him". But they don't speak to me directly. To each their own. To be honest, the idea of my characters speaking to me directly freaks me out a little, too. But I'm not about to diss anyone else's creative process.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Medd — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:32:49 -0500

Paradoxotaur above has said it better than myself. I don't "hear" their voices unless I'm writing or imagining a scene, and even then the characters speak with each other, not me.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

DemiReb — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:15:15 -0500

May I ask a few question? It's curiosity on my part; something that I've been thinking about. Questions: Do you have dreams and remember them, however vaguely and briefly, upon waking? If so, can you remember people (or even animals or objects) speaking to you in your dream? Could it be that people who say they hear their characters speak to them (I do, and I'm otherwise perfectly sane), enter into a sort of 'waking' dreamstate, or profound relaxtion?

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

KatBrown — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:42:41 -0500

I don't hear them so much as characters crawl into my thoughts and act out their stories in my head. It's more like i'm this omnipotent being who watches them and occasionally reaches down to eff with their lives for my amusement. But it's not like i sit down and have conversations with my characters... that's way too Romancing the Stone for me.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Generalist — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:17:51 -0500

My characters don't talk to me, nor do I have a muse that motivates me. I 'just' let my imagination take me where I need to go. Now that can get pretty interesting at times. I get these vivid visual images of the characters, the terrain, the artifacts and many of the other things that are in the stories. (I sometimes joke that I'm 'channeling' the videos from the future.) Then there are those times when I'm writing along and find that changing the direction of a scene is much more interesting than what I intended to do. (Shiney...) It keeps me entertained.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Lydia_Ember — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:24:27 -0500

When I say, "They told me something," that means one of a few things: 1. I'm been writing for ages on something that sucks, than a random thought comes in and it works so much better for said character 2. I'm dreaming/daydreaming about the scene and I see what they would do 3. I'm tired and I'm just daydreaming dreaming/thinking more about them than usual 4. I wonder about something and the answer pops in waaay too quickly for it to have just, happened. Kinda odd, but once it happens, you get used to it. Took a long time for me to "hear" my character's voices, but I think it makes things turn out better. I'm writing what works rather than what I think should go there.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Kimberly Dawn — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:51:39 -0500

Nanowrimo Survey That link settles it for you. You can see about 700+ participants (self volunteering, granted) that answered that question for you. You'll see an astounding number of female teenager respondents too. More than the reported 60% that read books... (It looks more like 70-80% are female). But it has other questions on there too... which helps writers not feel alone and protects from people like last year that dictated how to write and what was right and wrong about how others wrote. You'll see the range Nanowrimo produces.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

ThePersonWithItchySocks — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:06:37 -0500

I don't hear voices. When I was in sixth grade, all my friends, every last one of them, heard voices of their characters, except me. I was a little envious of them. All right, more than a little envious. It seemed like something that just happens, like the characters actually are real people, and frankly, if I'm working under that mindset, I do create better characters. But my characters do not just suddenly come and talk to me. I've heard that you need an overactive imagination in order for that to happen, which made me doubt my creativity. Recently, I started "interviewing" a character I had because I couldn't figure out his darkest secret. I just sort of imagined him behind me, and started asking him questions. He didn't talk to me. I literally had to force my mind to reply, in his voice, the way he talks (that took some getting used to. Characters are not my strong point.). I listened to him, like it was him talking, but if I didn't focus really hard, he wouldn't talk to me at all. I tried that with another character, and she came much more subconsciously than he did; I learned pretty much all about her family from that one interview, and most of it she just sort of said. Although since I was making it happen, I did have to go back and fix what she said. Now I do that with some of my characters, and it really does help me get a hang of who they are. But it's always me doing it. I wish my characters spoke to me the way some peoples' do. I never did learn that character's darkest secret.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Kimberly Dawn — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:27:37 -0500

*170. Sorry. O.o;;

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

J.Kievsky — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:11:11 -0500

FWIW, I find it very odd. At no point is what I write anything other than a conscious decision on my part to substitute one set of words or subplot for another. The characters, well-drawn or not, are nothing more than the sum of those decisions.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

golfgal08 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:35:02 -0500

I see it as a very subconscious way of sitting here thinking "If my character was here, in this situation, what would they say/do/think?" And instead of being like "Oh, Bobby would say this", the dialogue is just there. And when one of my characters insists they wouldn't do something, it's more just that I'm thinking about their character personalities, and coming to the realization that they wouldn't react the way I originally wanted them to, not if I want to keep them in character. Also, when I write, I tend to think in terms of scenes, or bits of dialogue. So that's how things get structured in my head, which I think lends itself towards "hearing" characters.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Featherpirate — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:42:49 -0500

Real is an interesting word in this context. Yes, a character is real, because you as a writer have created it, but no, they are not a real physical human, sentient being. I interact with my characters, but less than I did as a child. If I sit and zone out with the intent on listening or acknowledging my characters, I can tell you that Lietta, my MC, is pacing aggravatedly right outside my work, pissed off that she's been told she has to go save Tapyna, who is sitting on the other side of the glass watching Lietta with a very sad expression on her face. They very rarely speak to me, they interact with each other instead. In a way, it's like I'm transposing them into this world, seeing how they react to things. A couple years ago in my last year of school I had a character (who was drawn not written about) who would always be there in history (maybe cause I zoned out in history a lot), smoking and sulking angrily in the corner. I don't literally see them with my eyes, they're in my head. I don't usually say "This character said BLAH to me", I'll say something more along the lines of "This character is doing BLAH". Typically it's "they aren't working with me! WHY WON'T YOU LET ME WRITE YOU" and such. Or characters not leaving you alone/not showing up. A good example would be the night before NaNo as I was drifting into sleep Lietta stepped to the forefront of my mind, opened her arms and showed me a scene of her life, which I took and worked into the start of my novel. -waves flag- I'll be over here in the freak camp now. (:

