Can you all see me? Can you all... hear me.

[Jason Byrne]

lol... I have to chuckle... this thread has turned into quite the conversation!

I hear my characters all the time... and they have their own 'sound' of their voice. It's not my voice trying to speak for them...
Do you "see" landscapes that you create? I "hear" the winds and "feel" the dampness in the air before a rain... as I'm writing it. Also "see" the trees and other landscape features.

Absolutely. That's part of the reason we retreat into these worlds, so much. In part because we really have no choice but to do so, and also in part because it's as real or more real than this world.

 

[Stephen Drake]

Are you sure this world isn't something dreamed up by some writer somewhere? Which raises the question, "What is reality?"

 

[Jason Byrne]

Are you sure this world isn't something dreamed up by some writer somewhere? Which raises the question, "What is reality?"

Haha, uh oh, here we go that way. Things seem to go so perfectly wrong sometimes, it just might be. It's probably Greek, what with all the hubris.

 

[Stephen Drake]

Oohh Nooo, mister Bill! We're trapped in a Greek tragedy!"

 

[Jason Byrne]

He's gonna be mean to me.

 

[Stephen Drake]

Read "Redshirts" by John Scalzi. It follows right along with this thread. The cool thing about being a writer, if we fly, we have these characters that go right along with us... for a single fare!

 

[James Marinero]

A good thread. I both see and hear, and my physical visualisation of characters is based on people I have met, but as adjtsed by the author.

 

[Jason Byrne]

You know, this morning before leaving for work I was reading Magic and Superstition in Europe: A Concise History from Antiquity to the Present, and it struck me — when I read non-fiction, I even do this. I "hear" the discourse of the author in a voice I imagine they might have, accompanied by visualizations of the discussed material.

For example, Michael D. Bailey will be discussing how historical views of the medieval magical practices of the peasantry are limited to the window of the elite few recording it from the condemnatory standpoint of the Church, and I'll see peasants performing rituals to protect their livestock, and then a cleric in a room writing, with the voice-over of what I presume Michael D. Bailey sounds like.

If I read a physics textbook, I'll "hear" the author's voice, and "see" the electron wave function.

Is this normal? Or — normal for us?

 

[Emurelda]

You know, this morning before leaving for work I was reading Magic and Superstition in Europe: A Concise History from Antiquity to the Present, and it struck me — when I read non-fiction, I even do this. I "hear" the discourse of the author in a voice I imagine they might have, accompanied by visualizations of the discussed material.

For example, Michael D. Bailey will be discussing how historical views of the medieval magical practices of the peasantry are limited to the window of the elite few recording it from the condemnatory standpoint of the Church, and I'll see peasants performing rituals to protect their livestock, and then a cleric in a room writing, with the voice-over of what I presume Michael D. Bailey sounds like.

If I read a physics textbook, I'll "hear" the author's voice, and "see" the electron wave function.

Is this normal? Or — normal for us?

It might be a developed sense of perspective that you have harnessed over a period of time - an adopted habit that has worked well for you or something that comes natural. Where my auditory skills are lacking my kineasthetic skills make up for it, in the sense that when I write I have to act out the motion with my hands and body to connect a part of my brain to the correct word to describe it...and usually it's a 'nope - that's not it' and I have to think about it for a long while before I realise that I have to learn the verbs to use within the context...e.g I would look up parkour and try out the jumps...or watch the experts (the latter more likely!) and then combine with the correct gymnastic moves associate with the action.

There are 3 main senses we use

Visual
Auditory
Kineasthetic

As a teacher one must adopt all three methods during a lesson to cater for all learning abilities (differentiation). The human mind has at least 7 intelligences (officially) and rhythmic is a very important aspect that comes under the musical (auditory) category. Once you know your strenghts - and weaknesses - you can use them to your advantage in whatever you do. So this isn't isolated as normal for authors/writers but to every category of people.

 

[Emurelda]

Of course it follows that if the author has specific learning routes then their characters will too.

A visual learner would say "I see what you mean"
An auditory learner would say "I hear you"
A kineasthetic might say "I get it now"

All are saying 'I understand you'. Which is quite formal and unnatural imo. You might be aware of your learner tendency and might purposefully try and pick a different verb that goes against your nature. Maybe you want to mirror someone to connect with them...but that enters a different spectrum of psychology that I find all very fascinating and fun.

It adds an extra depth to our characters when we see their psychological makeup as well as their personalities and their experiences.

 

[Stephen Drake]

Of course it follows that if the author has specific learning routes then their characters will too.

