kind of just wondering if this is a common thing with other star trek fic writers (or fic writers in general really), but when y'all write do you hear the character's voice in your head?

like for example, when I write a piece of dialogue I'll be able to hear how leonard nimoy would deliver the line as spock, or if it doesn't sound right immediately I'll fiddle with it until I can hear his voice. and often I'll try and communicate the speech pattern/cadence I hear with pauses and "stage directions" and the like (whether or not this is a good strategy, idk, that's just what I do)

but basically I was just wondering if other people's writing processes look a little bit like that too? or if you don't hear the character's voices in your head how do you go about writing dialogue?

this is really and truly my favorite part of writing fanfic. i love putting words in characters’ mouths because the way my brain is wired, i can hear it so clearly in their voices.

i’m not sure if this is natural or learned, though! for part of my childhood we were moving every few weeks with long road trips in between destinations, and i taped a bunch of star trek episodes onto audio cassette so i could listen to them again and again on my walkman (yes, when dinosaurs roamed the earth). i still find it relaxing to listen to familiar shows without watching them.

idk if it will help anyone, but if you find that you struggle writing dialogue, just listening to episodes with no visuals could be a cool exercise to try (possibly pick an episode which heavily features the character you’re working on and listen to the same ep more than once).