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Quinpilix — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:22:11 -0500

Yup. I think that's my way of doing it in a nutshell. I am the scriptwriter, they are the actors, I write the scene, the scene plays in my head, I rewrite and try again.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

MalcolmCooms — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:16:47 -0500

I'm, with all due humility, pretty decent at creating interesting characters. But, I have an analytical mind (I'm differentiating this from "mathematical"; I'm horrible at mathematics, I mean I'm analytical in the sense that I'm good at abstract thinking and philosophy, which needs to follow a rigorous logic if it's going to be any good). To give you an example of how my mind works when creating characters, I'll give you the process of formation for the main character of my current play. The character is known as "Bennie". Concept: A man who is incredible at picking up girls and who decides for selfish reasons to teach a nerd how to pick up girls (note: this is also my plot synopsis, although that's not really relevant). Formulation: Stick him in a certain situation: In this case, a bar. How do I imagine him to look (early thirties, slightly darker-skinned Italian) What are his motivations? (Nerdy high-schooler, never had the nerve to talk to girl he had a crush on, making up for it now) Acts? (Like a cool Grease-style hipster. Uses ridiculous pickup lines that, bizarrely, work). So, now that I know the basis of how my character "ticks", it's a simple matter from there. I don't "talk" to my characters. Never did. I find the concept to be interesting but I'd feel weird attempting it. My mind just doesn't work that way. I just find it asy to "slip into" my characters. I have no idea why. I guess it just comes from knowing their motivations. Once I have those in mind, all I have to do is think like they would in a given situation and write it down accordingly. It's like..."Okay, Bennie's old High School crush just came into the bar. What should he do? Now, I would avoid her, but Bennie wouldn't. He'd go right up to her and show off how cool he's become, and then ask her out." And this is exactly what ended up in the script. And..."How would Bennie talk? He find Amber attractive. Would he tell her this by saying, 'I just want to say that I think you look beautiful today?' I would, but Bennie wouldn't. He'd say, 'By the way, you look just as gorgeous as you did in High School'." I don't remember if that line actually ended up in the script, but that's besides the point. Direct answer: No, I don't hear my characters or talk to them, but I honestly can say that I don't think this affects my writing. I think of it as almost a psycholgical profile; once I know what my character's motivations are, it's a simple matter of figuring out how he /she would react in a given situation. Then I write it down.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

MalcolmCooms — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:20:11 -0500

I agree with all of this. I just want to say, though, that I only "hear" my characters when I'm imagining them to be talking; they don't "speak" to me or address me as if I'm also a character in their story. For me, my world as an author and their world as a character are two completely different things.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Imperatrix Xoco — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:23:37 -0500

Yeah, it makes me distantly uncomfortable. I hear dialogue in my character's voices in my head all the time, but I understand that it's me thinking it up. Talbot didn't tell me anything; I just did an impressive job of dreaming up something that Talbot totally would have said. There's an important, hair-fine difference here.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Lonaneomaflame — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:24:25 -0500

My characters talk to me, voices and all, I could have a whole conversation with them if I had the time. I deffinatly talk about them like they are my close friends, and it creeps out my family but that's okay, and at least my hubby is finally getting used to it. My character for this book really likes to keep secrets from me and I'm not likeing it at all.... I have no controle over my stories really, I just feel like some one is sitting next to me telling me what is happening and I am writing it down word for word. I think Editing is when I really take over in the writing process rather then my characters.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Zookeeper — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 03:46:58 -0500

My characters talk to me, and I talk back to them. Aloud. Complete with gestures and facial expressions. Occasionally I forget and do this at a bus stop. :-) Am I crazy? Probably. But I think it's a requirement for being an artist. Actors probably do the same thing, get so into their part that they start acting it out with invisible other characters. It's a drawback/side effect of being very imaginative.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Earthsick — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 05:38:22 -0500

My characters don't talk to me. It's more like my brain writing them into weird things therefore it's more like "My characters suddenly decided to take a trip to a random stone sculpture because it's obviously about magic and everyone loves magic and Gavin is a mage. He might be interested. Oh-oh-oh." I can imagine them talking to each other though - but I guess that's not special at all! (That's also the reason why I decided to write this thing in English this year instead of my native language - my characters talk English in my head! Not German!)

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Meryle — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:43:21 -0500

I always thought it was a subconscious thing. I say that my characters talk to me, but what I mean is "I was sitting there and doing something unrelated and then my brain (that seems to do oh so many things, including thinking, without my being aware) came up with some great idea for that character". What I said: "Character So-and-so told me he was married once and is a widower now." What really happened: I was thinking 'hmm, but what if So-and-so was married before the novel starts? It'd create all sorts of problems, it doesn't fit... but perhaps his wife died? Yeah, that would mean different troubles for the characters. Excellent. So-and-so was married once.'

