Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Voices in my Head

I was walking with a friend yesterday and she asked how my writing was going. We chatted for a bit, and then she asked: Are your characters real to you?

Absolutely.

One of the ways I learn about them is to interview them. Yes, it's true, I talk to the voices in my head.

And they answer.

I'm frequently amazed at the answers they come up with -- shocked at their backgrounds, annoyed at their attitudes. They are their own people, I just write their stories down as they tell it to me.

Makes me mad sometimes, though. I'll have a great idea -- the story should go like this! It's incredible! Earth-shattering! The Next Big Thing.

And they'll shoot it down. No matter how hard I try, that particular idea will never come to fruition if the voices say "no".

What about you? Do you hear voices in your head?

1 comment:

Kealie Shay said...

*snicker* You remember what I told you about the t-shirts I wanted to get... "I write what the voices in my head tell me to!"

I just had a battle the other day with one of my characters. I was trying to name him... he shot down every single one of my guesses. Then my sister said, "How about Gray?" and he grunted. He GRUNTED! "Short for Grayson." Sometimes the voices are a pain in my butt, but I wouldn't have it any other way.