This morning, I realized for the first time that my partner of 11 years has aphantasia–difficulty picturing things in his mind’s eye. I, on the other hand, have a very vivid mental camera.
I started thinking about our different reading preferences and wondering to what degree our mind’s eyes affect them. I read a lot of fantasy, speculative fiction, and horror in paperback and audio. My partner is a voracious reader of comics, graphic novels, and manga.
We also have different writing styles. I like to focus on the environment in my writing, and my partner often focuses on mechanics.
So I’m wondering: do you have aphantasia or not, or something in between? What do you like to read, and how does your inner perception affect the way you engage with the books?
I think about this a lot.
I can picture objects with little details if I focus really hard one the specific aspect but vivid is not a word I’d use.
As a reader I basically skim any set description looking for anything that might be relevant to the plot. Character descriptions go in one ear and out the other.
As I writer, I’ll describe a scene once if it has any plot relevant details. Basically if I am describing something in a scene though, it is relevant on some level, even if it’s just a world building thing.
I recently realized how much I struggle describing new scenes when I started a new series. My first was a time loop story, so I established all the scenes and people early and then left it alone, referencing relevant stuff as needed.
Now I’m writing a non time loop story and I often have to go back and add scene descriptions because Im used to not doing so. I am also majorly regretting making a certain characters outfit choices relevant because I have to keep describing them and I suck at it.
I think, because I don’t picture scenes, I am able to think more abstractly. I feel a sense of things fitting together when thinking about mechanics or plot threads or logical trains of thought. Or maybe it’s not related idk.