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Kiwi-kauri-kid — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:50:53 -0500

I... I sort of do and I sort of don't. Like, I don't actually hear any of my character's physical voices, but I know they have them (kind of like when you're reading a book and the clothes aren't described/you aren't thinking about what the clothes look like but you know that they're there anyway?). And they sort of talk to me. Not neccessarily to me as such, but I'll be writing, and then one of my characters will say or do something unexpected (but generally within what they would do in that situation), and I'll go, 'oh, I didn't know that?' Such as yesterday. One of my characters announced that he was moving to Sweden. (if any of this makes any sense, at least... I've been up since 2 a.m., soo...)

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

ZoraSkywalker — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:27:54 -0500

I've never fully understood if a character actually talks to the writer, or if it just means that different ideas than what the author originally planned comes about while they are walking about in a character's shoes. Ideas spark me that change the way things go that seem more in character, but I can't recall ever having a character say to me, "I don't want to kiss him. I want to hit him." That being said, while I don't hear voices in the way that you're thinking about, I know what my character's voices sound like and I play through scenes in my head like a movie, so I can hear who's speaking and such. . I've always thought a bit more in pictures than in words.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Christina Huling — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:15:16 -0500

I don't hear voices, but sometimes I'm just writing a scene and doing really well, and I end up writing something that was totally not in the plan just because I get a vague idea that my characters don't "like" the plan and would seem more natural doing something else. That's the only times my characters talk to me.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Fishwings — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 08:48:51 -0500

I don't hear voices from my characters..................but I do from my inspiration. She is currently very distressed because of a horrible essay I had to write yesterday.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

rainstorm. — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 09:40:27 -0500

Well, my main character was in our head before I decided to write her into a novel. (I say "our" because she often had minimal control over what I did, even out of our head.) This was two years ago that she came to me. Then she requested . . . no, sort of demanded that I write her into a novel. She spoke like a completely separate person from me. So for NaNo this year I finally wrote her story, with her telling me everything. I probably sound crazy but whatever.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Lonaneomaflame — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:30:58 -0500

Oddly enough that doesn't sound crazy to me at all. I totally understand what you're saying.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

theInsane — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:08:41 -0500

i don't literally hear voices. the thing is a lot of the plot and character developement seems to happen in my subconscious. THAT is where i don't feel that i actually control the plot or characters because it's like dreaming in a way. yeah, i can control the general direction of the story but sometimes things come up from my subconscious that i didn't plan, that i really can't change without negatively impacting the flow of the story because i dont' always consciously know what is going to happen or how, so i *have* to trust my subconscious on some things. that's when it feels like a character has just declared something or decided to do something of their own free will. it's just the best way to describe it. this method works REALLY well for me, its' something i've kind of learned over the past few years of doing NaNoWriMo - i had to learn to trust my subconscious and listen to what it (or i could say my characters, because that amuses me) is saying. do some people overexaggerate? of course. but it irks me when i see people trying to say that it's a totally invalid method of writing or that it's all bullshit. Writing from the subconscious vs. conscious is no different from the planning vs. 'pants-ing' divide: either way is valid if it works for you. /rant

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Captain Lonewolf — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:22:09 -0500

I don't hear voices but I rather imagine them. Whenever I have a story I'm really interested in, I start to imagine it out in my head like a movie. And sometimes, I think up something cool that my characters say or something they do and it fits I guess, that's how I hear voices.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Laughing Turtle — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:49:46 -0500

I say that "my characters talk to me," but only in a metaphorical sense. What I mean at least is that the way that my stories play out happen in a way that I didn't expect and didn't actively and conciously imagine. If we say that a character "rebels" against what we planned for them, because we figure out that what we had planned didn't ring right for the story. That happens a lot. As I see it, the plot and the characters are formed in the primordal goo in the back of the imagination and only comes to light when the author decides to think of them. It's such unexplored territory that we might as well say that the characters have a mind of their own and talk to the author. It's much easier and more fun to refer to the experience in that way.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

larelmian — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 08:56:42 -0500

I always thought "character told me X" was a shorthand way of saying "After much contemplation, I've finally decided that for character to do X would seem out of character, as X does not fit with previous character developments, and there's no real motivation for X, and after going through a dozen different possible scenarios, I finally settled on Y, even though this was not at all in my original plans and will require additional developments and unforeseen complications and changes to the story line in order to make Y fit." I assume everyone here is only moderately crazy and understands the concept of suspension of disbelief. We authors are illusionists. We want the reader to believe that this could be real and to set aside their doubts in order to become emotionally attached to these delightful little figments of our imagination. If you cannot tell the difference between suspension of disbelief and belief, you are the one with mental issues.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Generalist — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:04:35 -0500

This is a good way of looking at it. The 'after much contemplation' could also be something on the subconscious side. Something bugs you about a character and you eventually realize what is wrong. The contemplation is all behind the scenes, not something that you think about. You eventually have an 'eureka' experience. Ideally that experience comes with a solution.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Reuna — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:41:18 -0500

You do realise people express it like "my MC said x to me" because it makes it more fun, right? I doubt anyone here on the forums really hears voices and doesn't realise it's their own thoughts. The way they talk about it is just... that, a way to talk about it. I talk about my characters as thought they were real people, and they tend to do stuff I didn't intend them to do. It's during the writing process, when you accidentally write the story to go in the wrong direction, and realising it's going somewhere unexpected and exciting, you just let it develop from that misstep. And then you can complain about the characters not doing what they were supposed to do, as the story doing this really seems to have a life of its own.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

theInsane — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:46:02 -0500

what about the concept of trying to "get in a character's head?" i feel like this is something that a lot of actors do, where they get 'in character' and no longer think of themselves as (Actor Name) but as (Character Name) and behave accordingly. obviously, Actor Name hasn't actually, literally become Character Name and i imagine most actors d*mn well know that but it's still a different mental state than when they aren't 'in character'. just wondering how common this kind of creative exercise is among writers since it seems like it could be used very similarly.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Swiftflame — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:20:12 -0500

