Published on 12, July, 2020
Do you generally read or write fiction and/or fanfiction?
I spend my life reading and writing stories of various types, and I wondered if this is normal for autistic people. I thought we were supposed to have very limited imaginations and interests and that was how we got diagnosed. But my imagination is vast, I tend to live in a fantasy world rather than the real world because it is nicer tbh!
What is your imagination like?
I live my life entirely in a state of What if...? All our lives as humans are based upon storytelling and a foundation of fiction. That's why we describe all our personal and collective memories as hi-STORY. Even our sacred books are all in the form of stories. I'm not sure where the idea of autism being liked to a lack of imagination, but I have seen no evidence of it personally. The only other autistic people I know in real life are avid movie/TV series/comic-book watchers and readers. I am just about to finish the complete works of PJ Wodehouse (well over 100 hours of audio). This year alone, I have listened to more than 500 hours worth of fiction (and non-fiction). Not a day goes by without me engaging with some form audio or visual storytelling. I write jokes, music, plays, screenplays and short stories. The only trouble I have, which is definitely linked to autism, is the inability to finish anything; I quickly get absorbed in a new topic or new idea which takes me away from what I started...
I'm productive with writing, but don't have much cohesion. I couldn't tell a Yarn for Toffee; and I'm from a land of story-tellers.
Poetry is my best method of expression. But I'm more John Cooper Clarke than Seamus Heaney.