Hey when writing your stories, have you ever felt possessed?

[BlueLucario]

This happened to me just this once, a while ago. When I'm writing the story, first-person. I feel like my characters are possessing me. Taking over me, controlling me, telling me what to write. and when I submitted it to SYW.(That was a long time ago people :)) A lot of people said it was great! (That's a first :)). This sort of happened as a result. I thought that was the coolest, and the weirdest experience I ever had. I want it to happen again, but apparently, Lily hasn't come back yet. :) Now everything I write seems forced and Lily is getting passive again.


Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever felt like your character is possessing you? Have you ever had fantasies of your own characters? Roleplaying the scenes? Have you ever looked back at your story and you feel icky or you freak out about it?

This happened to me, but I don't want others to think I've gone mental. (I think I have.)

What about you? Has this happened to you?

[bluntforcetrauma]

Uhh...backs slowly toward the exit.

[Axelle]

It might be different in my case because I never write in the first person, but I usually feel like the characters are alive and doing whatever they want, including messing with my head. Sometimes, I've got something planned, and it doesn't work out when I write the scene because the character just won't do it. No matter how nicely I ask. In my sense, that simply means the characters have a strong personality, and all the better !

[bluntforcetrauma]

I usually feel like the characters are alive and doing whatever they want, including messing with my head. Sometimes, I've got something planned, and it doesn't work out when I write the scene because the character just won't do it. No matter how nicely I ask. In my sense, that simply means the characters have a strong personality, and all the better !

Threaten the little bastards with the delete button if they don't cooperate.

[san_remo_ave]

Yep. It's often called "channeling the muse". It's a rare and beautiful thing.

[yappo]

I'll join bft on the safe side of the exit.

[BlueLucario]

Okay, maybe I am going crazy. :(

[argenianpoet]

Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever felt like your character is possessing you? Have you ever had fantasies of your own characters? Roleplaying the scenes? Have you ever looked back at your story and you feel icky or you freak out about it?


I think it should happen to you if the story is real to you. Every story I write I'm there living in their skin, breathing the air of their realities. So yeah, it's just the awesome power of projecting your imagination, otherwise known as your Muse. This is actually your Higher Self visually and almost physically creating another world, and it is in this state that our best work lives. Don't be afraid of it, rather embrace it as the Gift that it is.

Think: Why are you writing stories in the first place?

[drachin8]

I write best (aka, fewer edits later) when I feel like I am breathing my characters in and out, but I don't let them control the story. They determine their actions and dialogue, and I get to control what happens to them as a result. The downside is when without that feeling, I find it harder to write and tend to think everything I've done is just "wrong", which doesn't make for the most positive experience. Nobody said writing was easy, though (okay, I am sure somebody has actually said that, but I would like to strangle them for their apparent ease of craft).


:)

-Michelle

[Komnena]

Threaten the little bastards with the delete button if they don't cooperate.
I tried that. They called my bluff.

[ishtar'sgate]

Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever felt like your character is possessing you? Have you ever had fantasies of your own characters? Roleplaying the scenes? Have you ever looked back at your story and you feel icky or you freak out about it?

This happened to me, but I don't want others to think I've gone mental. (I think I have.)

What about you? Has this happened to you?
I know what you mean - kinda. My characters DO take on a life of their own and I follow along writing madly so I can keep up with them. Never had fantasies about my characters or roleplayed scenes. Some scenes do tend to freak me out and give me chills when I look back at them.
Linnea

[HeronW]

I call it being used by the Muses and that's fine by me--except the worst time was 2 stories demanding to be out at the same time so I had to stay up from 11 pm to 6 am writing. After that I told the Muses to please take turns.

[JamieFord]

As long as your name isn't Jack Torrance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Torrance) and as long as you're not typing at the Overlook Hotel...

[IdiotsRUs]

I was writing a very tense scene once, when the phone went.

I screamed.

So the answer would be -- yes, if I'm lucky.

[donroc]

Absolutely.

[Madison]

oh, it happens to me. usually at the most unfortunate times - when I'm not at the computer, trying to fall asleep, or in class. but it happens! and it's awesome. scary, because I feel like I don't have control of my mind (ooh...I sound like I should be locked up) but awesome.

and it's annoying sometimes - once I wanted a character to die and he wouldn't. i mean, i tried to kill him but he refused to die. and then another character, whom i really loved, died even though i tried to stop him. i was pissed.

[stormie]

Okay, maybe I am going crazy. :(
Then join the crowd. :D
Seriously, it happens. That's why it's hard for me to write a synopsis or outline at the beginning. I let the character take over. I feel like I become the MC. Makes for good writing.

[IdiotsRUs]

once I wanted a character to die and he wouldn't. i mean, i tried to kill him but he refused to die.

