I am not human.

I couldn't help myself. LOL

Mine were always of the 'imagined versions of real people/characters' variety of imaginary friends when I was little.

Oh, and shoot. You always forget an option on these things, huh?

I have to admit, I am surprised by the number of people who already admitted to having imaginary friends now. I was nervous I'd be the only one. LOL

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Dude, you are talking to the woman who goes to bed at night listening to Joe Mantegna reading so she can pretend it's David Rossi. You think my fantasy world isn't rich and strange and where I live for about 75% of my life?

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*G* Well, yes. I think we've talked about this before, haven't we? LOL I expected YOU would answer that way, if you answered it at all. ;)

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Yeah, yeah, I really am 10 at heart. ^_~

But yes, I seriously do live in my own little world, and although I fully recognize the reality of life out there, I like it better in here.

>.>

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*CLINGS TO YOU*

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*CLINGS BACK*

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jolly-rotten.livejournal.com

OMG, I was scrolling down this enty and had to stop at your comment because of that line.you are talking to the woman who goes to bed at night listening to Joe Mantegna reading so she can pretend it's David Rossi I went like: Joe reading?!?! What?!? Where?! On CD?!? And how can I get it?!?!
(sorry if I bother you, but my Dave Rossi obession is making me do and say weird and scary things these days...^_- Or blame it on living in my cm-fantasy world, I'm spending too much time in.)

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Well, I have him reading Judge and Jury by James Patterson and Cold Moon by Jeffrey Deaver. I've been told he's also done The Godfather, Cold Service by Robert Parker, and two Steve Martini books. I don't have any of those at the moment. But OMG it is SOOOO nice to listen to him read.

Even if it's really weird to hear him say words like 'tit' and 'pussy'. O.O

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jolly-rotten.livejournal.com

Oh my...thanks. :) I had no idea that Joe was reading so many of them. :)
And from now on I'm gonna spend every day of my life looking for one of them. ;) Gonna be a real challange. (finding even one of them in a German book(or whatever)store...*faints*)
Wish me luck!

God, living in Germany really sucks, when you're a Dave Rossi fanatic. *live's cruel*

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darkhawkhealer.livejournal.com

I'm all about arguing with myself.

...

My childhood (and actually still alot of right now...) was more about daydreaming and blocking out storylines than it was playing with imaginary friends. Does that make sense? Like, I would be 'in' an episode of Saved By The Bell, and I'd be plotting out where everybody would be and who would walk down which hallway and the dialogue.

Even now what I get when I write is not so much the Muses 'talking' to me, as it is me seeing a scene in my head (like on a telvision screen, or happening around me).

*sigh* Normal is overrated. No, really.

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Oh, no, actually that's a lot of what I do. In the context of this poll, I'll call those "characters" immaginary friends. Because, well, even if you're interacting with them in that way, it's still technically playing with imaginary people. LOL

I do hear conversations. I see scenes. I often act out scenes, which I've been given the O.o of doom for admitting before. *shrugs*

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darkhawkhealer.livejournal.com

I do that too! My sibs laugh at me when they see me 'traveling' from one end of a room to the other.

*headdesk*

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*G* My husband walks into the room to find me pacing and just tilts his head at me like a confused puppy. It's very cute. LOL

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I often act out scenes

I do this! In fact, despite being in my 30s, I frequently put on my cloak and wander around in the woods behind our house having entire conversations with my characters.

>.>

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Bwahaha! I wish I had woods to do that in. One of these days I'm just plain going to get caught talking to no one. It seeps out sometimes when ti shouldn't. >.>

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All the libraries I worked in, I'd wander around the stacks talking to myself. Maybe the last place really just sacked me because they thought I was insane.

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*snorts* I think I've been caught at work, but no one has actually said, "hey, who are you talking to?" yet, so I just pretend they never saw anything. LOL

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The sort of "imaginary friends" that I have now aren't the same as the kind I had as a kid. I'm not entirely sure that's the right word for it actually, but I figured it was close enough to count. It's more like, I feel weird talking to myself, so I've given my laptop/ipod/pocketwatch/etc personalities and names, and I talk to them instead. For some reason that seems LESS strange than just talking to myself.