I don't actually hear voices, and lately, I rarely think in character voices at all. However, there is one character who's decided to be the sensible side of my subconscious. He and I argue every time I get into a bad mood. Aaaaand then there are those times when I'm thinking of scenes and I find myself acting out expressions and movements. :/ But that doesn't quite apply.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

iamstalkingu — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:29:41 -0500

No, you're not the only one. That being said, I do hear voices. And I usually act as a medium for these voices. As in, I talk to myself through different characters. I'm not crazy, right? Right?

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

beanza3 — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:53:34 -0500

I normally... My characters don't talk to me. But sometimes they know things I don't. Like, I didn't know Rai had a sister, or that Mathieu met her sister, but as soon as I wrote it down, their actions made more sense. :D I feel wierd when people talk about their muses or their characters talking to them... Maybe mine are mute? I don't know. It's strange. But I don't hear voices. I swear. <.< >.> <.<

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Chestergirl28 — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:29:26 -0500

Yeah- I always picture my stories as moues in my head. I do that when I read. Sometimes, I'll wander across the threads for character talking and I realize that at that point, my MC has a few words for me. But other than that... no. I don't hear my characters in my head.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

AshHadAns — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:44:37 -0500

When I tell people that my characters "talk" to me, it isn't so much that I hear their voices in my ear talking personally to me. It's more that I just close my eyes, envision the scene I'm writing, insert the characters and then just let them run wild and try to write as much as possible when I'm done. I really just let my imagination run wild and they do and say stuff that I really had no planned on happening.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Red Queen — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:43:22 -0500

I have to admit I'm rather amused when I read that someone is spooked by people who claim to hear their characters talk (that said, I belong to those who hear the voices ;) ). The thing is, I think of it as the result of a perfectly normal creative process of the brain. Some writers envision what they want to write down, others act it out, and some people listen to the voices before they decide what to write. Our brains work differently. I *need* those voices sometimes, to get a better understanding of whatever I'm writing. My guess - my brain creates the voice of a character to help me understand their personality. It often happens just before I fall asleep - hence the thought of my subconscious creating images or sounds. And the whole "I just found out my MC owned a dog as a kid and still terribly misses him" thing is *not* the same as hearing voices. The creative process needed to jump to such conclusions is way too fast for our conscious mind to follow, so it just seems like an idea "popped in my head". I might not even notice I was thinking about it, and suddenly - inspiration! ;) If we could analyze this further, we would find out we all "hear voices" sometimes, I'm pretty confident of that. Some of us just don't see it as hearing voices, but would say "inspiration struck" or something. Whatever the term, I stick to what I said: It's pretty much just our subconscious manifesting ideas and concepts in a very individual way.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

GrytaJME — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:56:26 -0500

I say so facetiously, but no, I don't. I thought it was really well expressed by Hannah Moskowitz, one of our published WriMos (http://nanowrimo.org/en/participants/shady-lane and http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1217665.Hannah_Moskowitz): "Listen, I don't pull all that shit about how I'm controlled by my characters or my books have a mind of their own or something like that, because frankly, I think that stuff is stupid. I'm sorry if I offend anyone (but seriously, if you're reading this blog and you choose THAT to be offended by...) "I love the roles my characters play in my stories. I love writing them. I smile when I write good lines for them. I don't ever forget that they aren't real people. They are words on a page." As you can see, that's from her blog: http://hannahmosk.blogspot.com/2010/06/multiple-povs.html

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Cadaverine — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 05:57:04 -0500

I don't usually "hear voices". I did once, with one particular character. Most of the time I just get impressions. I couldn't talk with them in my head because that would be breaking the fourth wall. Which might actually be a little bit more crazy than talking to your characters - not wanting to talk to them because you don't like the idea of fracturing their world.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

theInsane — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:59:11 -0500

[quote=GrytaJME] I say so facetiously, but no, I don't. I thought it was really well expressed by Hannah Moskowitz, one of our published WriMos (http://nanowrimo.org/en/participants/shady-lane and http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1217665.Hannah_Moskowitz): "Listen, I don't pull all that shit about how I'm controlled by my characters or my books have a mind of their own or something like that, because frankly, I think that stuff is stupid. I'm sorry if I offend anyone (but seriously, if you're reading this blog and you choose THAT to be offended by...) [/quote] i... don't understand this attitude. i don't find it offensive. more like extremely annoying. we can have practically the EXACT same argument over the 'planning' vs. 'pants-ing' methods and can bicker and argue and call each other stupid over whether someone outlines (rigid, uncreative, hack) or doesn't outline (disorganized, undisciplined, hack). what the **** is the point? now, if you want to argue that some people get carried away or take things to an extreme, that's understandable. just recognize that there are endless ways of experiencing (or finding, for that matter) creative inspiration and creative people are going to find and express inspiration creatively. don't throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water just because the occasional person abuses the concept to either try to sound more 'cool' or in an attempt to justify bad writing.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

theInsane — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:59:51 -0500

[quote=Cadaverine] I don't usually "hear voices". I did once, with one particular character. Most of the time I just get impressions. I couldn't talk with them in my head because that would be breaking the fourth wall. Which might actually be a little bit more crazy than talking to your characters - not wanting to talk to them because you don't like the idea of fracturing their world. [/quote] now THAT is an intriguing question. :-)

