The characters are suddenly people...

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When asked: What do you like best about being a writer?

“One of the things is 

doing what I like more than 

anything else in the world, 

and being allowed to do it, 

and being paid to do it. 

It’s great. 

And I like setting something 

going and seeing that 

all the characters 

are suddenly people 

who behave like themselves, 

as if they had nothing to do with me at all. 

They come out with remarks 

that I never would have 

thought of myself personally. 

It’s a very odd feeling. 

I like that very much.” 

~ Diana Wynne Jones, 

in The Wand in the Word: 

Conversations with Writers of Fantasy

I've had that experience before, writing along and then all of a sudden a character becomes its own person, saying things and doing things that I never expected. Jones is right -- it's a very odd feeling. It's also very cool! :)