I am completely fascinated by how differently people operate. This post, Overstimulation, that I chanced upon totally drew me in. So, in this same vein, I’m going to write about a weird quirk I have.

I often hear people complain about how the movie characters never look like how they imagined them while reading the book. I have never had this problem. “Ah, what a remarkable coincidence! They always look like how you imagine them!” you probably won’t guess. In fact, the reason I don’t have this problem is because I never imagine these characters in the first place.

While others may say that when they read, they see a movie in their mind’s eye, I see nothing. I can’t even imagine seeing a movie whilst I read. Wouldn’t that be distracting?

Descriptions tend to be essentially skipped over. I mean, I’ll read it, but it won’t register. If the character has a peculiar physical flaw, like a missing hand, I’ll make a mental note of it, and I’ll remember it when it is necessary. I can perfectly process the information in an abstract way. However, I won’t be creating a mental image of a one-handed man.

When I write, I create character descriptions out of obligation. I don’t need to imagine the way they look.

Am I deficient in visualization skills? I don’t think so, but I don’t know how you really measure these things. If you gave me pictures of blocks, I could probably put them together in my head better than the average person. With a little training, I doubt I would have trouble remembering small details in pictures. My drawing is horrible, but that’s because I never bothered developing that skill. I don’t have the talent to become an amazing artist, but that doesn’t mean I can’t become mediocre.

Another thing, which may be related: Gruff voices and high voices don’t exist when I read quotations. However, this could be a side effect of sub-vocalization. And when I read too fast for sub-vocalization, of course there won’t be any voices. Yet I don’t think I’ve heard anyone complain about how the character sounds so different from how they imagined it.

I think it’s just the way I read and not some weird type of visualization-blindness. The way you probably read a boring text book is the same way I read a novel.

How do you read?