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Chocobo Prime — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:38:41 -0500

Nah. I mean, I used to like to try and pretend they did, but...and I don't mean to offend anyone, but I just outgrew the whole "writing as a silly business" train of thought. I dunno, I just tend to take things way too seriously, so all the CRAZY things that most NaNoers do, I...don't. >.> Like, my characters don't talk to me, I don't plot out loud, I don't laugh out loud at my own words...I just...write. :/

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Itzika — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:00:54 -0500

Writing is absolutely serious. My characters are also my children and my friends, and I can talk to them and they can tell me things about themselves. Please explain to me how the one precludes the other.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Itzika — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:05:04 -0500

*deadpan* Yes. You are absolutely the only one. Ever. No one else in the history of the universe has not heard voices. Sorry, but every time I see your subject I get this overwhelming urge to say that. I do talk to my characters. I use my characters to spark worlds and plots and stories. Sometimes that works; sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I end up with a strange old man with an intermittent British accent who calls me "dear girl" and doesn't really want to be in a story because he likes it in my head just fine, thank you. I never forget that for the commonly accepted definition of "real," my characters aren't real. But they're real enough to talk to, and sometimes they're real enough that I can just hand over the reins to them and see where they go.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Chocobo Prime — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:17:49 -0500

I'm just the sort of person who's very grounded in reality, as they would say. Things to me are concrete, and things happen for explained reasons, otherwise they didn't happen at all. Read: I'm incredibly boring, also possibly a robot. I'm not saying people don't hear voices in their heads or anything like that. But you have to understand where I'm coming from here. When I was younger, in my teens, the 'cool' thing to be was "crazy and random". It may still be today, I'm not entirely certain. But after participating in the "crazy and random" scene, where people would frequently brag about how 'weird' they were and say things like "cows are aliens who want to steal my underpants", you eventually grow up and realize that that sort of thing was very silly, and somewhat obnoxious. Another big part of this scene was bragging about how you have voices in your head; there are bumper stickers and T-shirts and all manner of things like that that say things like "the voices in my head don't like you", or "sometimes the voices in my head get too loud, so I poke them with a Q-tip". So the whole "voices in my head" thing gets thrown out in the same box as the "cows want my underpants" thing. It's just, after a while, it's get old, not to mention you find people who actually are mentally ill and really do hear voices in their head that just want it all to go away, and you smarten up and realize that that's really not something to joke about. Now, understand that I'm not saying that you can't consider your characters real people. Believe me, I'm the last person to say that. I've got several characters I 'keep around', mentally. I have pages upon pages stashed in my harddrive of 'conversations' I've had with Spark, a character from an old novel who's very important to me. I consider him to be a separate entity from myself--he has his own agenda, his own thoughts, etc. But I still know, deep down, that he was created by me, he is a part of me, and that I'm controlling him. Yes, I've developed him to the point where, I know what he would say to a question, so, yes, the responses I type out aren't exactly me thinking "what would be a good response to this?", they're me thinking "what would Spark say to that?"...point is, I love Spark, he's incredibly important to me, but at no point has his opinion ever influenced the direction of his novel, because, as much as it pains me to say, his opinion just doesn't matter, because it's an opinion that came, ultimately, from me. I've never once had an epiphany because a character told me the reason why they were acting so weird in chapter one, or anything along those lines. My characters don't act weird unless I make them, and the resulting epiphany is when I realize "oh, wait, that's actually a good reason for them to have done that." I don't mean to be a spoilsport or anything, and I'm not trying to be a grumpy butt and ruin anyone's fun. This is just the way I see it, this is the way I write. I realize a lot of you are going to say "wow, way to suck the life out of writing", but to be truly honest, I've had a lot of fun writing the way I do my entire life, the way you were always taught in school. The method I've seen here on NaNo--it's not wrong, mind you, obviously if I thought it was wrong, I wouldn't be here--is a completely new train of thought for me. Maybe--and please don't take this the wrong way--I'm just cynical, but I think the reason I haven't adopted this train of thought is because the general consensus on NaNo is that "I have trouble finding the motivation to start and/or finish a novel", and "my characters are voices in my head". For two groups to overlap so much like that makes the cynic in me think there's a connection there. I'm not saying if there is or isn't, keep in mind. But when I don't have trouble writing a novel, and I don't hear voices in my head...you can see where I'm going with this. It all goes back to the concrete way of thinking; my mind is just telling me that 1+1=2. Again, sorry if I've offended anyone, I haven't meant to. I really don't want to start a war here. If there's anything in particular anyone takes offense to, feel free to call me on it, but please don't just tell me I'm uneducated or something and leave it at that.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

