Ideas for novel

Several things spring to mind from my own experiences at university.  

Firstly it being a time of transition which might be more difficult to navigate as an Aspie, particularly an undiagnosed one.  

Secondly that the skills required to get into university - largely academic - may well not be the ones that enable you to feel comfortable and get the most out of your time there (I'm thinking of social skills and emotional maturity).  

Thirdly, if anxiety is a factor, how is this managed during these often turbulent years and how might it impact the university experience, both socially and academically (lectures, seminars, discussion groups, presentations)?

Fourth, my experience suggests that there can be a bit of a drinking culture at uni, particularly during Freshers' week when you're finding your feet.  Given the possible propensity to self medicate with alcohol to ease anxiety, I think this can easily become problematic.  

And finally, I think that all of these can impact on relationships and a young person's growing sense of self and sexuality.  Put someone who is academically able but underdeveloped socially, extremely nervous, low self esteem, self medicating with ridiculous amounts of alcohol and propelled by a very healthy sex drive into a university bar in freshers' week and watch what happens...

Hi Violinist,

And welcome from a fellow writer!  I'm currently working on a similar kind of novel, from the perspective of a middle-aged late-diagnosed Aspie.  My working method on it is to start in medias res rather than follow a strictly chronological line with the narrative.  So I'm establishing the current situation, then using flashbacks to fill in the full story... and then taking it forwards from the present standpoint.  For my particular project, it's the method that seems to work best. 

Are you planning it as a first-person narrative? I'm doing that because I want it to be very much focused on daily thought processes: getting up in the morning to face the world, mental preparation - plus seeing the world from the 'inside', so to speak.  On the other hand, a third-person viewpoint could offer insights about perceived 'oddities' of behaviour.  Perhaps like with Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.  Watson was very  much  grounded in the world.  Holmes sometimes came across as almost like an alien in his behaviours and obsessions!  I'm sure he was on the spectrum!  There are various models out there - some  good, others not so.  'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' is okay, if a bit contrived - and it presents, I think, quite a one-dimensional portrayal of Asperger's.  But then,  each individual on the spectrum is different.  'Elinor Oliphant  is Completely Fine' covers similar territory, though it's not specifically about autism.  I was less impressed with this.  It felt too researched, and the storyline seemed unrealistic and a little too cliched.  I think part of the problem, though, is that you can over-read this kind of stuff, and maybe it's best to just focus - as I'm trying to do - on the central character, who is in good part based on myself, and my own take on things, my own experiences and struggles. Being late-diagnosed, I  spent many years in a wilderness of not knowing what was wrong with me, and why other  people seemed to be reacting to me in the way they did.  Why  I couldn't make friends or sustain relationships.  The diagnosis gave answers to a lot of this, and enabled me to realise that I could now drop the 'act' I was putting on to fit in and be the 'real' me.  I'm focusing on the reactions that now has.  The attitudes of work colleagues for my character, family, etc.  Their misconceptions and stereotyped ideas.  What I want to try to do is not present a list of autistic traits as such, but simply present a human being just like any other - except for being autistic.  I want to show him having needs and wants just like any other human - and primarily for him, those are the wants and needs most human beings have: to be accepted, to be liked and to be loved.  These are the things that have eluded him, maybe in large part because of his condition.  So it's about trying to accept himself for who he is, and hope that others can accept him in that way too.  And like him... and maybe even love him.  I'm not sure if he'll find that love yet.  But it's work in progress!

This might be an approach you could take.  Give your perspective on how it's affected you.  Be honest.  Don't try to embellish  things with little behaviours simply because they comply with what, for many people, would be 'typically' autistic.  By all means, though, include other autistic characters.  And, as Graham has said, drop in some stuff about other autistic people who've made an impact in life.  My character is always getting asked what his 'special talent' is, or if he's a Mr Spock, a Sheldon Cooper or a Rain Man - so I'm trying to expose some of those pop culture stereotypes and give a broader understanding.  I also want to show, fundamentally, what a humane and sensitive person my character is - again, challenging those myths of 'lacking in empathy' or 'emotionally cold'.  These are just my own ideas I'm bandying around, though.  I didn't yet have a diagnosis when I went to university.  I found it both a confusing and a congenial place to be.  I didn't make any real friends there.  I was there for an education, and very little else - and it was a steep learning curve and a culture shock at the same time.  I joined societies, but very quickly found myself being sidelined.  I have a very strong sense now, looking back, that I was viewed as 'strange' by  my peers.  I was 28 at the time, too, so was a 'mature' student.  But my lack of emotional maturity, which was probably more about dysfunction compounded by my years of not really understanding people so not having much of a relationship with any of them, probably made me seem less mature and more insecure than many of the younger students.  It kind of brought all of my 'behaviours' and insecurities into a sharper focus - and made me feel more 'odd' and 'different' than I'd ever felt before.  At the same time... I was able to fully absorb myself in a subject I loved, away from the  strictures and structures of school (where I failed miserably).  I could lock myself in my room, or a library carrel, and read!

One thing I'll mention.  You say you have a plot line all worked out.  It works for some writers, not for others.  Writers like J K Rowling block out their plots very strictly before they start - though they might make deviations along the way.  Many other writers, though - like Stephen King - believe plot to be the negation of creativity.  He  always starts first with character - which is where plot really comes from, anyway.  Character... then  situation.  If you understand the character fundamentally, then that character will be believable.  Then... just follow that character.  Part of the joy of writing, for me, is to find out what's going to happen next.  If I know too much in advance, I tend to then shape the narrative to fit with what I want.  But it isn't about what I want, really.  It's about what my  character wants, and where his or her life takes them.  I know there are a lot of books and programmes out there which are opposed to this way  of working.  I read one recently which basically said 'this needs to happen by page 25, this needs to happen by  page 40,' etc.  Formula.  In many ways, it's dictated by the demands of the market.  I find it very artificial, though.  I think that's where 'Elinor Oliphant' fell apart for me.  I didn't believe the character, and I didn't believe the contrived plot.  Others, though, will disagree.  And we're all different!!  It's just my way of looking at it.  Please forgive me if I sound like I'm giving advice to someone who already knows what they're doing.  Just be honest with your character first.  Maybe put them in  a situation and see what happens.  Don't start with page one, necessarily, but just write an episode to get a feel for things.  The way forward may then come to you in that way.  One of my favourite quotes is from writer E L Doctorow: 'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night.  You can only see as far as the headlights, but you can make the whole journey that way.'

Have you been writing a long time, or is it your first attempt at this kind of thing?  If you're new to it, can I suggest a couple of really good books that have helped me a lot along the way?  The first - a real classic - is Stephen King's On Writing.  But  the one that really always inspires me when I'm roadblocked and have no idea either where to start or where to go next is Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on  Writing and Life.  She'll help you with those initial things: dropping perfectionism, for instance, or worrying about whether what you're writing will have any relevance to what you think the  book should be about.  Again... know that character, and follow that character.  Don't try to  make them do what you want them to do.  Go with them where they seem to want to go.  It might lead to dead-ends - but that's all part of the process, too.  Part of the  joy and frustration  of it all!

Good luck with it.  It's an adventure.  Enjoy it. Keep us updated on how things are going.

Best,

Tom