turps | (no subject)

I do the same thing too! Usually with both words and pictures, like a film or something with narration over it. The narration doesn't really continue throughout the thing, it flickers on and off, but I always have the film going on, if that makes sense.

It does make sense. I think having a film going in your head is cool, having the dialogue just makes that better.

Mostly words... unless it's the sexy bits. ;)

Hee. So the sexy bits are in full colour action. Awesome.

My stories are usually fleshed out scenes with really sharp images for some sections and fuzzier for others. Dialogue too. Which is why when it happens for a story I am working on, I am now trying to take a pad and pen to bed so I can write down the dialogue bits or else I'll forget them.

I love that you get your dialogue like that. If I did that I'd have to go post at Nifty *g*

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sperrywink - 2008-11-10 16:37 (UTC) - Expand

I think it's in pictures mostly. As if I was watching some film... except when you watch something on the screen it's more or less restrictive, whereas those images are like watching RL scenes around you, it usually looks bigger somehow and more real, almost as in 3D. I'm not sure I'm saying it right. But, anyway, yes, in pictures it is.

No, I get what you mean. Your way sounds very much like how Pen sees things. It's different to how my mental stories play out, but fascinating to hear about.

Words. Words words words. I don't really visualize things, not in the sense of having pictures in my head. When I read, all the voices sound like mine. All the description an author puts in (paragraphs and paragraphs!) translates in my head to "there's a table with a chair, and some kind of dog underneath. Right. Moving on." I tend to knit things in the same color scheme that the designer did for the pattern, because I can't imagine what the sweater would look like in any other color.

It sounds limiting, but it really isn't. My "imaginary stories" tend to be deeply involved mental conversations, and they're often quite interesting. :D

I don't think it's limiting, more a different way to approach things, one that's interesting to think about. I'd imagine deeply involved mental conversations are very satisfying.

Nah, you're not weird. I do the same thing. Mine's pictures, though, with spoken dialogue. Like a movie in my head. I've always considered myself very lucky to have that. :-D

You are lucky to have that. I think it's so cool, and also an excellent boredom buster :)

Both words (in the form of dialog) and also sometimes, like a little movie. ((When it's really good, it's the most embarrassing Mary-Sue-ish stuff that goes on. :"> ))

So you're an over achiever who can do both *g*

The stories in your head are meant for Mary-Sues. There's nothing embarrassing about it :)

Mine are mostly visual, like seeing a film where I can get inside the actors' heads, though sometimes I amend them with words... it means that when I write a story, I find it hard to convey what a scene looks like - I just don't know how much description I need, because the story-in-my-head comes with pictures.

I don't know how people can manage *without* telling themselves stories. I do it all the time, although sometimes the story is "what I will say if..." or "what will happen when I get there..."

like seeing a film where I can get inside the actors' heads

I can see how that would be a problem in terms of writing. But it's really interesting that you see them that way.

I'm not surprised that people on here tell themselves stories, but I wonder if the same would be true in a non-fannish/creative space? For example, I doubt James does. In all the time I've known him he's never read a book, which astounds me.

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pensnest - 2008-11-10 15:47 (UTC) - Expand

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turps33.livejournal.com - 2008-11-10 16:40 (UTC) - Expand

Interesting, I never thought about this.

My thinking is very similar to yours - mostly words with occasional flashes of pictures and mini-movies (gifs?). I often have to consciously think "what would that look like?" or "what would he look like?" to get an image in my head, and even then it's not very sharp or well defined... just a flicker really.

It's kind of the same when I read fic - I enjoy the story without actually picturing the scene as a movie. When I actually try to make myself imagine the characters, I lose the flow of the story. So yes, I am definitely word-centric.

Yes. You're so close to how I think about stories. I can think of images but mostly I have to prompt myself to do so. And yeah, it's the same for reading fic. While I can imagine characters and setting, I don't read the actual story in a movie like way.

I tell myself stories all the time, especially when I'm trying to go to sleep (I can't sleep if I'm thinking about real things), and they're mostly like

trumpeterofdoom said, a movie with sporadic narration over top. Well, a lot of narration. And dialogue. But always pictures. :)

When I'm going to sleep is my favourite time to tell myself stories.

It must be like having your own personal movie that you can affect at will. I find that so cool.

Hey if you're weirdo, so am I ;)

I've been doing it since I can remember, mostly with words but there are images here and there.

We can be weird together!

Your way sounds very like mine. It really is interesting to read all these answers. People are so cool.

