I have no mind's eye.

[Mashadar Mistborn]

I must say, this is fascinating. I'm a highly visual person, and the entire idea of aphantasia is fascinating and alien, especially as it alienates the possibility of grapheme to color synesthesia. 

 

Talanic, would you identify as an auditory or kinetic learner (as opposed to visual)?

I'm not Talanic, but I tested positive for aphantasia, and I learn in an auditory manner.

[Mestiv]

I, as a dyslectic, have an opposite condition. I think with images and abstract concepts, not "hearing " any words in my mind, rather seeing images or experiencing different sensations. Like others wrote, when I read I have the scene in my head, just like I'd be watching a movie, but that's not limited to just reading. When I think I have to buy milk, I can see the bottle of milk standing on the shelve in the store I'm going to, I don't have the sentence "I have to buy milk" in my head.

 

Words form inside my mind only when I have to extract some concepts to share with others, when I have to speak or write. I've read that dyslexic people don't pay attention to words that much and I strongly agree. I had many quarrels with my girlfriend, because when talking I usually say things that are only approximation of what I have in mind, while she tends to be extremely specific and expects me to be too.

 

The thought that I would have to use only words to think, without any images seems kind of "slow" and "restricting" to me. I mean no offense, it's just that images in my head can change rapidly and one image is worth many words, while every word has to take some time to be understandable, even when "spoken" inside our minds... But well, you handle the world as good as anyone, so I guess that this non-visual way of thinking is just as good as others. 

[Talanic]

Nifty.  I thought this thread was dead and gone!

 

Ever since realizing this about myself, I've been in a bit of a writing slump.  I have a history of depression and it doesn't take a lot to put me over the edge and make me feel like I'm not enough like other people to be able to tell stories they'd want to hear.

 

 

I must say, this is fascinating. I'm a highly visual person, and the entire idea of aphantasia is fascinating and alien, especially as it alienates the possibility of grapheme to color synesthesia. 

 

Talanic, would you identify as an auditory or kinetic learner (as opposed to visual)?

 

That takes some considering.  I'd probably say auditory.  Looking at something I've done before gives me less confidence than hearing someone go over the steps again.  

 

 

I, as a dyslectic, have an opposite condition. I think with images and abstract concepts, not "hearing " any words in my mind, rather seeing images or experiencing different sensations. Like others wrote, when I read I have the scene in my head, just like I'd be watching a movie, but that's not limited to just reading. When I think I have to buy milk, I can see the bottle of milk standing on the shelve in the store I'm going to, I don't have the sentence "I have to buy milk" in my head.

 

Words form inside my mind only when I have to extract some concepts to share with others, when I have to speak or write. I've read that dyslexic people don't pay attention to words that much and I strongly agree. I had many quarrels with my girlfriend, because when talking I usually say things that are only approximation of what I have in mind, while she tends to be extremely specific and expects me to be too.

 

The thought that I would have to use only words to think, without any images seems kind of "slow" and "restricting" to me. I mean no offense, it's just that images in my head can change rapidly and one image is worth many words, while every word has to take some time to be understandable, even when "spoken" inside our minds... But well, you handle the world as good as anyone, so I guess that this non-visual way of thinking is just as good as others. 

 

You're right.  You seem like my exact opposite.  If we were in a story, we'd either wind up the comic relief duo, the hero and sidekick, or the hero and villain.  Not sure which of us would wind up which one.  

 

When I have a grocery list that isn't written down, I remember it by repeating it out loud, like a chant.  If I wrote it down myself, it's almost like that works to force it into my memory more.  

 

I can't really grasp how you think.  I mean, I understand the concept, but I have no idea what it would be like to live like that.  

 

If you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you would read some of my writing.  I think it would be interesting to find out if you conjure images that I couldn't when I was writing it - and if you do, if you can appreciate it, well, it might help me calm my little shoulder devil.

 

 

I can only see an image in my mind for a brief second however I think in images very often. When I try to remember something I saw it is also very inaccurate and anything that I wasn't paying attention to is very vague. I also can't remember an image at all if something didn't trigger my interest at the moment of seeing it.
When I make something in my mind however it can be incredibly detailed.
When I try to visualize something I read in a book it is hard because I don't really remember much from books except for specific scenes that stuck out to me and the plot. When I try to visualize one of the scenes that stuck out to me they are very different from what is described and only keep the main idea and some visual descriptions.
Also when I tried to count my windows I didn't make a mental tour although some images of the windows popped in without helping.
So is this completely different or similar in your opinion?

 

Pretty different.  If I try to visualize something, I get a few indistinct colors and maybe a humanoid shape for a tenth of a second.  

[Mestiv]

If you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you would read some of my writing.  I think it would be interesting to find out if you conjure images that I couldn't when I was writing it - and if you do, if you can appreciate it, well, it might help me calm my little shoulder devil.

 

Absolutely, I'm curious how you write Just point me in the right direction

[ChickenPlague]

http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/49989-need-a-comparison-gatekeepers-rewrite-formerly-myth-taken/?fromsearch=1

This for example is Talanic.

