Trinidy
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: Jan 10, 2012
Posts: 40
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 Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:35 am Post subject: |
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Many thanks 
Ah yes I have noticed a lot of my characters are kind of.. cold... but! just because we see the similarities does not mean other people will Everyone has quirks
I have also learned to absorb the character fully. In fact, while I do not feel the emotions I "should" I am able to respond and react to some situations in real life towards others; if I try hard enough... because some of my characters are empathetic. Which I find completely strange and honestly I dislike writing as them sometimes because I get scolded too lol!
I ramble about my stories all day, everyday; I so understand ^^
Thank you for the luck And best of luck to you! |
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kestrel
Phoenix
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Joined: Jan 14, 2012
Posts: 574
Location: Ohio
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| Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 2:04 am Post subject: |
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| You can get a good understanding of social interaction through reading lots of books written by authors who are especially adept at that sort of thing. It's all theoretical, of course.I find it doesn't do much in living practice, but it does make writing easier. The one thing I still beat my head against walls over is describing body language, but it's hit-or-miss. Sometimes I can do it without even thinking about it, most times I can't even think of what my characters might do in the first place, much less come up with words to describe whatever it is. |
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misteryb
Hummingbird
Joined: Dec 20, 2011
Posts: 18
Location: England
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| Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 1:45 pm Post subject: More thoughts... |
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Some best selling authors seem to specialize in dialogue that sounds a bit odd and isn't how people speak. I'm thinking about Murakami in The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, Dance Dance Dance, The Wild Sheep Chase, etc. Sometimes the strangeness of dialogue, the coldness or directness, adds to the characters personalities, but I suppose it helps if you know they behave/speak in an untypical way.
Also, dialogue in a story is very unlike real spoken language. It is generally much more to the point. Much less round and about and more 'aspie' anyway. I'm saying take courage and write what you know and what comes naturally to you. You can always adjust it later. |
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Dedalus
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Dec 13, 2011
Age: 24
Posts: 54
Location: Ireland
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| Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 7:05 am Post subject: |
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I haven't read the whole thread, because it's very long, so apologies if I'm repeating anything.
Professor Michael Fitzgerald from Trinity College Dublin (who diagnosed me when I was a child) has posthumously diagnosed some writers with Asperger's, and has released a book about Autism and Creativity (should be on Amazon). From what I've heard, he doesn't use the most scientific methods (if there is such a thing for posthumous diagnosis) but a lot of them are worth considering.
One major writer he's looked at is W.B. Yeats, who was definitely quite strange. Another one he asserts, but who I'm not as sure about, is Samuel Beckett.
These things should be taken with a pinch of salt, but it's definitely encouraging. A friend of mine who's more driven than me (and I would guess is an undiagnosed case) has released a zine with some minor published writers, and has done very well in an English degree.
I'm trying to experiment with stories that don't involve realistic social interaction between characters. I take my cue from cinema; with German Expressionism, Surrealism, and so on, and the way these movements contrast with Italian Neo-Realism. Realism is just a storytelling device. I feel it might be worth exploring this kind of thing. Has anyone else had much success with these kind of stories? |
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BrandonSP
Phoenix
Joined: Jul 06, 2010
Age: 23
Posts: 999
Location: San Diego, CA
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| Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 11:44 pm Post subject: |
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| I've written 1,416 words of my new story. It's a fantasy/historical novel set in ancient Africa and starring a Nubian queen who gets driven off her throne by her sister. What I've written so far is actually planned to be the second chapter, but it provides backstory for the main character. |
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BrandonSP
Phoenix
Joined: Jul 06, 2010
Age: 23
Posts: 999
Location: San Diego, CA
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| Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 9:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Now up to almost 3,200 words (over twice as many as I wrote last yesterday). |
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351Boss
Blue Jay
Joined: Aug 26, 2011
Posts: 76
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| Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 2:36 am Post subject: |
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This is my first post, so please bare with me.
I think it's wonderful how talented everybody is. Whether you write for yourself or with the dream to be published, just so long as you enjoy it, that's the main thing.
I recently discovered that I'm an Aspie, funnily enough it was writing that helped me find out and it was a revelation in my case.
It took me three years to write (after numerous re-writes) but I was fortunate to get my first novel published, (Sci-Fi) The publishers must have liked it because I'm on a deadline for the sequel. The process was a surprisingly sort one after I got out of my own way. I'd been informed by 'everyone' in the industry that to be published is like winning lotto... only harder.
Point is no matter who you are, if you can write something that grabs attention, it doesn't matter what your affliction, for instance, I can't spell.  And who knew I could write? (Apparently) everyone has an equal chance.
Don't get in the way of yourself!
I hope I can take my own advice because now I have to start a publicity trail, something new I have to learn how to cope with.  |
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Grebels
Toucan
Joined: Mar 06, 2012
Posts: 270
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| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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| You're a great encouragement Boss. |
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351Boss
Blue Jay
Joined: Aug 26, 2011
Posts: 76
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| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 3:09 am Post subject: |
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Thank Grebles.
