#aphantasia

[szc-unknown]

null interior

[dragonpyre]

Where do you fall on the aphantasia scale

One. Can see images near life like in my mind

Two. Realistic and reasonably vivid

Three. Moderately realistic

Four. Dim

Five. I can't picture things in my head

Voting ended onMay 4, 2025

[nonas-third-tantrum]

having aphantasia as a writer IS kind of funny because i’ll be like “uuijggghhHn i GUESS there can be a couch. with a pattern. and something on the wall. and the character is wearing clothes. also with a pattern. yeah yeah now we’re getting somewhere”

and this all takes eons to write and my scenes still look like this

[misscromwellsmonocle]

Grasshopper (1987) by Peter Blegvad from Imagine, Observe, Remember

[dicklessthewonderclown]

the argument for why using ai is okay actually that pisses me off the most is when people go “oh well some people have aphantasia, so they have to use ai to write bc they can’t picture things in their head.” like shut the fuck up actually. i’m a writer who had aphantasia. i would never fucking use ai. i do shit like repeatedly look up a character while writing a fic bc i can’t remember what color eyes they have, or so i know what adjectives to use to describe their body LIKE GOD INTENDED

[mr-orion]

Idk who needs to hear it but if you have Aphantasia you can absolutely do character art. Don't let it discourage you. Especially since a good portion of art advice won't fit you and will leave you feeling like its your fault.

I have Aphantasia, its super hard to put characters in poses from my mind. I cannot draw cartoons or exaggeration well, its very hard because I do not see the drawing until it is on the page. I use so many construction lines and blocks of color and always need a reference to base my character poses on. I cannot imagine things artistically before they're on the page and it is super frustrating.

You can still do it with Aphantasia though, it just takes practice. So many of your sketches without references are going to look awful despite you knowing the proper proportions of the human body, it doesn't mean you don't know what you're doing.

It just means you need to give yourself extra help. You're not lesser or bad for not being able to draw on a whim or not having these intricate details. Trust me, I've struggled with thinking that.

The best thing you can do to work with it is collect so many references, use a pose software (like magic poser), and absolutely screenshot and collect art that has a creative element you struggle with. (For me its color, backgrounds, and splash text.) Also, maybe practice abstract art. You have a brain unhindered by a visual expectation, I recommend it. For me I like to do surrealist/abstract pictures of water and space. It takes technical skill but everyday is a good day to start practicing.

Having Aphantasia is a neutral thing. It's not bad or good, it's just there. That bad part is not acknowledging that you work differently so you need to adapt differently.

[copperbadge]

You Must Remember This - The American Scholar

On the nature of autobiographical memory

I hesitate to call this piece meandering because I understand why it's structured the way it is -- it's a personal essay that happens to be about brothers who are at opposite ends of a specific neurological spectrum. The author has Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory and his brother has Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory -- along with their frequent companion conditions, Hyperphantasia and Aphantasia.

I know these conditions are of interest to readers -- to me too, as someone with aphantasia/SDAM. It's a useful read in that it talks about the history of the study of these conditions and describes various people's experiences with them. It just also has a bunch of personal reflection that while expressive and well-written is not very interesting to someone wanting to read more about this fairly young field of study.

I say all this to recommend it to those interested in HSAM/SDAM, but also to let you know that you can skim a lot of the family stuff. :D

[mydearestmoonyy]

remus with aphantasia who falls in love with sirius because his songs are the closest thing he’s ever had to seeing something inside his head