Professional authors are so immersed in their own works that they begin to “hear” the voices of their characters in my head. Researchers from the University of Durham in collaboration with the Guardian newspaper interviewed 181 professional writer. 63 % of authors “hear” their characters talking in the moment when they write, and 15% can do to engage them in dialogue.
Not everyone experience in “communication” with their characters was identical, although in many ideas were followed. Some authors can control and dictate imaginary dialogues, but more than 60 % of respondents claim that their characters act independently but like the writers themselves are in the role of spectator.
The study’s authors believe that the explanation may be related to our internal monologues. “Most of us tend to try to anticipate what other people say and do in everyday life,” says the scholar of English literature John Foxwell. – “Writers build their characters the same personality model, as for real people, they just implement them in their works”.
Interestingly, the survey did not reveal any connection with the fact whether the author of an imaginary friend in childhood. Some claim that the voice came during experiences akin to hallucinations, and most of them happened at a time when the author fell asleep or woke up.
Of course, this survey is subjective. We can only say that this phenomenon is fairly common among writers and we also see certain patterns. The researchers explain that hear the voices of his characters in the head is not a mental disorder, and the only interesting feature of creative people, helping them to create masterpieces.
The source — Consciousness and Cognition