I think that in most instances vision is individual and new; but I
rather suspect that things I have seen at different times and in
different places form the store from which I draw apparently fresh
illustrations as required. This, however, is another very hard question
to answer correctly and really could not be answered without keeping
tabs on one's self for a month or two.
Reading is better fun than writing. Therefore, when reading, the
imagination is less rebellious and does its work more swiftly and
easily. Otherwise I think there is little if any difference.
=Kathleen Norris=: I can't say that I ever get an actual sense emotion
from what I write, that is, in taste or smell, but I have felt my mood
very definitely affected by the experiences my characters are
experiencing, and I frequently confuse them with real persons for an
hour or two, and will find myself saying at lunch, (say) "Oh, a woman
told me this morning ..." forgetting that the woman is of my own
creating.
One would see things in this way pretty much as one would remember a
meeting with somebody close and vital, or anticipating such a meeting.
It would be natural to imagine the room, the sunshine, the gowns, etc.,
etc.