Before I begin, I just made a MySpace profile. If you're on MySpace and want to associate with me there, my page is here.

And now, the notes! These are paraphrased and not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. I welcome corrections and discussion in the comments.

The first panel I attended was Thursday night's The Origin of Character in the Breakthrough of the Bicameral Mind with Daryl Gregory, Eileen Gunn, Elizabeth Hand, James Patrick Kelly (Leader), Ellen Kushner, and Peter Straub. Here's the official panel blurb:

Our panelists all report the experience of their characters taking over the
story and behaving in some way autonomously. But we wonder whether this is actually
multiple different psychological phenomena rather than a single one that everyone shares.
So we‘ve asked them to compare notes.

( Read more... )

So, thoughts from the rest of you? Agree? Disagree? Ever tried the character interview trick Ellen Kushner mentioned? I have, and didn't find it quite right for me, but I know other people who make D&D style character sheets for everyone in their stories. Do you have your own tricks to get the subconscious muse flowing? I think Peter Straub's thoughts resonated most with me. Right now I'm trying to learn how to shut up and listen to those voices.