A visual learner would say "I see what you mean"
An auditory learner would say "I hear you"
A kineasthetic might say "I get it now"

All are saying 'I understand you'. Which is quite formal and unnatural imo. You might be aware of your learner tendency and might purposefully try and pick a different verb that goes against your nature. Maybe you want to mirror someone to connect with them...but that enters a different spectrum of psychology that I find all very fascinating and fun.

It adds an extra depth to our characters when we see their psychological makeup as well as their personalities and their experiences.

I agree totally! You feel me?

 

[Emurelda]

I agree totally! You feel me?

Great! We're on the same wavelength

 

[Jason Byrne]

Where my auditory skills are lacking my kineasthetic skills make up for it, in the sense that when I write I have to act out the motion with my hands and body to connect a part of my brain to the correct word to describe it...and usually it's a 'nope - that's not it' and I have to think about it for a long while before I realise that I have to learn the verbs to use within the context...e.g I would look up parkour and try out the jumps...or watch the experts (the latter more likely!) and then combine with the correct gymnastic moves associate with the action.

I do a little bit of that as well Emurelda. I once had a castle curtain wall in a story with vertical crenelations up the exterior, and I had a character use a chimney climb to scale the wall, so I went out and did the climb up the space between two trees to make sure it worked. I'm glad it did.

I would also step out fight scenes, like at work in the parking lot at lunch, and time it so I could say something like "everyone lay dead, only perhaps thirteen seconds elapsed though it felt infinitely longer." Got some questions from the manager that time, watching the video feed of the parking lot, after I valiantly fought people that weren't there.

"Dvinsk Clan - Le Parkour" is a great Youtube video, for a wide range of parkour techniques.

 

[Kelly Michelle Baker]

I see and hear, but my sight is much stronger. For instance, I don't really hear distinct voices for characters. I hear my 27-year-old woman's voice for all sexes and ages.

 

[Jason Byrne]

Haha, you know, sometimes I'll read my work aloud to see if I catch issues I wouldn't have noticed silently, and I'll find myself reading aloud in different voices, for different characters...

 

[Stephen Drake]

Yup! Sounds like what I do!

 

[Katie-Ellen]

I see and hear. IF the writing is good enough. Otherwise I'm bouncing over cobbles and I only see the workings on the page.

 

[Stephen Drake]

I see and hear. IF the writing is good enough. Otherwise I'm bouncing over cobbles and I only see the workings on the page.

That is a great way to put it! Maybe that's why I feel like I've just traveled fifty miles of bad road when I read something confusing or not very well written.

 

[Vivaldo]

I think I just see. I visualise everything the writer is describing but I'm not sure that I actually hear it - except maybe dialogue - I think I hear that. People have told me that they don't see or hear anything which I find weird but the same people seem to read much more quickly than me. I'm quite a slow reader. I wonder if there's a connection?

 

[Stephen Drake]

I think I just see. I visualise everything the writer is describing but I'm not sure that I actually hear it - except maybe dialogue - I think I hear that. People have told me that they don't see or hear anything which I find weird but the same people seem to read much more quickly than me. I'm quite a slow reader. I wonder if there's a connection?

Interesting! I'm wondering how many of us that either "see" or "hear" when we read are actually slow readers? I know I am.

 

[Carol Rose]

My characters talk to me while I'm writing. They do all the work. I merely take dictation. I've stopped dead in the middle of a sentence because one of them revealed something to me I never saw coming, more than once. And of course it was written into the book. They're the ones writing it, after all.

 

[Meerkat]

Do you compile songs from movies to make a "soundtrack" of your book? That's something I do, as well — pick a song that's just right for a scene, and play it while I'm writing it, so my movie has a score!

I do this!

 

[Meerkat]

When I'm not sure if a dialogue sounds right, I read it aloud in the characters' voices to see if they would say that.

 

[James Marinero]

Haha, you know, sometimes I'll read my work aloud to see if I catch issues I wouldn't have noticed silently, and I'll find myself reading aloud in different voices, for different characters...

I don't need a book to help me talk to myself...

 

[Jason Byrne]

My characters talk to me while I'm writing. They do all the work. I merely take dictation. I've stopped dead in the middle of a sentence because one of them revealed something to me I never saw coming, more than once. And of course it was written into the book. They're the ones writing it, after all.

I've thrown my hands up from the keyboard a couple times too, and jumped around the room cheering, after my own plot twist took me completely by surprise. It's an awesome experience. We all write for moments like that.

 

[Stephen Drake]

I don't need a book to help me talk to myself...

Me neither....

 

[James Marinero]

I've thrown my hands up from the keyboard a couple times too, and jumped around the room cheering, after my own plot twist took me completely by surprise. It's an awesome experience. We all write for moments like that.

That's the beauty of not planning a book!