One of the things that motivates me as a writer is to be so familiar with my characters that I seem to hear them. You heard me right - they speak to me! Obviously, I do not hear them audibly, but still, they make their wishes known to me. It must be similar to an actor getting "in character." As a writer, the more real my protagonist is to me, the more I seem to know how she, or he, would naturally act and speak. What's more - if I get discouraged, the thought of my MC seems to pick me up.
At one of the recent meetings of the Magic Pen Critique Group this topic came up. It was surprising to me to discover that everyone agreed:
they feel as though their characters are real!
Have you had this experience - or are writers in the Pacific Northwest just weird? :-)