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LOL! See, I just plain talk to people who aren't there except for in my head. I'm not really sure which one of us is more insane. ;)

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LOL well, there's the additional craziness when I can't FIND my pocketwatch or ipod and think for a second that it really does have some sort of autonomy, and it's run away. But I suppose you can't even keep an eye on your imaginary friends...

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LOL! I know people who name their cars/iPods/laptops/etc, but I think the idea that our things are playing tricks on us when they "run away" is universal. I do that all the time. I don't talk to them, normally, but when they disappear, I call around the house for them as if they'll go, "Oh, there you are! I've been looking for you too!" XD

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Maybe they run away because they don't feel appreciated? You could try talking to them more often ^_~

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LOL! YOU ARE SO SMART! I KNEW THERE WAS A REASON I FRIENDED YOU! *griiiins*

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And here I thought it was my devilish good looks XD

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Oh, well, ROWR. That too. ;)

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ubervirgin.livejournal.com

My mom and I regularly "call" our items when we lose them.

Typical morning:

Mom: "Where is my purse? I know I put it over here."

Me: "Maybe you moved it"

Mom: "Puuuurrrrsssseeeee. Oh, Purse. Come here Purse. Puuurrrrsssseeee"

Me: It doesn't have legs. It can't come to you.

Mom: "Oh, there it is. I told you all you have to do is call it."

And the woman wonders where I get it. ^_^

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cacopheny.livejournal.com

I wouldn't go so far as to say my characters speak to me, the way imaginary friends did when I was a kid. I can imagine what they would do or say in a hypothetical situation or when I'm bantering with a friend, but they don't "speak".

I'm the psych major, I have to make the differentiation, at least in my own head :: laughs ::

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Oh, I definitely know the difference, you know. Even kids do. One of the studies I read, the researches said the kids got concerned with the questions they were being asked, and actually pulled the researches aside to make sure THEY knew it wasn't real. LOL

Tis why I put "speak" and "hear" in quotes. :)

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cacopheny.livejournal.com

... that's actually really adorable, that the kids got concerned and had to ask XD pull them aside, even :: giggles ::

I didn't honestly THINK you were saying that you literally heard them, but... well, I make the distinction in my head, and couldn't in good conscience say anything but "other" :)

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femme-slash-fan.livejournal.com

Yeah, I don't remember having imaginary friend when I was young...

now thoughI have a fu*&ing house full of muses who 'talk' to me... mainly via scenes or writing... especially typos... my characters cry when I mistype...

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lol!

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femme-slash-fan.livejournal.com

I ain't kidding. *lol*

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schemingreader.livejournal.com

My kid had an amazing run with a single imaginary friend from about 2-5 years old. He used to have his friend do everything that adults around him were doing. Now he mainly writes stories about robots, though occasionally detectives, mad scientists or prairie dogs.

The imaginary friends aren't MORE real to him than real people, but they are differently real, if that makes sense. it's pretty similar to how I think about fictional characters. Not realer or less real, exactly, more like differently real. I've never felt like the characters could run away with me or speak to me, but they do have some realness as fictional entities.

I guess my kid and I both have a sense that you can learn things from people who are fictional, and so it pays to treat them with respect.

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LOL! Your son is so cute. :) Riley is about to be 3, and I would LOVE it if she had an imaginary friend, mostly because I'd love to meet this "person" that comes out of her head. I don't know if that's normal or not, but there you go. :P

Not realer or less real, exactly, more like differently real.

Huh. I had never actually thought about it that way. I can see that, though, that they may not actually exist, but they STILL have an impact on us anyway. I like that idea.

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slash-girl.livejournal.com

I didn't have made up imaginary friends when I was a kid. They were always characters from tv shows. (Okay, so they're "made up" but I didn't create them.) Often, I'd make up stories where I was part of the cast--hello, Mary Sue. *heh* But I was a kid....

