BASIC CONCEPTS

— When novelists claim they do not invent it, but hear voices and find stories in their head, they are neither joking nor crazy.

— When characters, narrators, or muses have minds of their own and occasionally take over, they are alternate personalities.

— Alternate personalities and memory gaps, but no significant distress or dysfunction, is a normal version of multiple personality.

— normal Multiple Personality Trait (MPT) (core of Multiple Identity Literary Theory), not clinical Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD)

— The normal version of multiple personality is an asset in fiction writing when some alternate personalities are storytellers.

— Multiple personality originates when imaginative children with normal brains have unassuaged trauma as victim or witness.

— Psychiatrists, whose standard mental status exam fails to ask about memory gaps, think they never see multiple personality.

— They need the clue of memory gaps, because alternate personalities don’t acknowledge their presence until their cover is blown.

— In novels, most multiple personality, per se, is unnoticed, unintentional, and reflects the author’s view of ordinary psychology.

— Multiple personality means one person who has more than one identity and memory bank, not psychosis or possession.

— Euphemisms for alternate personalities include parts, pseudonyms, alter egos, doubles, double consciousness, voice or voices.

— Multiple personality trait: 90% of fiction writers; possibly 30% of public.

— Each time you visit, search "name index" or "subject index," choose another name or subject, and search it.

— If you read only recent posts, you miss most of what this site has to offer.

— Share site with friends.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Postscript About the ISSTD and Readers of This Blog

In my post earlier today, I hope that I didn’t come across as too negative about the ISSTD. After all, I used to be a member, myself, when I first became interested in multiple personality. Indeed, for years, I was very active in their local branch. And as far as I know, they are still a fine organization.

You might want to visit the ISSTD website for information or just out of curiosity.

Members of the ISSTD, especially those who read or write novels, you are welcome here.

Professors of literature, you should not feel intimidated by this blog. Learning about multiple personality is not beyond you. Most of what you need to know is in this blog. Just begin with Dickens in the post of June 2013.

And readers, you don’t have to be a professor of any sort to be welcome here. You just have to like novels or write novels and be interested in how it is done. Of course, you novelists already know how you, personally, use multiple personality to write, but you might be interested to read how other novelists have used multiple personality, too.
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