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BlackjackGabbiani
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12 Mar 2009, 5:59 am

So I'm writing an extended fanfic about a character who I firmly believe to have AS. Some other things play into it as well, but those aren't as pronounced (primarily he's delusional, and in the movie he's from, his disconnection from the world outside of his own space puts a wide region in danger, and that's beyond AS but I think has that at its root).

But here's the problem. I can only really go off my own experiences, and this guy clearly doesn't have a lot of the issues I do. He's very presentation oriented including regarding himself (he's very distinguished and looks like he puts a lot of care into his visuals), where I'm not. I'm writing him as being detail oriented but blocking out the big picture (it's canon that he takes things at rote value, especially words (disregarding delivery when someone screams at him and replying only to her actual words), and I'd like to extend this aspect to his art interest to where he can't enjoy a piece as a whole if small details are messed up)...

Additionally, while in the movie he's in his late 20s (or about, age is never given), my story starts when he's eight. Currently in the story he's nine, so I'll be covering development and all that. And I have no idea what autistic nine year old boys are like even basically since I've been a girl all my life. How will things like puberty affect him?

Baaaaah, this is confusing, I know and I'm sorry...

But anyway, how to write for someone without drawing *too* much on my own experiences? How to fill in what doesn't apply to me but does to him?



LordKristov
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12 Mar 2009, 6:53 am

BlackjackGabbiani wrote:
So I'm writing an extended fanfic about a character who I firmly believe to have AS. Some other things play into it as well, but those aren't as pronounced (primarily he's delusional, and in the movie he's from, his disconnection from the world outside of his own space puts a wide region in danger, and that's beyond AS but I think has that at its root).

But here's the problem. I can only really go off my own experiences, and this guy clearly doesn't have a lot of the issues I do. He's very presentation oriented including regarding himself (he's very distinguished and looks like he puts a lot of care into his visuals), where I'm not. I'm writing him as being detail oriented but blocking out the big picture (it's canon that he takes things at rote value, especially words (disregarding delivery when someone screams at him and replying only to her actual words), and I'd like to extend this aspect to his art interest to where he can't enjoy a piece as a whole if small details are messed up)...

Additionally, while in the movie he's in his late 20s (or about, age is never given), my story starts when he's eight. Currently in the story he's nine, so I'll be covering development and all that. And I have no idea what autistic nine year old boys are like even basically since I've been a girl all my life. How will things like puberty affect him?

Baaaaah, this is confusing, I know and I'm sorry...

But anyway, how to write for someone without drawing *too* much on my own experiences? How to fill in what doesn't apply to me but does to him?


If you want some insight into the life of male Aspies, WrongPlanet is probably the best place you could have asked your last question! :)

I would try to put something here now from my perspective, but it's early in the morning and I am probably no where near caffeinated enough to form a rational response. :coffee:


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MONKEY
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12 Mar 2009, 7:29 am

I'm trying to write a story myself with apsie characters, and the characters are based on me and some of my friends but it's harder than I thought it was. I thought writing about aspies would be a walk in the park but I'm trying to show the traits in the characters subtly but without making them too NT.
Because I wrote one part and it was too obvious that the characters were aspies, so I edited it to make it more subtle (as the people I based it on are subtle in real life) but then they were too normal. Any tips on that anyone?


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whitetiger
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12 Mar 2009, 9:42 am

I'm writing a novel right now with an aspie main character. She is partially based on me and partially based on other aspie women I have known, and some of her quirks and eccentricities are just made up.


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zghost
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12 Mar 2009, 11:23 am

I've done one aspie character fan fic, but I mostly generalized because my goal really wasn't to educate people. That one didn't go over as well as some of my others.



ZEGH8578
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12 Mar 2009, 11:32 am

in the stories i write, nearly every character is stranied or forced in some way. i dont want them to BE anything, but i am just fascinated by people who - by personality - makes communication tricky :]



ghostpawn
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12 Mar 2009, 2:48 pm

MONKEY wrote:
I'm trying to write a story myself with apsie characters, and the characters are based on me and some of my friends but it's harder than I thought it was. I thought writing about aspies would be a walk in the park but I'm trying to show the traits in the characters subtly but without making them too NT.
Because I wrote one part and it was too obvious that the characters were aspies, so I edited it to make it more subtle (as the people I based it on are subtle in real life) but then they were too normal. Any tips on that anyone?


Make the AS obvious one character at a time, like one per chapter. Keep the most functional-looking one for the very end, so that people can be surprised, but hinting all along so they realize that they should have guessed. The social worker, the outgoing jock, the sales manager, whatever.


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MONKEY
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13 Mar 2009, 4:01 pm

ghostpawn wrote:
MONKEY wrote:
I'm trying to write a story myself with apsie characters, and the characters are based on me and some of my friends but it's harder than I thought it was. I thought writing about aspies would be a walk in the park but I'm trying to show the traits in the characters subtly but without making them too NT.
Because I wrote one part and it was too obvious that the characters were aspies, so I edited it to make it more subtle (as the people I based it on are subtle in real life) but then they were too normal. Any tips on that anyone?


Make the AS obvious one character at a time, like one per chapter. Keep the most functional-looking one for the very end, so that people can be surprised, but hinting all along so they realize that they should have guessed. The social worker, the outgoing jock, the sales manager, whatever.
.

Yeah could try that, well the main character (based on myself) is very mild and seems to function pretty well but it was more obvious than she thought because her friend keeps taking advantage of her niaivite and stuff like that. So the character is trying to hide it constantly but in a series of strange events she is forced to tell her friend. And while this is happening there's a love story going between the main character and her aspie friend (who is based on my best friend)
But what I might do is not mention AS until near the end where-as before she just calls it "the secret" until her friend finds books in the girl's room and starts reading them.


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