Fiction writers act unworried by autonomous characters, advisory voices, and found stories, but wonder about multiple personality or spirit possession

In a recent post, I quoted yet one more writer who told an interviewer about autonomous characters and the mysterious, inside sources for his stories. I faulted the interviewer for not asking follow-up questions, and he should have, but it was not entirely the interviewer’s fault.

Why didn’t the writer elaborate, without having to be asked?

Fiction writers sometimes wonder if they have multiple personality, and since they never heard of a normal version, they are worried about mental illness. They are not overly worried, since they are successful, and other fiction writers are in the same boat, but they fear that outsiders would label them mentally ill if they gave more details.

Not all cultures think in terms of multiple personality. Many retain the older concept of spirit possession.