I think we (Aspies) tend to underestimate ourselves. We can do anything, we are brilliant, we just have to find our niche and go with it and not give up. (so easy to do but a cop out no matter if you're Aspie or not IMO)
My book is also about a character/s with Aspie tendencies BUT it is a strength not the weakness. To do things differently, to feel and see things differently is not a bad thing, you just have to use it to your advantage.
God, It sounds like I've written a self help book. LOL.  |
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AngryDesiDoughboy
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Jan 22, 2012
Age: 19
Posts: 73
Location: St. Paul, MN.
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| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 5:52 pm Post subject: |
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I like to write, or used to, I guess. I still want to write but I am so out of practice it just doesn't feel right. However I have a story I started that I want to continue, but the only problem is that I am getting mired down in the details. Also, I don't read very often anymore, at least, not fiction. So I get hung up, and say, "writers write what they read. I am reading very little so how can I write anything worthwhile?" The story is about an old man from michigan or something, and a old woman from mexico who are lonely, meet, become good friends and help each other live life. It's an extremely vague premise. But I think it will work. I can see the characters in my head...I also do what I call culture building, and I have stories centered around some of that. What I have a problem with in writing is, I don't know how to keep being consistent with my writing. How do I make sure I write every day without forcing it or blowing things out of my behind...? I'm not much of a novel guy in writing it seems, but I do like to write poetry now and then. How do I enforce this craft so that I feel like I have a stream of accomplishments as opposed to a few good poems? Oh wait, I think I have the partial answer to that.
I think that a lot of writers are autistic. It's an individual thing, and they can be as detailed as they want, and they can ramble, control, contort, do pretty much anything. At least, at an amateur level. REAL writing is almost where the story uses you to write it. But there is a connection. |
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AngryDesiDoughboy
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Jan 22, 2012
Age: 19
Posts: 73
Location: St. Paul, MN.
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| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 7:20 pm Post subject: |
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I like to write, or used to, I guess. I still want to write but I am so out of practice it just doesn't feel right. However I have a story I started that I want to continue, but the only problem is that I am getting mired down in the details. Also, I don't read very often anymore, at least, not fiction. So I get hung up, and say, "writers write what they read. I am reading very little so how can I write anything worthwhile?" The story is about an old man from michigan or something, and a old woman from mexico who are lonely, meet, become good friends and help each other live life. It's an extremely vague premise. But I think it will work. I can see the characters in my head...I also do what I call culture building, and I have stories centered around some of that. What I have a problem with in writing is, I don't know how to keep being consistent with my writing. How do I make sure I write every day without forcing it or blowing things out of my behind...? I'm not much of a novel guy in writing it seems, but I do like to write poetry now and then. How do I enforce this craft so that I feel like I have a stream of accomplishments as opposed to a few good poems? Oh wait, I think I have the partial answer to that.
I think that a lot of writers are autistic. It's an individual thing, and they can be as detailed as they want, and they can ramble, control, contort, do pretty much anything. At least, at an amateur level. REAL writing is almost where the story uses you to write it. But there is a connection. |
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351Boss
Blue Jay
Joined: Aug 26, 2011
Posts: 76
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| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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ADD. I hadn't read a book since high school. Until I read a popular series that I just had to analyse to its unfortunate demise.I figured if it could be published, surely I could produce something too... seriously anyone could. 
My plot idea came to me like a battering ram and I had no problem committing to my story, it became one of my interests (obsessions) but now that I've written it, the publishers want the sequel and I'm finding that it needs a little more effort so I set aside a few hours each day to commit to it like a job and find that even if I contributing only a dozen lines or rewriting what I've already put down, it's something. It doesn't matter if you change it the next day or week because if you don't at least have your head in the work part of the day, I think you lose the plot (pardon the pun) completely and your motivation too. |
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Dogeasyfox
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: Feb 14, 2012
Age: 48
Posts: 39
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| Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 2:36 pm Post subject: Dear Miss Landau |
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Hi!
I have Asperger Syndrome, I wrote Dear Miss Landau. It can be done.
James Christie
Chaplin Books |
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edgewaters
hibernating
Joined: Aug 17, 2006
Age: 40
Posts: 2426
Location: Ontario
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| Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:51 am Post subject: Re: Aspie authors writing social interaction |
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| hyperbolic wrote: | | A question I have for you all is do you think that someone with Asperger's Syndrome can become a successful author even with his difficulties in social interaction, which may be reflected in his writing, especially in the dialogue? |
Many of the best writers don't invent the characters or the dialogue all by themselves, they get help and input from other people. And some of them don't even use dialogue in a normal way. Look at Asimov, for instance. The dialogue is functional - he uses it to move the plot along, not to develop the characters really. The characters, actually, are hardly developed at all, and yet he was a very succesful writer - likely the most succesful in his genre, ever. |
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BrandonSP
Phoenix
Joined: Jul 06, 2010
Age: 23
Posts: 999
Location: San Diego, CA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:38 am Post subject: |
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| I wonder if being an Aspie affects your characterization negatively. How can you construct compelling characters if you don't know how real people tick? |
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