Can you all see me? Can you all... hear me.

[Jason Byrne]

Writers have to be crazy. They listen to the voices inside their head.

MontanaMan's post got me to thinking: I've talked to some people who have said — myself included here — that when they read or write, they "see" and "hear" what is described in the words upon the page. Other people have told me they neither see nor hear anything, and cannot fathom what I'm talking about; it's just words written on a piece of paper, however well-written it might be.

I wonder — how many of you see and hear the "movie," when you're reading and/or writing? How many see only the words before you? For my part, when I read I almost see what is described more tangibly than the book in front of me, though not with my eyes. I hear each character's voice differently, though not with my ears.

 

[Emurelda]

I see exactly what you mean.

 

[Jennifer Stone]

When I read, I see the words on the page and hear my own inner voice reading them,
I can sometimes imagine what the characters look like and the scenery around them, I even give them voices according to the writers description.
When I write, everything plays out in my mind, like a movie and I try to capture the image for the reader, I need to work on my own descriptive voice though.

 

[Stephen Drake]

Same with me! When I read, I "feel" I am there; "hearing" the voices of the characters, "seeing" what is described. I can get totally immersed if it something well written. It does make me a "slow reader", but I get a lot out of it. If something I read doesn't immerse me, then I tend to not like it as well. I have read some books that are just "words on a page" (try reading a book on programming... saying it's dull is understating it!) and I get less from it. Maybe I'm just "strange", but as a writer, I'll have entire conversations with my characters (in my head, of course).

 

[Emurelda]

As a visual learner I definitely see it like a movie. My auditory senses are not always up to standard unfortunately that's why when someone explains something to me I have to imagine it or if I am introduced to someone I will ask for the spelling to etch it in my memory.

 

[Jason Byrne]

When I read, I see the words on the page and hear my own inner voice reading them,
I can sometimes imagine what the characters look like and the scenery around them, I even give them voices according to the writers description.
When I write, everything plays out in my mind, like a movie and I try to capture the image for the reader, I need to work on my own descriptive voice though.

Do you compile songs from movies to make a "soundtrack" of your book? That's something I do, as well — pick a song that's just right for a scene, and play it while I'm writing it, so my movie has a score!

 

[Jason Byrne]

Same with me! When I read, I "feel" I am there; "hearing" the voices of the characters, "seeing" what is described. I can get totally immersed if it something well written. It does make me a "slow reader", but I get a lot out of it. If something I read doesn't immerse me, then I tend to not like it as well. I have read some books that are just "words on a page" (try reading a book on programming... saying it's dull is understating it!) and I get less from it. Maybe I'm just "strange", but as a writer, I'll have entire conversations with my characters (in my head, of course).

Yep — it takes me for ever to read too, but what a ride.

 

[Jennifer Stone]

Do you compile songs from movies to make a "soundtrack" of your book? That's something I do, as well — pick a song that's just right for a scene, and play it while I'm writing it, so my movie has a score!

Not in that sense, sometimes I listen to music as I write but it's more for background noise or to create atmosphere, like heavy metal for a battle scene. I can't usually pick out what's going to happen until my fingers start their journey, unless it's a scene I planned on putting there from the beginning. In my second book, there's a murder, and I refrained from writing it until I had the right frame of mind, for fear of rushing and ruining the scene. I listened to some 80's power ballads for that one!

 

[Stephen Drake]

Yep — it takes me for ever to read too, but what a ride.

Yup! Many years ago, when Star Wars came out (the first episode IV), I was writing something on my typewriter and had the Star Wars album playing. I found it hard to read unless I was playing the same soundtrack. To me, that seems... excessive, so I try not to do that anymore.

 

[Jason Byrne]

Not in that sense, sometimes I listen to music as I write but it's more for background noise or to create atmosphere, like heavy metal for a battle scene. I can't usually pick out what's going to happen until my fingers start their journey, unless it's a scene I planned on putting there from the beginning. In my second book, there's a murder, and I refrained from writing it until I had the right frame of mind, for fear of rushing and ruining the scene. I listened to some 80's power ballads for that one!

