No intrest in fiction.

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I have always believed that having an aversion to fiction is part of my autism as a causative effect. I have struggled all my life in trying to relate to characters on screen and in books. This I am sure stems from not being able to relate to people in real life. Whenever I bring up my interest in astronomy people tend to make popular culture references which I find irritating. They may ask me things like "So do you watch Star Trek? Battlestar Galactica?" I tell them I have no interest in these shows because they seem to be mostly about the relationships between crew members. My roommate says he has never met anyone who does not like to watch "shows" or follow TV series. I explained that it is because the majority of shows out there focus on the characters and their interpersonal issues which I find quite dull. I also find it straining and near impossible to follow complex dialogue in movies and I often forget the names of important characters. On top of this I feel like It is all a waste of time because I am not learning anything useful. I would much rather watch or read content that feeds me new information, hence why I love anything to do with science and soak up information like a sponge.

Last edited by Dreycrux on 07 Jan 2013, 5:28 am, edited 2 times in total.

I find it difficult to read written fiction. If I ever wrote a fiction book it would be about 120 pages. That's a lot to me.

Why do you find it difficult to read fiction? is it because of the reasons I stated above?

I also have to mention I never had a role model, dislike watching sports, detest celebrity culture....I even don't care about carl sagan (A famous astronomer and public figure) even considering my obsessive interest in astronomy he should be my idol...

Last edited by Dreycrux on 06 Jan 2013, 3:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I feel the same way you do, but I have found that the problem has a lot to do with when the fiction was created. Older books and TV shows were less focused on interactions between characters and their feelings. Have you ever read an old science fiction novel, like something by H.G. Wells, or Out of The Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis? Horror/suspense by E. Poe or Lovecraft? How about watched the original Twilight Zone or Star Trek from the 1960s? I'm curious about what you think of those.

It's embarrassing for me to admit I don't read much fiction especially since I write short stories, screenplays, novellas and even wrote one novel. Then again, the protagonist of my novel is an undiagnosed aspie so that's probably why.

Hehe yeah I watched a few episodes of the original startrek and had a mild interest in the fact they focused more on exploration and philosophical issues

But still not completely won over.

I feel I get more easily distracted if I'm not learning something. I do like the reading in the old final fantasy games though. I don't like voice acting in the new ones. The old ones felt like an interactive book rather than an interactive film like newer games in general. Reading lets you use you imagination more in that example.

Yay, I never had an interest in fantasy games either...their relation to the real and logical world I know was just so different...there's just a large disconnect that I feel I could never just "Play along" with the fantasy aspect and enjoy the story. Games that are close to reality are awesome for me...stuff like the S.T.A.L.K.E.R series (Except for the anomalies...that's a bit wacky) or anything with a futuristic but believable theme (Like it could happen kind of theme) but I just can't appreciate fantasy, magic...

Just logical rigid thinking I guess.

I'm both logical and fantasy-orientated.

I also like fiction just fine.

The two aren't mutually exclusive.

I mostly read to learn. I have a hard time finding fiction that is good enough to keep me interested. There's so much tripe out there, but non-fiction is something I can easily read all day long.

I'm not sure if I have trouble getting "emotionally" invested in a story or not, but I often don't feel I can relate to characters I read about, they're often very outspoken and charismatic, or they're very isolated and troubled and what-not.

The only fiction I really ever read is crime, horror and sci-fi. Books that are witty and interesting tend to make me want to read them more. But that involves trawling through the heap of absolute garbage to find something worth investing a reasonable amount of time in.

So yep, that's my problem with fiction.

My mom won't read fiction. She probably hasn't read fiction since she was a little girl and fairy tales scared her intensely. She's probably autistic, but hasn't been diagnosed, and won't get an evaluation because she doesn't believe that autism is real unless you're nonverbal and really obviously autistic.

On the other hand, I devour books of all sorts, both fiction and nonfiction. I like stories. I've never had problems separating fantasy from reality, or the possible from the actual. I learn a lot from stories because they represent some of the things that could be. From my perspective, the world does not just consist of the things that are, but all the things that could have been, and all the things that we can think of, and all the concepts we have come up with. Ideas are just as real to me as physical objects; though the nature of an idea is different from the nature of a material thing, they both exist. Stories are real in the way that ideas are real. And I want to learn as much about everything as I possibly can, including the could-be, might-be world of our imaginations.

I despise reading fiction and I read exclusively non-fiction.

I love fiction and nonfiction.

Other then reading together with my class in school, I have never read a fiction book. I just never have and to this point have never really had any interest in it.
I want to get into reading a lot more now as my girlfriend loves reading.

This. Except for when my emotions take over I'm a very logical person. However, I love a good fantasy or sci-fi book. I probably read about 50/50 fiction/non-fiction and I enjoy each equally dependent upon my mood.

I'm the opposite. Every single one of my special interests has revolved around fiction, and more specifically, fictional characters. The characters I obsess over are either characters who I admire and want to emulate (like a role model), characters who I identify with, or some combination of both. I tend to think of my favorite characters as imaginary friends because I daydream about them so often and imagine them accompanying me when I go places. I also talk to them occasionally, though only when I lay down to sleep.

I can't imagine (no pun intended) a life without obsessing over fictional characters. I tried it last year, but all it did was make me miserable. I can't understand how people can obsess over things that have no personality, such as objects (even though it's common for other autistic people to obsess over objects), or areas of study (anything you can learn in school, such as math, science, writing, etc). I can sort of understand an obsession with animals, because I have owned pets my whole life (mostly cats) and have observed that all of them have what could be construed as "personalities". Plus there is the whole anthro/furry thing, so yeah, I can kind of comprehend that. But an obsession with objects or areas of study? I can't comprehend it.