um... you mean they're *not* real people?
when i settle down to write, it's because the voices won't let me alone. i live in an extremely busy household and run a consulting business. i'm actually the alter-ego of a legitimate mainstream writer.... who shall go nameless for now.
i myself am the result of several specific voices clamouring for attention, that don't actually fit in the mainstream writing venues chosen by my angel-twin. (as opposed to the evil-twin, which would be, ahem, me).
still and all, when writing as either myself, or the more mainstream author, these things remain true:
the characters are separate and distinct from each other and myself; they speak sometimes independently and sometimes only when i go right up to them and demand an answer, or otherwise convince them that i am paying very close attention; i see, smell, hear, touch, and sometimes taste them in my mind --how could i know they are real enough to describe and put words to paper otherwise? in other words, if i am not convinced they are real, how can i make them so in print? sometimes they are elusive with details because i am completely missing the point. sometimes it is only when i completely clear the way and suspend my definition of reality that they either invite me into their world and let me know what is going on, or deign it is okay to enter mine.