Fiction Writing: Ideas come from alternate consciousness (alternate personalities, not “the unconscious”), so learn how many you have and consult them.

As a fiction writer, you already confer with some of your alternate personalities: muses, characters, narrators, voices. (They are alternate personalities if they are autonomous and have minds of their own.)

However, in the course of writing, you have probably noticed that some creative input cannot be attributed to either your regular self or any of the above, known sources. Where does the mysterious input come from?

It comes from alternate personalities you have not yet met. There are two ways to meet them.

First, when you are in the altered state of consciousness that you normally use to write, you can ask the alternate personalities you already know (see above) to introduce you to others, whom they know; and if you are given their names, ask for them by name. Second, when you are in the altered state of consciousness that you normally use to write, you can think of the specific, unaccounted for input, and ask to speak to whomever deserves the credit.

You may have to persevere and repeat such inquiries until your more hidden and reticent personalities feel they can trust you. The reason you may have to inquire about them in terms of the specific things they have done rather than by name, is that many alternate personalities are either nameless or reveal their names very reluctantly.