EXACTLY! I'm so glad to hear it.

 

[Jason Byrne]

I'll find that

Yup! Many years ago, when Star Wars came out (the first episode IV), I was writing something on my typewriter and had the Star Wars album playing. I found it hard to read unless I was playing the same soundtrack. To me, that seems... excessive, so I try not to do that anymore.

I'll find that listening to a particular album will suddenly immerse me in the point of the story I was writing when I listened to it. Snow Patrol's Up to Now does that every time. The song replays the movie of that part of the book, even if I'm in the car driving to work or something.

 

[Stephen Drake]

The reason I said writers are "crazy" is that in Psychiatric circles, hearing "voices" is not a good thing. Besides, my characters are the only ones who understand me (lol). I even have a patch on my vest... "Are the voices in my head bothering you?"

 

[Jason Byrne]

The reason I said writers are "crazy" is that in Psychiatric circles, hearing "voices" is not a good thing. Besides, my characters are the only ones who understand me (lol). I even have a patch on my vest... "Are the voices in my head bothering you?"

At least we don't do what the voices tell us to — we just draw strength from them.

 

[Jennifer Stone]

The reason I said writers are "crazy" is that in Psychiatric circles, hearing "voices" is not a good thing. Besides, my characters are the only ones who understand me (lol). I even have a patch on my vest... "Are the voices in my head bothering you?"

At least we commit the ramblings in our heads to paper/screen, instead of out 'there' in the real world.

 

[Stephen Drake]

Yeah, all the violent acts we portray are on paper only. I think it comes from the isolation writers tend to have (Stephen King used to write late at night after everyone else in the house went to bed). Isolation can make you "crazy", too.

 

[Stephen Drake]

As per the patch I mentioned, if someone is hearing the voices inside my head, they have a lot more "issues" than I do

 

[Jason Byrne]

As per the patch I mentioned, if someone is hearing the voices inside my head, they have a lot more "issues" than I do

Love it!

 

[Stephen Drake]

Love it!

It is nice to know that I'm not the only one!

 

[Stephen Drake]

Now, I'm hearing that song from "Slade"..."Mama, but we're all crazy now!"

 

[AliG]

It's when my characters start writing their own dialogue that I know they are 'real'. Sometimes I toss something into the mix and almost duck as I know a tirade or cutting sarcasm will be coming back.

 

[Jason Byrne]

Once in a while you'll miss the mark, and you almost get a feeling that they're like, "Dude, I would never say that."

 

[Karen Gray]

When I read I see the words and hear my own voice reading them. If i am reading something that I get engrossed in, my voice fades away and I see it like a movie in my head. When I write, I always see it like a movie in my head.

 

[AliG]

...which is partly why I wrote a movie. Not an easy place to break into as a newbie, I found.

 

[Karen Gray]

No. I hear it's not.

 

[Stephen Drake]

Once in a while you'll miss the mark, and you almost get a feeling that they're like, "Dude, I would never say that."

Yup! It's bad, though, when you swear they tapped you on your shoulder...

 

[Jason Byrne]

Or you find yourself talking with the voice of one of them.

Sometimes, Tyler would talk for me. I fell down some stairs.
"I fell down some stairs."

 

[AliG]

It's brilliant- only on a writers forum would voices inside your head be usual; encouraged even.

 

[Stephen Drake]

lol... I have to chuckle... this thread has turned into quite the conversation!

I hear my characters all the time... and they have their own 'sound' of their voice. It's not my voice trying to speak for them...
Do you "see" landscapes that you create? I "hear" the winds and "feel" the dampness in the air before a rain... as I'm writing it. Also "see" the trees and other landscape features.

 

[Stephen Drake]

Don't know if any of you have read Stephen King's "Gunslinger" series, but in one of them, the characters come to see him... so I know it happens more than some will admit to.

 

[Stephen Drake]

It's brilliant- only on a writers forum would voices inside your head be usual; encouraged even.

For me, how can I make something believable to a reader if I can't see and hear the characters, as if they are real?