theInsane — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:25:38 -0500

i think i get what you're saying. i agree that there was a time when it was "cool" to talk about voices in your head and it got silly and trite very fast. but for me at least, the way i feel about writing has nothing to do with that phase. maybe that's the problem here - maybe there's a miscommunication on what exactly people mean when they say their characters "talk" to them. i never actually hear voices. sometimes a scene will play in my head kind of like a movie or i get this sudden conviction that instead of going to France, my characters are going to Quebec - even if i initially planned for them to go to France. but if i try to ignore that and "force" them to go to France because that's what's in my (rough) notes the story invariably stalls. very often when i write dialog i get into this flow where i don't think, "ok, what would MC2 say to that?", not even reflexively. the words just come to me and it doesn't feel like my own thoughts. not sure how to describe it but i sort of 'feel' the character's personality and have a sense of their vocal inflection along with the words they would use, maybe that's the same as 'hearing' voices, i really don't know. but i don't have auditory hallucinations - i know it's all inside my head. also, it only happens when i get into a certain mindset and only when i'm thinking about writing (or get that sudden flash of inspiration) so in that way, i absolutely control it. but once i open that door - all bets are off. sometimes i can guide things along more than other times but i have most certainly had times where things happened that i did not plan, and that actually made things more complicated for me as the writer although i think those things also made the story and/or characters more alive (for the reader) and compelling to read about. it's not something you 'adopt' so much as just something that is inherent in the way your creative mind works. if writing from the subconscious doesn't work for you, then obviously, you should not "try" to adopt it. nobody should 'try' to adopt any creative method that doesn't work for them. the only real issue i have with your post is - since when was the consensus "i have trouble finding the motivation to start/finish a novel"? i've seen people express this, sure, but considering that a LOT of people here are trying out novel writing for the first time, its understandable that a number of them find that it isn't for them. seems like we have a fair number of people on here who do finish their novels (although i suppose it depends on how you define 'finish' - publication? "the end"? ) (besides - consensus? on the nano forums? :-p ) i really don't mean to be confrontational here but i am curious, since you say you don't have trouble writing a novel - how many novels do you feel you have finished? i would only say that i've "finished" one but it's not lack of motivation so much as lack of time. (not to mention that editing my first attempt at a novel has been absolute hell because i didn't just go with my gut instinct when i wrote it - hence, i had to do several massive rewrites in order to salvage the bits that were worth saving. that has taken a LOT of my time and energy.) besides - from this thread i'd say we're pretty even split between "I 'hear voices'" and "I don't 'hear voices'" so even if there is a consensus that Wrimos have trouble starting/finishing novels then maybe it's because writing takes a lot of time and energy and therefore it can be difficult to maintain motivation.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

BloodRoseAngel — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:37:25 -0500

I don't literally hear voices, but I'll get ideas pop up out of nowhere. I saw someone say earlier on that they thought it was a case of suspension of disbelief and that you probably get these ideas after much contemplation, but I don't - I get the weirdest things come out of nowhere! XD Also, sometimes I'll write a character's dialogue and in the back of my mind I'll get a nagging feeling that they wouldn't say that and I need to change it, as if the character is nagging at me. I also find it very easy to allow scenes to play out in my head. I start the ball rolling, as it were, and they do the rest, with very little input from me. XD

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Leonara Declamara — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:36:33 -0500

I don't hear "voices", but my characters do talk to me. It's not literally my characters; it's just a simplified, easy-to-express way of explaining my creative process. It's MY brain, telling me what is best for the story. When I say things like "my character won't let me use 3rd person to tell her story" I don't mean there's a little person in my head telling me what to do. I'm saying in a less-technical way that this particular story is best told by the 1st person perspective, and 3rd person provides a less realistic representation of the character's thoughts. There's more to it than that, of course. I don't even know how it works, entirely; it's a lot of subconscious work. The first way is easier to explain. :) I also get a LOT of inspiration from dreams; lucid dreaming is how I often work out knotty plot problems. I'm not somehow less of a writer because this is my process. You're not less creative than me if you don't. We just have different processes. Neither is more right, nor valid, than the other. Just different. Getting self-righteous and snotty no matter what side you fall on is silly, a waste of time, and isn't going to change how other people think.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

crazygirl9310 — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:42:02 -0500

I'm going to reply directly to your post because people should (in theory) see this uppon entering this thread: A Word of Caution: This (and probably the planing vs. pantsing argument) is a hot button topic (a berserker button for you tropers). I watched last year as an innocent post asking this same question delved into a vicious debate with name calling and a lot of angry subtext. I read the whole thread and thankfully it seems that those angry people haven't found it yet or are avoiding posting because of what happened last year. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE try to be polite and remember what works for one may not work for another and for the sake of all that is holy, remember, this is the internet, we can't read your intentions behind words, word your posts as carefully as possible so that it'll be hard to read into it as an attack against one style or another. I hate how this sounds like it should be a mod post, but I don't want to see a perfectly reasonable thread shut down because it happens to be a berserker button for various writers and they all get at each other's throats

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Ell-chan — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:44:07 -0500

I don't hear voices (I think) but I talk to myself to a pretty extreme extent so I guess you could say I'm roleplaying with myself.... Lol I sound Schitzofrenic....

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

sherylgwin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:13:31 -0500

Sometimes they talk to me. I kinda have a crush on one of them. Don't tell him i said that o///o He's so sweet. ^-^ I think of my characters as real people Most of the time i just watch and it plays like a movie in my head i dont want to inturupt them i just let them play it all out. Although several times i have long conversations with my friends and people i know inside my head. And if I want to I can talk to them. It's nice because one of my characters is a writer also.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Leonara Declamara — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:43:11 -0500

[quote=Ell-chan] I don't hear voices (I think) but I talk to myself to a pretty extreme extent so I guess you could say I'm roleplaying with myself.... Lol I sound Schitzofrenic.... [/quote] Schizophrenia is not something to "lol" about. You don't sound schizophrenic at all. Schizophrenia is a serious, debilitating mental disorder that involves intrusive, destructive voices in your head and lack of impulse control that is extremely destructive to everyone around the sufferer. It's not cute or helpful to refer to a writer's harmless quirks as "shitzofrenic."

