Novelists like “a room of one’s own” to alter their state of consciousness, but also so people won’t see their physical appearance change from Jekyll to Hyde.

To get ready to write, most novelists have a routine that helps them to alter their state of consciousness. Some novelists have compared writing to self-hypnosis. And to do self-hypnosis, it helps to have a quiet place, with everything the way they want it; in other words, a room of one’s own.

But once novelists become adept at their self-hypnosis, they could do it almost anywhere, such as coffee shops. So there must be an additional reason that many novelists prefer to write in seclusion.

Although most novelists don’t think of themselves as having multiple personality, per se, many do think of themselves as having a regular self and a writing self—which is multiple personality, even if they don’t call it that—and in multiple personality, it is common for alternate personalities to see themselves as looking different from the regular personality. Thus, seclusion may be preferred to prevent other people from seeing the change in appearance when the person switches from the regular, host personality to any of the alternate personalities.

Of course, if you were to ask novelists if they change appearance when they write, they would probably deny it, because you would be speaking to the regular personality, not an alternate personality. The regular personality has only a vague idea, if any idea at all, about the alternate personalities.

It is the alternate personalities who think that they look different, and who would prefer seclusion, in a room of their own, so that you don’t see them.

Why, then, are some novelists comfortable writing in the presence of other people? Either their alternate personalities remain inside during the writing or they have decided that most people are unobservant and don’t notice that they look different.