Writers! Do you worry about writing NT characters?

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Just a question for the writers on here.

I used to share my short stories with a writers group. One frequently raised point was that my characters seemed isolated, operating in a vaccuum, to the point that it seemed to be a theme. I realised that I wasn't doing this consciously, it was just how I operate and what I consider normal - so I wrote characters like that.

And then I started to wonder whether it's possible for me to write a convincing character that doesn't have these traits, or whether my difficulties with social skills is going to bleed into my fiction whatever I do. And is that ever going to connect with a wider audience of neurotypical readers.

Do you have any concerns about writing neurotypical characters? Do any of your ASD traits creep into your writing without you being aware?

I don't have concerns about writing NTs exactly. ASD traits possibly seep in (a couple of my characters are in fact autistic). But I look for advice, questions and prompts when fleshing out a character to avoid pitfalls.

Thanks. I didn't notice that there's a sticky on this forum covering almost exactly this topic in detail! Perhaps mods will delete this duplicate (if there are mods? New here!)

Yeah, there are mods. Unsure what they'll do though.

In my experience of reading, some (NT) writers seem to unintentionally make their (main) character seem Aspie-like. Like Jeff Kinney, who wrote the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid books. Greg was not supposed to be an Aspie but he seems so relatable to me when I read the books. He reminds me of how I was when I was in high school (we don't have "middle school" in the UK).

But anyway, I do enjoy writing (and reading) psychological drama sort of things, so to write things like that the characters need to be emotionally atypical in some way. But I have wrote stories about NT characters before and I don't really have problems with it, as I can easily imagine how I'll be as an NT (which is why I get so depressed and "mourn" for my "inner NT self").

I think many authors do have this tendency, simply because sitting alone in a room writing all day is a profession that suits introverts. Which is a problem if you've been working alone in that room for so long you can no longer remember what the outside world is like! Plus, people who read a lot are also often introverts, so there's a certain amount of giving your audience relatable characters....

I had been writing NT characters for years before I ever learned I was on the autistic spectrum. So, no, not at all.

Maybe dive into the Myers-Briggs 16 personality types?

Of course, please take it with a grain of salt. It’s one way to view reality. It is not ultimate reality itself.

Or, since you’re a male, perhaps experiment with different female characters?

I find it pretty easy writing in an NT character as I am a very empathic person, it's easy for me to get into people's heads.

As they say, "write what you know", so if you just can't imagine how a neuro-typical would act, then don't do it, but the caveat there is that it might make your story appear somewhat flat.

DIVAIR

Writing an NT character is easy -- just make the character sociable and avoid depicting it as stimming or having a meltdown.

Writing an ND character is also easy -- make it the opposite of an NT character, and depict it as having a few quirks associated with a particular form of neurodiversity.