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 fully agree that if the writing is good enough and descriptive enough, it doesn’t matter if you can “see” it or not. And for the record, I don’t think one manner of perception is superior to another in any way–just unique.
I also get the testiness. I did hesitate before posting, wondering if this had been asked a million times. Part of my inquiry comes from a desire to write better and read more books I otherwise wouldn’t have–are there things I don’t notice because of my default perception that someone else might?