Reading is so powerful and has saved me a lot of times. I wonder if my empathy comes from books or if I love books because I have a lot of empathy and so can get lost in them more easily... I've written 2 (they were published) and it is really the most complicated endeavour to create convincing, charismatic and motivated humans. I've started and not finished many more novels than I've published, because I just find it so hard. Thanks au-dhd diagnosese shed a bit of light in this too! Working memory issues and extended fiction are maybe not the greatest bedfellows!
"I wonder if my empathy comes from books or if I love books because I have a lot of empathy and so can get lost in them more easily..."
I've had the same question and my answer has changed over time. I used to think of myself as highly empathetic and that's why I've always been drawn to literature. Now my theory is that I'm highly sensitive to emotions... but my empathy is more a product of my reading than the reason for it. Who knows, probably a decade hence I'll have yet another theory.
Wow, you've published two works of fiction, that's incredible! I'm really impressed. I always wanted to be a fiction writer but that never translated into any real attempts. I'm not a born storyteller, at all. I have no intrinsic sense of pacing, suspense, etc. I can't even tell jokes, ha. That's super interesting to hear about all the writing you do. Have you written about how your au-dhd interacts with your writing? I'd love to read something on that!
Hehe me too, my opinion never fixes for long... I always loved books and looking back I learned a lot from them about how to behave, better lessons than from the people around me sometimes!
I've drafted an essay about how I write and how my understanding of why it's so hard has changed since I got diagnosed but it's one of many stuck in the drafts folder!
I maybe don't talk about this side of me enough given how important it is to me... I'm always working on a novel but it's a LONG time since I completed one! In fact, the last one I completed was the last one I published. I'm hoping to get a completed draft done this summer but I'm always over optimistic with writing!
Reading is so powerful and has saved me a lot of times. I wonder if my empathy comes from books or if I love books because I have a lot of empathy and so can get lost in them more easily... I've written 2 (they were published) and it is really the most complicated endeavour to create convincing, charismatic and motivated humans. I've started and not finished many more novels than I've published, because I just find it so hard. Thanks au-dhd diagnosese shed a bit of light in this too! Working memory issues and extended fiction are maybe not the greatest bedfellows!
I enjoyed this, thanks 🙏
"I wonder if my empathy comes from books or if I love books because I have a lot of empathy and so can get lost in them more easily..."
I've had the same question and my answer has changed over time. I used to think of myself as highly empathetic and that's why I've always been drawn to literature. Now my theory is that I'm highly sensitive to emotions... but my empathy is more a product of my reading than the reason for it. Who knows, probably a decade hence I'll have yet another theory.
Wow, you've published two works of fiction, that's incredible! I'm really impressed. I always wanted to be a fiction writer but that never translated into any real attempts. I'm not a born storyteller, at all. I have no intrinsic sense of pacing, suspense, etc. I can't even tell jokes, ha. That's super interesting to hear about all the writing you do. Have you written about how your au-dhd interacts with your writing? I'd love to read something on that!
Hehe me too, my opinion never fixes for long... I always loved books and looking back I learned a lot from them about how to behave, better lessons than from the people around me sometimes!
I've drafted an essay about how I write and how my understanding of why it's so hard has changed since I got diagnosed but it's one of many stuck in the drafts folder!
I maybe don't talk about this side of me enough given how important it is to me... I'm always working on a novel but it's a LONG time since I completed one! In fact, the last one I completed was the last one I published. I'm hoping to get a completed draft done this summer but I'm always over optimistic with writing!
I would love to read that essay when you finish it! And good luck with your current manuscript! That’s so cool.