One of the most rewarding aspects of working on the Writers’ Inner Voices study has been how our work on inner voice and literary creativity seems to have captured people’s imaginations. Both readers and writers alike have responded with great interest to our exploration of this rather mysterious aspect of the writing process. So we’re delighted to draw readers’ attention to two recent appearances of our research in the media, where they can find out more about our findings.
Open Book on BBC Radio 4
We were delighted to be invited to appear on the latest edition of BBC Radio 4’s Open Book, in which host Mariella Frostrup interviews our researcher Jennifer Hodgson about the study’s findings. Taking a closer look at the ways in which writers experience the characters that they create, they discussed how critical hearing the voices of characters is to the writing process – many writers have told us they can’t write without it.
The programme is available to stream or download here, and you can listen to our segment here.
Mslexia magazine
In the spring issue of Mslexia magazine Jennifer Hodgson explores the interplay of inner voice and the literary imagination in the context of our fascination with writers’ lives, habits and creative rituals. In the article, she examines the complex and various ways in which writers experience the voices of their characters, the impact this has on the writing process and the creative strategies writers develop to tune back in when their inner voice goes silent. There are quotes and anecdotes from the writers themselves, together with insights into exactly what it was like to interview 25 representatives of the great and the good of literary culture about the most intimate and unusual aspects of their writing life last year during the Edinburgh International Festival.
Mslexia is available now in newsagents.
This post was first published on our sister blog Writers’ Inner Voices, on 13 March 2015.