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Ell-chan — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:17:59 -0500

I'm sorry if I offended anyone. That wasn't my intention.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Chocobo Prime — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:12:03 -0500

I understand what you're saying, and yeah, I absolutely get it. Sometimes pushing a novel in a different direction that you intended just feels right. You start out with an idea in mind, start writing, but it never ends up how you imagined it. I get that. But some people say they actually hear the voices in their heads, and I just mentally lump them in the same group of people who were part of the "I'm so random and crazy lulz" group. Chris Baty's original intent for NaNo--his original motivational speech or...whatever, I honestly can't think straight, I haven't slept for thirty two hours, but you know what I mean...he said something along the lines of "we all have an /idea/ for a novel in our heads. But we always push it aside, saying 'I'll write it eventually'. Well, eventually never comes, so this November, put aside all your doubt, inner editors and whatevs, and write that novel!" Which, basically, I interpreted as "the idea behind NaNoWriMo is for people who have trouble sitting down and writing a novel to find time and just do it". Obviously, I have a very limited view of the consensus on the forums, you've probably noticed I don't post very often, real life tends to get in the way. I'm just guessing from the little bits here and there of what I have seen. The people who do seem to crank out novels with little to no difficulty seem to be looked upon with awe and whatnot. As far as I can tell. And I've finished four novels, one every year for the last four years; each one took about three months to write, and then the rest of the year to edit, loathe, rewrite and finally get to a point where I didn't hate it as much as I did originally. And then edit a few more times. If any of that didn't make sense, apologies, I can kinda feel my awareness slipping out of my skull and faceplanting on the concrete. I can clarify later when I've had a bit more sleep.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

theInsane — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:47:18 -0500

[quote=Chocobo Prime] I understand what you're saying, and yeah, I absolutely get it. Sometimes pushing a novel in a different direction that you intended just feels right. You start out with an idea in mind, start writing, but it never ends up how you imagined it. I get that. But some people say they actually hear the voices in their heads, and I just mentally lump them in the same group of people who were part of the "I'm so random and crazy lulz" group. Chris Baty's original intent for NaNo--his original motivational speech or...whatever, I honestly can't think straight, I haven't slept for thirty two hours, but you know what I mean...he said something along the lines of "we all have an /idea/ for a novel in our heads. But we always push it aside, saying 'I'll write it eventually'. Well, eventually never comes, so this November, put aside all your doubt, inner editors and whatevs, and write that novel!" Which, basically, I interpreted as "the idea behind NaNoWriMo is for people who have trouble sitting down and writing a novel to find time and just do it". Obviously, I have a very limited view of the consensus on the forums, you've probably noticed I don't post very often, real life tends to get in the way. I'm just guessing from the little bits here and there of what I have seen. The people who do seem to crank out novels with little to no difficulty seem to be looked upon with awe and whatnot. As far as I can tell. And I've finished four novels, one every year for the last four years; each one took about three months to write, and then the rest of the year to edit, loathe, rewrite and finally get to a point where I didn't hate it as much as I did originally. And then edit a few more times. If any of that didn't make sense, apologies, I can kinda feel my awareness slipping out of my skull and faceplanting on the concrete. I can clarify later when I've had a bit more sleep. [/quote] eh, well, i don't keep track of who posts and who doesn't. i just haven't really noticed any particular consensus on anything or any consistent 'awe' over people cranking out novels. but i don't routinely read all the forums so maybe i'm missing it. i have seen people here talk about losing interest in novel writing or having a hard time finding motivation but i always assumed it was more because so many people on here are new to writing and/or are openly just dabbling in it as a hobby than any true lack of... maturity? not sure that's the right word (lack of sleep sucks, i sympathise with you on that!). hell, i consider myself to be dabbling in writing as a hobby simply because there are many other things i do that take precedence over my writing and while i'm quite sure that i would truly lose my mind if i didn't write, i have no intention/desire to try to make it my career. (tangent, i know but i'm just trying to clarify where i'm coming from) you say you've finished one novel a year for the past four years - do you write solely for your own enjoyment or do you have some larger goal? i'm just curious because i think there are a LOT of factors that influence whether or not someone has the energy, motivation, focus, time, resources etc. etc. to devote an entire year (or more) to one artistic project. i don't quite see what you were getting at by mentioning the original intent for NaNoWriMo - i always interpreted it the same way you seem to but i'm not sure what that has to do with the discussion here... maybe some people don't get what nanowrimo is all about but that's their problem and i don't especially care since i do find it helpful to set aside a month to focus on novel writing. it's not nanowrimo's fault if people lose motivation or interest or whatever. their decisions to continue or abandon writing doesn't affect me. i'm glad that you're willing to discuss this in a civil manner. for one thing i've seen this topic get waaaay too heated in the past. also, i (unfortunately) don't have many opportunities to discuss writing/the creative process with other writers offline (these forums sort of serve as a substitute writer's group that i can take with me anywhere i have internet access) so it's always nice to have a respectful dialogue. :-)

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Itzika — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:28:57 -0500

While I agree mental illness should be taken seriously, schizophrenia and related terms are hard for many people to spell and calling someone out on their honest misspelling isn't helpful either.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Leonara Declamara — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:47:38 -0500