[Mestiv]

So I've read the story of Faerie abduction Since I was paying attention to it, I noticed that you didn't provide almost any descriptions of what things looked like. Where many authors would describe the cottage in the forests you didn't write a single sentence about how it looked like. However, if I didn't know about your troubles with visualisation, I wouldn't notice it probably.

 

While I was reading I still got it all visualised in my head. I saw the main character approaching the cabin in the woods. I saw that it had a chimney, windows etc. Then, when I read that there was a loft, the building in my head simply adjusted to that new information. So the fact, that you didn't provide any visual descriptions wasn't a problem for me, my imagination provided all the missing details The lack of descriptions allows your story to flow faster, more fluent for me. To be honest I don't really like when writers spend too much words on descriptions. I perfectly know how an old table might look like, I don't need them to describe every crack and scratch on it's surface. Some authors do that anyway, but not you and that's nice for me

 

So I think that proves that you don't need to visualize your stories in your head to create an interesting and magical world Your readers should be able to easily fill it with what they think should be there to make the place feel like it should.

[Talanic]

Thank you.  It does put me at ease some.  If you like, I'll post more of it when I have more - although the old version of the tale is complete already, here.  It's not horrid (I think), but there's reasons why I'm doing a full rewrite.

 

I always hoped that my lack of description led to better flow.  Every time I tried to add description, I felt like I was shoving it where it didn't belong.  I usually skipped large tracts of description when reading, and didn't see the point of adding it to my stories unless it directly affected the characters.

 

I once read a book that spent half a page describing a rug that the protagonist's cat walked across once; to this day, I have never thrown another book as hard as I threw that one.

[Mestiv]

I usually skipped large tracts of description when reading, and didn't see the point of adding it to my stories unless it directly affected the characters.

 

I once read a book that spent half a page describing a rug that the protagonist's cat walked across once; to this day, I have never thrown another book as hard as I threw that one.

 

Hey, I often do the same Especially with books that were obligatory to read for school... Sometimes I skipped 50% of the whole book, because it was just pointless descriptions of how trees looked or how the rooms were decorated. I was perfectly able to imagine how the trees looked without ten sentences about their leafs   I think that's caused by my dyslectic mind creating a whole image of the forest before I finish reading the first sentence about the first tree.

 

I'm so happy that Sanderson puts descriptions only where they are useful and necessary, like a description of the chasm fiend, because we don't know how it looks like. 

[Eagle of the Forest Path]

Descriptions of a specific thing can bring an extra dimension to a story, in some cases, even if they aren't particularly important to the plot.

For instance, if the specific is an indication of the general.

If you get a detailed description of a single house, you can infer from that what most houses in that culture might look like, giving an insight into the world an author is trying to build.

[Oversleep]

I don't visualize things, unless something stands out - things I remember about Dalinar (when I read tWoK): around fourty, Highprince, set of Shards, two sons, doesn't remember his wife and so on... I still don't remember his hair colour (pretty sure it's black) and I am not sure if he has a beard or not.
But I remembered Adolin has multicoloured hair. For me, characters are just a set of characteristics, rather than images. Unless I have seen a movie adaptation, then everything is overridden.

On the other hand, I'm good with movements and such.

I tend to think in images more when I invent my own stories, but still rather than seeing faces, I think about sets of characterictics (this one has a scar, this one has a dot on his iris etc).

[Talanic]

Trying to compare.

 

I get vague impressions of Dalinar being in full armor, but the shardplate doesn't wind up looking like anything unusual.  A bit of a grey blur, that.

 

Adolin I have no image for.

 

Paradoxically, Renarin I imagine as a younger, scrawnier Adolin.

[Ookla the Absent]

Adolin I have no image for.

 

Paradoxically, Renarin I imagine as a younger, scrawnier Adolin.

    ?

    ...

 

I assume that makes sense to you...

 

I can make mental images, but I can't really retain them, especially if I think about them. It's a bit annoying, 'cause I occasionally get flashes of really cool scenes, which I then (I think this is how it works) describe in words to my long term memory, which tries to convert the verbal description back to images.

As such, I'm unusually influenced by fanart and movies and stuff. Also annoying.

So, I've got a minds eye, but no minds camera.

Somewhat ironically, I can remember photographs really well. It's basically the only way I remember faces. Either that or I have to see them in a situation where they look like their picture could reasonably be taken.

Also, most of my memories are third-person, especially of from when I was really young and stuff. And I dream in third person and... first person with third person view? It's weird. I watch myself.

 

I can't imagine taste or smell and limited feeling (which is interesting getting shot in dreams) unless a different smell, flavour, or sensation is present. It doesn't have to be at all related, I just have to have my senses hotwired, so to speak.

I am way empathetic, though, and feel quite strongly other peoples pain (both physical and emotional) with just a description, or them being in the same room. Not the case with myself, though.

 

-edit-

Looked at that questionnaire.

Couldn't picture a rising sun. At all.

Setting suns, yes. Rising, no. Very odd.

Edited December 23, 2015 by Gargoyle