As for nowadays, when I write, the characters don't usually talk directly to me. It's more a case of seeing what's happening and/or getting into a particular character's POV/headspace ( my very first posted CM fic was writen first person Hotch POV). When I'm writing dialogue, I'll often hear it in the character's voice as I'm typing, but it's more like I'm transcribing rather than that they're talking to me directly.

I tend more to thinking about what the characters would do (daydreaming? *g*) than actually talking to them. I'm more likely to talk to them when I'm watching an ep--and then it's usually--"Don't do that, you idiot!" more than anything else.

I will admit that I sometimes talk to imaginary versions of real people in my life, but that's generally not related to my writing. I have a very active imaginary life at times. :D

As for the correlation question, like

innerslytherin I'd go with maybe. I can see where it might happen, but I don't think it's a given. It's certainly an interesting topic.

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They were always characters from tv shows. (Okay, so they're "made up" but I didn't create them.) Often, I'd make up stories where I was part of the cast--hello, Mary Sue.

*G* My biggest "imaginary friend" when I was little was Gilda Radner, the RL comedian from the early years of SNL. I used to imagine I was on the cast, and pretend she was my best friend. When I found out that version of SNL hadn't actually been on the air for a decade and I was watching reruns, I cried my freaking eyes out because this silly fantasy life where I was Gilda's best friend was SO REAL to me. *headdesk*

I tend to go back and forth between listening to them have conversations (my biggest bursts of solo writing usually come in the form of straight dialogue that I have to flesh out later), talking to them, and "getting into their headspace"... which for me usually comes with acting scenes out like a crazy person. ;)

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slash-girl.livejournal.com

When I found out that version of SNL hadn't actually been on the air for a decade and I was watching reruns, I cried my freaking eyes out because this silly fantasy life where I was Gilda's best friend was SO REAL to me. *headdesk*

I can understand it--and why it made you sad.

The first show I really remember doing this with was a cartoon called G-Force/Battle of the Planets (it was originally Japanese and called Gatchaman there--didn't find that out til I was an adult and had the internets...). I was probably around 6 or 7 at the time, and I SO wanted to be a member of the G-Force--I often played alone at home cus there weren't a lot of kids my age nearby--and being part of that team was one of my regular "games".

"getting into their headspace"... which for me usually comes with acting scenes out like a crazy person. ;)

Ah, see I don't usually act scenes out. I'm primarily visual/auditory. I'll picture a scene and let it run through in my head. Sometimes, I'll say it in my head--"okay, so Reid does this, then Hotch would react like this, etc." And sometimes I get both! It's interesting to see how other people deal with this aspect of writing/creativity.

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mcgarrygirl78.livejournal.com

It is so weird that you did this poll, I was just talking about this with my friend and my therapist. Its not often the characters in my head talk directly to me, its almost like they open a window, I'm outside and I can hear them talk to each other. I've been struggling all day between listening to them and reading this book I am supposed to read......they are much more interesting.

Funny thing is I have been writing since I was eight, but it wasnt until I let go and starting listening that I became a good writer. I used to think it was crazy, somehow not right, but who am I to judge.....I realize there are a lot of us and it doesnt feel so crazy anymore.

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*G* Yeah. I was just saying above, usually my biggest bursts of solo writing come from "overhearing" conversations that my characters are having.

And I think you definitely have to listen. My dialogue has gotten so much more natural over the last few year because I've just sat back and listened.

I just started reading these articles, and a couple mentioned writers who "talked" to their characters, or who's characters "ran away with" their stories (happens to me all the time), and I wondered if it was common to be as insane as I am about it. Apparently, it is! :D

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mcgarrygirl78.livejournal.com

My characters run away with it all the time, its a wonderful feeling. Except sometimes I do get their emotions....have been known to cry through stories, need to hear a certain song repeatedly, or get their giddy moods. I dont like that part so much but I will take it for all the other cool stuff I get.

Its not often that someone talks directly to me, its usually the listening thing, even if I am listening to their thoughts.

One of the authors I just interviewed said the characters talk in his head as well and allow him to listen so its just very interesting that all this conversation came up tonight about a subject I have been almost afraid to discuss.

Oh, and I talk to myself all the time, hashing out scenes and conversations....I did it most of the day today, everyday really.

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