PPubMed12 Feb 2020Cited 26×

‘I’ve learned I need to treat my characters like people’: Varieties of agency and interaction in Writers’ experiences of their Characters’ Voices

John Foxwell, Ben Alderson-Day, Charles Fernyhough, Angela Woods

Abstract

Title: Highlights 1. • Varied phenomenology of writers’ experiences of characters’ voices. 2. • Important point of comparison for experiences of non-actual agents. 3. • Automatized use of personality models suggesting non-inferential theory of mind.

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Most writers hear distinct character voices, showing varied agency and links to inner speech and hallucination proneness.

What’s new

i.Identifies varied phenomenology of writers' experiences of characters' voices
ii.Provides a comparison point for experiences of non‑actual agents such as imaginary companions
iii.Shows automatized use of personality models suggesting a non‑inferential theory of mind
iv.Conducts the largest mixed‑methods empirical study of this inner experience in writers

How they did it

Writers attending the 2014 and 2018 Edinburgh International Book Festivals were invited via email to complete an online survey that combined a bespoke phenomenological questionnaire with standard measures (Inner Speech Questionnaire and Launay‑Slade Hallucination Scale). A total of 181 writers (12% response rate) provided data that were coded qualitatively and analysed with chi‑square and t‑tests.

What they found

63% of writers reported hearing their characters' voices
15% (25 respondents) formed a ‘high alterity’ group that scored significantly higher on hallucination‑proneness (t=3.03, p=0.003)
Full agency reported by 13% of characters, temporally emergent agency by 27%
Only 21% reported actual hallucinations unrelated to characters

Caveats

✕Reliance on unverified self‑report data
✕Cross‑sectional design prevents causal inference
✕Anonymous participation limits knowledge of participants' professional profiles and writing experience
✕Sample limited to festival writers, reducing generalisability

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