Do you picture what you're reading?

[gmw]

Yes, I do experience some sort of visual, auditory and sometimes smell and even taste feedback while reading. Generally not touch though - that could get creepy. But as others have said, it's not like a movie, or a VR set or something, I do not literally hear the characters speak. For me it's more like a memory of the event that forms as I'm reading and tends, as issybird described, to be something like snapshots.

Apropos of Karellen and hildea's comments about making up their own narratives: one of the reasons why I took up writing again (after decades away) is that I found I could get the same effect while writing. It's quite a buzz while it's working, but doesn't happen all the time.

[ps67]

No. I follow the plot, I want to know how it ends but I don't imagine places, people, etc.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Karellen

Sometimes for certain scenes I create a little side narrative that I feel should have happened in the book. (yea, yea, I know, seek professional help )

There are many many thousands of people who write fanfiction, so ... you could just sign up to AO3 instead? Much cheaper than professional help.

[DrivingTest]

Originally Posted by haertig

This is what distinguishes a good author from a poor author for me. If I can picture the location and characters, that's a good author. If I can't, that's a poor one.

Totally agree, a good author can paint a picture with words and that picture should appear in the mind.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Yes. Not as sharply as in real life; it's all kind of blurred. But yeah, I do visualize. Taste, too. Smelling and hearing, possibly a little.

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I notice a clear trend here. Those who visualize are also mostly those who felt an emotional connection to their reading material and the characters in it in the other thread. And those who don't visualize are the ones who seemed to take a more intellectual approach. Interesting.

I was the OP in the other thread - I asked about "connecting" to the characters because I don't think I do that and found it confusing when people mention "connecting" in a review. It's been interesting to read about other people's experience.

As for the images - I usually have a fuzzy picture in my mind of what a character, house, etc. looks like. No taste, smell or sound.

I know in some past Mobileread discussion about visualization some people reported that they almost saw a movie in their head of what was going on in the book. I definitely don't have that. I can't visualize something like a fight scene and usually just skip over those.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by DrivingTest

Totally agree, a good author can paint a picture with words and that picture should appear in the mind.

Originally Posted by haertig

This is what distinguishes a good author from a poor author for me. If I can picture the location and characters, that's a good author. If I can't, that's a poor one.

I once read some discussion or opinion piece about Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice wherein it was pointed out that there was very little description of the characters. I realized I hadn't even noticed, though I did have my usual fuzzy mental images of the main characters. I'll never know if my images were anything like what Austen may have had in mind.

[Maggie May]

I like when the author gives a good description of the main characters at the beginning of a book.
It helps to make a connection to those characters throughout the story, and makes for a more enjoyable reading experience. It then plays out like a movie in my mind and I’m thoroughly hooked until the end.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by ekbell

As someone with aphantasia, I can't visualize no matter how emotionally invested I am.

Same here -- even my own memories are not images in my head, just a list of facts. It's hard for me to even imagine what it's like for others who claim that they can see, smell, and hear the scene... it just seems so foreign as to be almost unbelievable to me. This might be why I'm not really into fantasy but love very technical science fiction, and why I like reading non-fiction and technical topics more than a lot of general fiction.

When I was in elementary school the teachers often did this guided visualization thing where we'd lay down and close our eyes and they'd tell us to imagine something -- I hated that, it always seemed so pointless, but I wonder if others were having a very different experience than me.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by twowheels

Same here -- even my own memories are not images in my head, just a list of facts. It's hard for me to even imagine what it's like for others who claim that they can see, smell, and hear the scene... it just seems so foreign as to be almost unbelievable to me.

It's very hard for me to imagine what it's like to never see/taste/smell/hear anything in one's mind. I had no idea there even were people like that, until I stumbled upon a post here mentioning aphantasia. A subject that seems to have been researched very little until now. Reading about it was really interesting and eye-opening. How drastically different people can be, our genetic similarity notwithstanding...

And it makes one wonder why various genetic mutations have persisted for thousands or millions of years. What benefit do they have? For example, I have a personality disorder that makes it virtually impossible for me to have close emotional relationships with other people (no problem with animals). Apparently inherited from my father's side of the family. I often wonder why such a disability has persisted throughout human history, with no obvious benefits I can see.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

It's very hard for me to imagine what it's like to never see/taste/smell/hear anything in one's mind. I had no idea there even were people like that, until I stumbled upon a post here mentioning aphantasia. A subject that seems to have been researched very little until now. Reading about it was really interesting and eye-opening. How drastically different people can be, our genetic similarity notwithstanding...

And it makes one wonder why various genetic mutations have persisted for thousands or millions of years. What benefit do they have? For example, I have a personality disorder that makes it virtually impossible for me to have close emotional relationships with other people (no problem with animals). Apparently inherited from my father's side of the family. I often wonder why such a disability has persisted throughout human history, with no obvious benefits I can see.

Someone ordering soldiers into combat might wish they were like that instead of being tortured by their memories for the rest of their life.
Apache

[haertig]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

How drastically different people can be, our genetic similarity notwithstanding...

I've always wondered if others see things the same way I do. Say, I look up and comment on what a beautiful blue color the sky is today. Someone else looks up, and they're seeing what I would call green. But they've known that as blue, because it's been that way for them all their life. We are seeing totally different colors, but we call them the same word because that's what we've always known them to be called.

I know, that's a really bizarre twist on the saying, "If you could only see things through someone else's eyes". It might make for a cool plot for a sci-fi novel. Actually seeing things through someone else's eyes, and the horror and confusion that may come from that.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

And it makes one wonder why various genetic mutations have persisted for thousands or millions of years. What benefit do they have?

I think the theory goes that unless it'll get a large portion of the society killed off, or at least keep them from breeding, it's not going to get weeded out. It'll just show up now and again. Mutations don't have to have benefits, they just don't have to kill off future descendants.

And it may be that the ability to be self-contained, and with no need for close relationships, lead to those people who explore. Charge out on their own, and search out new lands. Take the jobs where they can be solitary for long periods of time. Maybe, get sent to live on Mars, and never really miss the rest of us.

Pioneers.

[HLS]

plays out like a scene in a movie as i go along

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by haertig

I've always wondered if others see things the same way I do. Say, I look up and comment on what a beautiful blue color the sky is today. Someone else looks up, and they're seeing what I would call green. But they've known that as blue, because it's been that way for them all their life. We are seeing totally different colors, but we call them the same word because that's what we've always known them to be called.

I know, that's a really bizarre twist on the saying, "If you could only see things through someone else's eyes". It might make for a cool plot for a sci-fi novel. Actually seeing things through someone else's eyes, and the horror and confusion that may come from that.

I've always wondered if that's why different people like different colors. One person loves blue while another prefers red.

I've also wondered similarly about taste and food preferences.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by haertig

I've always wondered if others see things the same way I do. Say, I look up and comment on what a beautiful blue color the sky is today. Someone else looks up, and they're seeing what I would call green. But they've known that as blue, because it's been that way for them all their life. We are seeing totally different colors, but we call them the same word because that's what we've always known them to be called.

I’ve had that exact thought so many times.