I have talked to many people about this and read a lot of posts on Reddit. When reading a book or imagining something in general, some people claim so “see” everything as vivid as a movie. Others just don’t have anything close to that experience, seeing only vague shapes or muddy images. (Also there is aphantasia)
Since I fall into the latter category, I really envy people who are able to get so much more out of books. I want to improve my imagination but I don’t know if that is even possible. Has anyone here been successful with this? If so, how did you do it?
by Gravaton25
6 Comments
I have aphantasia; as far as I know, there’s no way to, like, “treat” it. It’s just how your brain works, but, also, it hasn’t stopped me from getting things out of reading. Not having a visual image in your mind doesn’t mean you don’t have imagination, it just means your imagination isn’t visual. For me, when I read it’s like hearing someone tell me a story. I don’t need to “see” it to understand it or get things out of it. I don’t think that means I get less out of the book than someone else does, it just means it’s a different experience.
I had a coworker once who created, for lack of better words, a *vision board* for books she read? Almost like a collage with photos of actors she felt matched the character or scenery/architecture that fit the style. I asked once if it was art for her, but she explained it helped “kickstart her imagination” as she expressed frustrations similar to what you described. Obviously a bit of a time investment, but I bet it could be quick these days with e-collages and sourcing photos online.
I haven’t seen any studies about this in particular, but common wisdom is that you get better at things when you do them. If you want to get stronger you exercise, you want to get better at using your “imagination” while reading fiction then read more fiction.
You have to remember their are many types of brain functions for people. Some people can see and imagine written words easily, some people are better with auditory, some people who have dyslexia can fully imagine and render a 3d image in their head which is why their p and bs mix up sometimes. It is actually your brain chemistry and while you can do brain training and exercises if your brain functions differently than someone else’s it’s totally okay. Your brain works differently for a reason and you are better at other skills that those people who can imagine will never be good at like you.
What if you look up reference pictures as you read? I do it, especially it I don’t recognize the historical clothing or want to see how other people interpreted a scene.
Most people don’t have hyper detailed imagination and many people overestimate how much other people can imagine on average. Also, most artists have to look up lots of reference photos to draw well instead of entirely relying on their mental images.
Anyway, the important thing is that you enjoy what you read. The emotions you feel are important too. Having crisp imagination is overrated.
Imagination is like anything else, practice makes perfect. If you have no idea where to start, start by just looking up pictures of things to fill your mental database.
For example, look up different kinds of forests. An English forest is very different than a tropical rainforest or a Scandinavian forest. And when you think at different scales, the tiny world of moss, mushrooms and fungus looks very different again.
The diversity in human architectural styles and pragmatism around the world is staggering. As are landscapes of rock and sand. Or human fashion, modern or traditional.
It’s a lot easier to imagine things when your mind is filled with imagery that you can remix to picture things that match the descriptions in stories.
Samsara and Baraka are two visual documentaries. They don’t narrate to try and tell you a story, instead, they show incredibly evocative footage of human activity around the world. It’s a great inspiration watch.