I do words and images, but it's like the words words come first. It's very like reading a book, actually -- when I read, I see the scenes very clearly, and when I'm telling myself a story in my head, or going over story scenes, I 'read' the words to myself and that generates the images. Which means that if I'm thinking about a character thinking about something, I have both the image of the character as they're thinking, and the image of what they're thinking about.

Really, I shouldn't be let out on the roads.

Which means that if I'm thinking about a character thinking about something, I have both the image of the character as they're thinking, and the image of what they're thinking about.

That's very impressive. I'd imagine it also fits nicely with what you've said before, about being able to picture the whole of a story.

Really, I shouldn't be let out on the roads.

I'm sure you can manage three different thought processes at once :)

I think in mostly words, sometimes pictures. I’ve been known to dash out of a room, rush to a computer or scribble things down in the middle of doing something else. Like two weeks ago I was standing at the sink, washing some dishes and my dad was talking about something. My mind started to wander and all of a sudden, I had just ‘written’ the middle of a story. I dashed to my room to write it all down before it escaped me. I carry around one of those black and white journal books just for things like that. Sometimes I just let my mind ramble but sometimes it comes up with really good stuff that I can’t bear to lose.

I love that you can do that. I think some of the best kinds of stories are the ones that come out of nowhere and need to be written down.

Unlike you my mind tends to ramble most times. If I wrote down everything I thought about I'd end up shunned *g*

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musicboxgirl.livejournal.com - 2008-11-10 16:41 (UTC) - Expand

For me, it always starts with the words. Pictures may or may not come (I'm very rarely a visual writer, which means I have to concentrate very hard to get descriptions right - but also, I think means that I'm good at the small relevant details?). I'm much more likely to start with a clear first line and go from there, rather than a first image, if that makes sense? And then if the first line makes me ask questions about what's going on in the story, all the better.

For stories I'm not actually writing right now, it tends to be lots and lots of scenes with snippets of dialogue going on the whole time. Sometimes narration too, but mostly it's dialogue. Again, visuals are rare.

That does make sense, especially getting the details. It sounds a lot like how I think, very much word based rather than pictures.

You know, I'm totally going to lie in bed tonight and analyse how I'm thinking *g*

No, you are not a werido. I usually tell myself stories too and sometimes get up from where I'm sitting (If I'm alone that is) and talk to myself -playing the characters and such- so that I can develop the story further.

also I'm the kind of person who tells herself stories in her head as if I was watching a movie. I think widescreen so it's pretty cool to imagine things that later on I'm going to draw or write -usually draw- into an story board. It helps the creative process to go on.

I love to play that game. life's less sucky that way.

I like not being a weirdo :)

I often talk out dialogue aloud. Thankfully I'm alone often.

I'm not surprised at all you think visually, especially with your artistic background. It's cool that those stories can be applied to things you create later.

Images. I won't say pictures, because it's not stills, it's like a moving reel. I write my fic like that too, which can be a pain trying not to make it all dialouge.

A lot of people seem to have the movie type of story thoughts. That's so cool.

This is so interesting!!

For me, it's words, mostly--to the point where, when they tried to teach me self-hypnosis back in the day, it didn't work, because part of the process the teachers used involved imagining yourself somewhere, and they assumed visuals in your head, which really didn't work for me. Dad taught me how to do it with words instead.

With one exception--I get flashes of crystal clear visuals sometimes, at the weirdest moments. For instance, I was walking home with a bag of groceries one day, and some guy almost ran me down. I got out of the way in time, but immediately afterwards, I had a really crisp picture (with sound) in my mind of one solitary can of tomatoes rolling across the road (with the idea that I was all mushed, just out of the picture). Very disturbing. *g* If a trifle cinematic.

And yes, I have stories in my head all the time--probably horribly Sue-ish, and they never get finished, because anytime I get interrupted, I go back to the start and fine-tune that part, until I get tired of it. I had a therapist that wanted me to stop, because she thought it wasn't healthy, and that was about the most miserable three weeks I ever suffered through. If entertaining myself is wrong, I don't wanna be right. Heh.

It really is. It's fascinating to read all the different answers.

That's so cool about those flashes of clear visuals. It sounds like your mind stores up the pictures and then just erupts with them every now and then.

I can't believe that anyone would ever think self story telling wasn't healthy. It's a perfect way to entertain yourself and has to help your imagination.

And really, self told stories are meant for Mary Sues :)

This is a really interesting question. I love how everyone's answer is a little bit different.

For me it's images, more of a movie reel thing. Sometimes it's in 3Dm which is great for writing, but finding the words to match it can be tricky.

I love how everyone's answer is a little bit different.

