I don't think I could write my characters convincingly without getting emotionally involved.  When writing fiction I think of myself as a 'Method writer', rather like a 'Method' actor.  I 'get into' the part and see the world from their angle.  The depth of connection varies and there is always an element of me 'looking on and keeping the buggers on track' but some characters take a much stronger hold than others.

   I've had writing students who simply don't get this, they tell me their characters are just imagination and don't get that kind of grip on them.  Or they don't let them.

   I've had others listening to me describe this kind of 'mood setting' and seen their eyes going dark and their body language changing to reflect where we're going.   It's almost a hypnotic effect, the storyteller working his audience, and they shake themselves when they come back to everyday reality.

   I did this to Kizzi when she was doing NaNo one year.  She asked for ideas as to where her villain could hide a girl so nobody would find her, but he didn't want to physically injure her.  I'll not go into details at this time of night, but as we worked it out I could feel the growing unease even over the phone line. When we finished she said thankyou, and told me she was going outside, for a walk in the open, to help shake it off.
   
   When I was writing Running Scared, a 1st person novel about a manhunt, I was so deeply immersed in the main character I skulked around the streets like a paranoid and it's just as well no-one jumped me from behind 'for a laugh'.  Even now, many years later, I can just roll my mind back and still feel the shock of the crossbow bolt hissing out of the darkness and smashing into my bicep, still see the obscenely bright brass head sticking out through the skin and fabric.  Still feel the need to run and put distance between myself and the attacker, and the immense gratitude it was only a target point and not a hunting broadhead.

   It may not work for everyone, but that level of involvement convinced Robert Hale the book was worth publishing ;-)

   Another incident when writing that book may amuse you.  I was doing a scene towards the end where the hero has to go into a darkened tunnel to confirm the killer is there.

   'I' had just dropped down into the darkness when the house lights failed.  As a result I had to go into the dark cupbord under the stairs and feed the meter.  Normally I could do this in the dark without hesitation, but that night I went upstairs and got a torch first.  The rational part of me knew it was just the understairs cupboard containing nothing more dangerous than junk and boxes, but the writing part knew the bad guy was waiting in the darkness.

   Sometimes the boundaries can get awfully blurred ;-)

   This is why I do not write claustrophobic scenes, set in tunnels or trapped anywhere, just before bedtime.  The images follow me into my dreams, where my guard is down.

   Deliberately induced - or focused - empathy  is a powerful tool, but it's best to pick your time and place to use it.  If you need to leave the lights on for a while then it's a pretty safe bet it will have the same effect on your readers.

Gyppo

I do this too. I can't even imagine writing any differently. It would only result in dead writing which is of no interest to anyone.

Sometimes the everyday person finds themselves at war with their inner writer.

One of my students came along about half way through the classes and told me she had to leave.  I was a bit puzzled because she was one of the better ones.  She wrote wonderfully dark and twisted stories, without relying too much, or even at all, on shock tactics and gore.  Psychological twists were definitely her forte, and she dreamed up wonderfully appropriate deaths for her villains.

"I'm sorry, but I have to stop coming.  I'm dreaming up all sorts of horrible things and it's not me.  I'm a kind and gentle soul.  It feels as there's something evil trying to take over and I won't let it happen to me."

I tried to convince her that the writing part of your mind is different from the everyday part, and that she wasn't turning evil.  But she wouldn't have it.

"No, I'm really sorry.  You're lovely man, and I like the other people in this class as well, but it's messing with my head.  I feel possessed."

I guess some people can't handle the dichotomy.  I found that most students revelled in the chance to play another part for a while.  Sometimes a little too much.

She was very 'Christian' lady.  Not the sort who beats you over the head with it, but she took her religion seriously.  I think maybe the poor soul really did feel the demons were coming for her.  Or perhaps her empathy ran just a little too deeply for comfort.

Poor woman.

I have to admit, I rather enjoy letting my inner Mr Hyde out and run amok with my characters. It's a great way to blow off steam, esp when in real life you're a kind, gentle and peace-loving person. Nobody is all good. (Except perhaps for this rabbi named Jesus - and we all know how that ended.  :o )