[quote=Itzika] While I agree mental illness should be taken seriously, schizophrenia and related terms are hard for many people to spell and calling someone out on their honest misspelling isn't helpful either. [/quote] Given that this is a forum for writers, and I was hardly vicious about it, I don't see where it's particularly helpful to let such non-typo spelling errors unmentioned. If it's hard to spell, look it up. Otherwise, don't be surprised if it's corrected.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Itzika — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:39:44 -0500

If you're looking to police these forums for misspellings, you're going to have your work cut out for you. And you're going to hurt a lot of feelings. You modeled the correct spelling several times in your post and your final sentence seemed to call them out for misspelling it on top of not taking it seriously, which is kind of an Arson Murder And Jaywalking way of going at it. A lot of writers on here make spelling mistakes. That's what spell check was made for. I correct people when they're substituting words, because spell check won't catch that. Otherwise, I let it go.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Horselover150 — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:47:27 -0500

Hmm, no, I don't hear voices, in fact, I try not to think about my novel too much. For me, if I start thinking about my novel too much I start to almost live in their world. Then I can't concentrate on my schoolwork and I start to just sit there and dream about my novel. It can get pretty out of hand, so I try to avoid it as much as possible.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

GrytaJME — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:47:53 -0500

(Obviously I am terrible at replying, but here goes:) You're right. I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to insult anybody. I'll try to say it again, but the way I should: I say so facetiously, but no, I don't. I guess that's not the way my brain works. Rather like Hannah Moskowitz, I am very conscious of how much control I have.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

GrytaJME — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:49:11 -0500

And, even when I said it wrong, I promise I didn't mean that everybody does it this way, or should. And I am actually very sorry.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Octoba — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 06:47:03 -0500

I always took "my characters speaks to me" as if I were a character in the story as well, and I find the idea and phrase... I can't think of the word. Uncomfortable? It just didn't seem like something that suited me, so I didn't join up in it. I agree with you, and personally prefer that my characters and I stay in our respective worlds. But if it works for someone else, great!

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

MalcolmCooms — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:33:55 -0500

I am an epileptic and I don't find that funny, but I think Seizure Man from Cyanide and Happiness was hilarious. In fact, I don't mind seizure/epileptic jokes at all, because I know they're not meant to offend me. I hate when people act offended about everything. I'm going to say it, even though this always sets people off-I hate political correctness. She wasn't putting down people who have schizophrenia. Geez.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Beebee2121 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:22:46 -0400

Old topic, but I'm answering it anyway. My characters have a voice, but they don't talk to me unless I want them to. My characters have their own personalities and history which makes them react the way they do and I always take this into consideration when I write them. Like, MMC is going to reject the help offered because he believes he is too weak and wants to force himself to be stronger and that thought process comes from being bullied as a child for being into biology which makes him the great biologist he is today. What he doesn't realize that he already is very strong, but that's beside the point. When I write diaologue I can hear very clearly the tone, dialect, accents or whatever like they're real. Facial expressions and movements are a little harder to discern, but that's because I'm a musician. If and when I do talk to my characters, I make a character if myself to talk to them in third person.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Sat, 19 May 2012 18:12:33 -0400

Bringing this topic back to life... Most of my characters become their own people without my help as I write, and all of a sudden I'm doing what they want me to do, the words are their words, not mine. I can write as many swear words or things I would feel uncomfortable saying (though I haven't yet) in their dialogue as they want, because they're the ones saying it, not me... And most of my plot ideas come from what they tell me would work, or what seems natural to them, not what would further the plot best. I can hear them all the time, the voices in my head. In short, I'm a little crazy, as well.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Collen — Sat, 19 May 2012 18:17:00 -0400

I think that when people say that their characters are talking to them, they're using it as a metaphor for their characterization of a character conflicting with the plot they had in mind for the book. Or it happened in a daydream/night-dream. Or somebody planted a microbot into your ear while you were asleep and now it's whispering things to you.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

UnicornEmma — Sun, 20 May 2012 01:32:03 -0400

I don't actually hear the voices of my characters in my ears. It's kind of like... when someone is telling you about a party ze went to, and mentions something a friend of yours did that sounds extremely out of character, and you think, "That doesn't sound like my friend at all... I wonder if that's really what happened..." and it just... rots in your head and makes you uncomfortable until you finally get a chance to ask your friend about it. Except when writing, I can't just ask my characters. I have to rewrite the scene until it feels natural and I'm more comfortable with it because it actually sounds like something my characters would do. So when I talk about "my character corrected me," or "she explained what really happened," that's what I'm talking about. It's just taking common phrases and using them in ways non-writers (and many writers, heh) aren't used to. And it helps me keep my characters feeling real.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

firelight_cinderbrick — Mon, 21 May 2012 07:50:39 -0400

I've never ever heard one of my characters actually talk to me. I tried to make them, but I realize they are in their world not mine. Sometimes I tried making them talk, but it feels so forced. They don't live in my brain, they live in the story. Sometimes I do get that nudge some people have mentioned, when characters do something out of character I get this weird feeling like they are mad at me or something. Also I'd imagine someone pestering me all the time would get annoying. I'm a little introverted, and I guess that means I need time away from even my characters sometimes.

Re: Am I the only one who doesn't hear voices?

Generalist — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:08:42 -0400

Typographical errors happen. And since we haven't been able to go back and edit postings for about a year now, a typo is forever.