Me too. People really are fascinating.

I'm so intrigued by people who think like a movie reel. It has to be so cool.

I never really thought of it in terms of telling myself a story, more like day-dreaming even when I do it in bed before I fall asleep. Mostly because I do it pretty much anytime I'm alone; walking to work, walking home, sitting on my couch, etc.

Also, why I'm using the term day-dreaming is because those stories have a somewhat dream-like quality to them. Sometimes it's just random scenes (movie-like), sometimes it's dialogue, feelings, words, any combination thereof. Most of the time it's not in chronological order, always jumping around, mostly because I'm impatient and jump forward to the good bits and jump back to other bits and stuff like that.

I think day-dreaming is a good way to describe it too. I use telling myself a story because I tend to use words, which to me is like having a mental book that I can add to at will.

Yeah, I do the jumping around thing too. Often I think about my favourite bits over and over. So I get what you mean about having that dream-like quality.

Words for me, definitely. Somehow the way my brain works is extremely verbal and not very visual at all. Sometimes I have trouble listening to instrumental music because there are no lyrics to keep me focused.

Sometimes I have trouble listening to instrumental music because there are no lyrics to keep me focused.

I can see how that could happen if you're so word based.

People are so fascinating, and I love that I'm being told this stuff :)

Interesting question and I love how everyone's answer is different from the others, even if just by a tiny bit.

I think for me it's a combination of words and pictures and movie and emotions. It's the emotions and pictures that are the most important, then the movie and the words/dialogue last. And as someone above said, I've got a tendency to go back to the beginning and then polish my favourite bits again and again. Until I grow tired of that particular story/daydream that is, and then I've got to start a new one.

I don't do it all the time though. Always at night before I go to sleep and sometimes when I'm waiting on busses and trains and am bored, but never when I'm walking or travelling by car or train or doing household chores. At those times I usually go completely blank, especially when I'm listening to music.

I think everyone in fandom does it really, it goes with the territory so to speak. I'm not so sure about non-fannish people though. (Not that this in any way proves that you're not a weirdo of course!!! :-)

Yeah, I love that too. It's been fascinating reading all the answers.

You're the first person who's mentioned emotions on this post, and while I don't tend to use those when I think/daydream I can see how they could be added to the mix.

Before I go to sleep is my favourite time to tell these self stories, though as I usually fall asleep so fast they go forward at the mental equivalent of ten words at a time *g*

It seems it is something that goes along with fandom.

Not that this in any way proves that you're not a weirdo of course!!

Ahahahaha. That is very true.

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turloughishere.livejournal.com - 2008-11-11 15:13 (UTC) - Expand

Hm, I think my main method would be dialogue, actually. Accompanied by other words and pictures, yes, but I think I more likely to carry out fictional conversations in my head than anything else. Which makes me sound a little odd ;)

Not odd at all. In fact, you sound very much like Carta way up there :)

People are so cool. They really are.

I mostly think in words. I used to walk around outside telling myself stories out loud--that gets some weird looks, but it helped me think of plenty. Dialogue, for one, sounds better if you can tell if it would be awkward to say or not, you know?

Yeah, I can see how telling yourself stories out loud would get weird looks, but I can also see how helpful it would be.

I tend to speak dialogue out loud if it doesn't seem to be flowing right. Which yeah, a female english woman speaking the words of amercian males makes for the laughs.

i think in pictures mostly, but words come up.

That sounds like the opposite way to how I think. But both obviously work well :)

I love this post, and all the comments, SO much. It's so much fun to see how people are responding to this question.

I'm like a lot of people here as well, I mostly think in movie sequences with narration or dialogue running over it. I think the main thing for me that's strange is that I only think in English, which baffles me since it isn't my first language. I can't remember when it started, but it must've been when I started reading fanfic online and had to run so much English through my head on a daily basis.

I LOVE telling myself stories when I go to sleep. It's one my favorite things ever. Mostly I just take a scene I've been working on in my head for a while and try to elaborate it, or sometimes I just repeat it. Then the words tend to come in, because suddenly descriptive passages pop up and pieces of dialogue, etc. It's a strange process, but I adore it. :D

It's so much fun to see how people are responding to this question.

It really is.

That is strange that you think in English. I wonder if that goes for others where English is a second language, too? I may have to ask. Man, I'm so nosy.

It sounds like a wonderful process. I can't think of anything more boring that just lying and not thinking of anything. Elaborating on a story seems like the perfect thing to do.

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turloughishere.livejournal.com - 2008-11-11 15:06 (UTC) - Expand