I ended an evening coming out of my fugue saying: 'Oh crap, I've just killed the love interest in a romance. How did that happen? Now what?'

And I couldn't ressurect him, because it all made sense. Luckily that made the second half of the book sooo much better.

[Bufty]

Nope.

[Queen of Swords]

Have you ever felt like your character is possessing you?

No. If I'm not in primary control of the story, it's not going to be the best story I can write.

Have you ever looked back at your story and you feel icky or you freak out about it?

What does "freak out" mean? Screaming or crying?

[davids]

Nope-well there was that time while imbibing in a modicum of imbibatious refreshment that Ichabod Crane piped up in me head but I am not sure whether I was being Irvingized or just a tad inebriated-nope-gotta go with the Buff-man here!

[HourglassMemory]

There are moments where I feel more like my character than usual. But that in no way is a possession. Ha!
After it I don't feel my knees falling to the floor as if I had been speaking in toungues. and no I don't scream.....writing for me, is a silent process.
I sometimes find myself acting as if I was my character but that's when I'm already in the mood.
even when I'm acting out it's inner speech. I don't talk outloud. However I do move around.
Only if I break something will it be a noisy writing process.

[stormie]

As long as your name isn't Jack Torrance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Torrance) and as long as you're not typing at the Overlook Hotel...
Or suddenly have the urge for your character to wield an axe and yell, "He-e-e-re's Johnny!"

[Zelenka]

I was writing a very tense scene once, when the phone went.

I screamed.

So the answer would be -- yes, if I'm lucky.

Oh, I did that once. Can't remember what it was that give me a fright but I remember being so into the story that I jumped out of my skin when something disturbed me. I don't really see that as being possessed by my muse or anything like that, more just being really intensely into my writing. Again though I don't write in first person, so... *shrug*

[bluntforcetrauma]

I ended an evening coming out of my fugue saying: 'Oh crap, I've just killed the love interest in a romance. How did that happen? Now what?'

This is where we differ. I would never hurt Susie!

[Madison]

This is where we differ. I would never hurt Susie!

once i was writing a scene with a skeleton in the pits of a cave and i was home alone. bad idea. i was so creeped out. i couldn't go downstairs and i turned on all the lights and cranked some happy music.

[Mumut]

I often have a feeling that my characters wouldn't do something I'm trying to write into the plot. I think this is my early work on characterisation but it can feel as though they are telling me what I should be writing.

I also visualise everything I write. I'm there with the characters and it's not really fiction - I'm writing what happened to them - in my mind. I can feel very strange when I stop writing if the action has been fast and furious - I feel like I should be back there again with them.

Also, when I re-read something after I've left it for I while I can be quite surprised how well I put something -or was it really me?

[mscelina]

nope. never. My characters are all scared of me. After all, I keep a running tally of the death toll in my books on my blog--what character in his right mind would want to be reduced to a statistic.

[bunnygirl]

Oooh, synchronicity! I just blogged (http://ampfiction2.blogspot.com) about this very topic tonight!

[Oasilhael]

What is it with people here having visions/dreams/possessions/etc by their characters? Its never happened to me, although sometimes it creeps me out when I see random people in the outside world who look almost exactly like the way I've pictured characters...

EDIT: Well, sometimes when I write a part of my novel, I feel really uncomfortable for the whole day for no apparent reason. Then, in the night, I'll come back to my story and realize some plot device that needs to be axed or reworked to death, and suddenly I'll feel at peace again. I dunno if that's the same thing as the original poster was talking about.

[Mumut]

sometimes when I write a part of my novel, I feel really uncomfortable for the whole day for no apparent reason. Then, in the night, I'll come back to my story and realize some plot device that needs to be axed or reworked to death, and suddenly I'll feel at peace again. I dunno if that's the same thing as the original poster was talking about.

That's exactly what I feel but explained better than I could say it.

[steveg144]

Not so much the feeling of being possessed, but I've definitely found myself in situations where I was nothing more than a transcriptionist, writing down input that wasn't coming from me. Especially in my work with stage plays, where it often seems like I'm sitting there jotting down dialogue that is actually happening between my characters, rather than being invented by me.

[Nakhlasmoke]

Not possessed no, but I have days when writing is just a flow of words because all I'm doing is transcribing the things in my head. Other days it's a slog, and every word is like pulling teeth.

TBH though, i often can't tell the difference in prose on later read-throughs.

[Torgo]

Yes! For example, the whole time I was writing my recent YA novel YOUR MOTHER SUCKS C**** IN HELL.

[Nakhlasmoke]

Yes! For example, the whole time I was writing my recent YA novel YOUR MOTHER SUCKS C**** IN HELL.

You stole my title and now I hate you.

[Torgo]

You stole my title and now I hate you.

I'm trying to get it into Oprah's book club.

[Charlie Horse]

Silly me. I thought the reason I started writing in the first place was due to some form of possession or another.

I...can't...control...the...voices...in...my...hea d...

Oh, those are just possessive nouns?

[Elaine Margarett]

Sure, there are times when the writing takes over and it all flows quickly. It's what writer's live for!

Blue, you're not crazy. You're not unusual, or weird or any of the other labels you seem to like to try on for size. <g> You're a writer. It doesn't make you special; it makes you one of us.

EM

[arkady]

Yeah, it's happened to me. It goes away after the first form rejection.

[Jeremy]

I don’t think I could say I felt possessed at all, but I have felt like I’m there with the characters and I’m just writing what they’re doing. It’s like I’m actually there with them and I am simply reporting what was going on.

[stormie]

Yeah, it's happened to me. It goes away after the first form rejection.
You mean those are form rejections? And here I thought my first name really was "Author" and my parents never told me.

Oops. Didn't mean to sidetrack the thread. Continue.

[thethinker42]

Threaten the little bastards with the delete button if they don't cooperate.

Mine flip me the bird and just keep on going. Some characters are QUITE stubborn...

[crrazyjane]

Ever read "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell?? You might find it relevant. He basically does a bit of digging into why our best ideas, or work, often seem to come from some sort of magic hidden place inside our brains - a bit like those scenes that just jump into your head, and seem to write themselves onto the page.

Whether it's channeling the muse, or just the way our brains work, the tricky part is to figure out what to do when that's NOT happening. I remember reading an interview with Philip Pullman once where he talked about how those moments of pure inspiration are wonderful - but the difference between dabbling and being real writer is the capacity to keep pushing forward even when that inspiration has utterly and completely deserted you.

One of the things Gladwell touches on in Blink is how the people how seem to be best equipped to make these "instinctual" moves are those who've spent a lot of time training themselves and learning the building blocks of their material inside and out.

I suspect the key to getting those fantastic this-is-writing-itself moments probably lies in getting to KNOW your characters as much as you possibly can. Maybe it's a little like the techniques used by method actors. They live and breathe the characters they're trying to play until being that person, knowing what they're going to do and how they're going to do it, becomes completely natural. Writing is a bit like acting without a script - or at least, that's how it feels to me a lot of the time.

When I'm stuck, and have to really work for a scene, I'll often write pages and pages of feeling my way through each of the characters I'm using, analysing how they relate to everything that's going on, what parts of their histories might be coming into play in their reactions, etc ad infinitum. Then I go do something else for a while, pick my nose, visit absolutewrite (ha), and once I'm fully out of it - then I go back and try to whip the scene out. Everyone's going to have their own methods for dealing with this perennial bugbear, but that one has been the best I've found for myself so far.

Plus, it's loads of fun - I love my characters, so I definitely don't begrudge any quality time I get to spend with them.

[Figgy]

I have not been "possessed" but I have been writing, and as the pen flies across the page, I will stare see what is happening in my mind's eye with shock... For example, I had this quite, slightly confused, deranged mutant girl... But she she just wanted to belong... There was a confrontation, she had weapons to protect herself, and wasn't alone... But suddenly she became snappy, and ended up killing people! Now that was totally our of the ordinary for her, but it just fit so well... It made sense... But I hadn't been expecting it...

In another one... It is on hiatus at the moment... But the guy MC who was meant to like one of the girl MCs, has actually decided to like a character from OUTSIDE OF THE BOOK! So I have to bring her into that book instead, and the original girl has decided that she is going to suffer... SHE told me that I was going to inflict pain on her... How often do your characters ask you to hurt them?!

Oh, and in my series, my favourite character in this book has decided that she must die... I am not there yet, but I sat there writing and suddenly went *gasp!* "This character has to die!" And i sat there and felt like crying, or throwing something, or tearing the book up, or something...

I write in Third person though, so maybe that is why I haven't felt possessed... But I have definitely had the characters take hold of the pen with both hands and tell me what was going to happen.

I love it when those things happen though... They make it more of an adventure for you, and possibly not so predictable, as it is not you sitting there coming up with the story, but the characters too...

You are not crazy...

Well... Maybe you are, what would I know... But if you are, it is a good crazy!

:D

[CaroGirl]

I’ve had characters do something totally unexpected. They’ve surprised me and made me laugh out loud. But they’ve never “possessed” me. I’m not sure I know what you mean by that.
Either way, in the end, I’m in charge of my story. Even if I write a scene that’s surprising or unexpected, it’s still up to me to edit it, delete it or keep it.