Have you ever untyped a whole speech?

[AspieChris]

I do this a lot. It’s why I prefer texts to voice calls.

I’ll get a message or read a posting and get too involved in my response. I’ll type out what I think is a well thought out reply, but it’s way too much. Edit, retype, Google stuff, etc. Next thing I know it’s been way too long in both time and space.

I end up deleting basically all of my thoughts and either say nothing or very little.

Am I the only one who does this (and prefers text/typing for the same reason)?

 

[Outdated]

I'm perhaps a little worse than that, I can't stand the SMS system either. It expects a response Now! and I have to keep my reply to less than 120 or so characters. That coupled with the fact that the writing's really small and my eyes are bad and typing on a phone's no fun for me.

I like email.

 

[marc_101]

Yes, sometimes. But it's not always bad. Sometimes the best thing is not to respond. Writing the response gets it out of the system.

 

[Outdated]

Reading back through this thread made me stop and look at my phone. It hasn't been plugged in to the charger since 2 weeks ago when I had my last phone call, the battery's still got a half charge. Shows how much I use phones.

 

[AspieChris]

Sometimes the best thing is not to respond. Writing the response gets it out of the system.

I hadn’t thought of that.

So true.

 

[Xinyta]

I've definitely had occasions where I type something out and then pause. Look back at the original post and just erase the whole planned response, due to it being off tangent or not adding anything that I'd like others to read.

Sometimes I'll get back to it later in the day or the next day. And then type out a more satisfactory response.

It's good to do this though. Because posting your first impulse reply, isn't, alot of times, going to have the best results.

 

[Misty Avich]

Often. I'm always writing a post then thinking "oh hang on, it might be offensive to someone" and I delete it. Unfortunately not all possibly offensive posts have made it through my filter but sometimes I just take the chance and really want to get my thoughts out there, not to offend anyone but just to say how I feel. But some people still have to take offense and make me regret posting. Nobody should make you feel like that though unless you are going around personally attacking or criticising others.

 

[Hypnalis]

@AspieChris

If you have something worth more than 20 lines you should read through and edit it.

Sometimes I find what I wrote isn't worth saying after all, and don't send it.
Very often I shorten it. Editing is a very good way to improve clarity.

You may have something else going on:

In a sense, when writing you always start with a "stream of consciousness": your personal reaction to something you've read, or your own way of capturing an interesting and sharable idea.
A "stream of conscious" text is by nature idiosyncratic. It's almost always poorly structured for other people, both in terms of the sequence and of content of the ideas, the way they're recorded, and the general readability of the text.

(BTW there are writers who've used it. But only very good writers can pull it off).

So maybe you should work on getting your ideas structured before you start writing. Or perhaps review what you've done after each distinct idea/concept has been captured in text.

I've created a lot of slide sets and class material over the years, and for those I do both of the above, plus a serious edit (and with classes you have to test everything too - it's very time-consuming).

The first step, and one you might like to try out a few times, is to write out the core ideas as "bullet points", with as few words as you can, and no more the the essential ideas.
In this form, it's very easy to get the sequence right, and to avoid meandering (e.g. over-explaining something that's really only intended to contextualize one of the core ideas).

This feels a bit strange the first time, but you speed up quickly. After a while you can do it in your head, at which point you'll be faster and you'll be writing better text.
NB: It's "better" for conveying facts or an opinion. This isn't a technique for creativity (rather the opposite

 

[Outdated]

The first step, and one you might like to try out a few times, is to write out the core ideas as "bullet points", with as few words as you can, and no more the the essential ideas. In this form, it's very easy to get the sequence right, and to avoid meandering (e.g. over-explaining something that's really only intended to contextualize one of the core ideas).

I could never get the hang of that. It disrupts the flow of the way I write.

Writing is a type of therapy for me. I write letters about different things that upset me all the time but it's exceptionally rare for me to ever send one of those letters. It's more a way of reorganising my own thoughts and emotions, in attempting to explain a situation in a way that a complete stranger would understand I help myself to better understand as well.

I do write a lot though, and inevitably there's a few that do get sent, and quite a few of them are well received.

 

[Hypnalis]

@Outdated

You may well be doing something like what I described in your head.

Your posts here are certainly all well structured by any standards. This cannot be accidental. But it can certainly be "self-taught" And you may also have a natural talent for it.

An anecdote for you to test your own experience against:.

I've met a very social NT three times at a work semi-regular work meet (she works for a partner).
The second time I shared a bit of my nature (I have "flaky ADHD"). made a joke about something and mention that, and she replied that on our first meeting she thought I was the exact opposite: well organized and structured IRL, including my work.

I know I give that impression "automatically", but it's solely because I speak in an organized way (and with no hesitations at all, which people don't explicitly notice, but it's useful).

Do people IRL view you as well-organized and competent based on far too little information?
(regardless of whether you have ADHD or not - that's only relevant here because it was part of the "reveal").

 

[Outdated]

Do people IRL view you as well-organized and competent based on far too little information?

They do, and it's something I've used all my life as well. I'm generally a very good speaker and very sensitive to the audience's moods and emotions too, I'm pretty good at changing tack mid conversation and yet still getting the same point across. I could sell heaters in summer.

And that's the mode my mind is in when I write, I have to imagine that I'm actually talking to someone.

 

[Jumpinbare]

I definitely do that with texts as well as forum posts. I don't mess with twitfacetok, etc

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

I usually edit posts before sending. It’s not unusual for me to delete or not send an entire post. Maybe it doesn’t really apply to the topic. Or maybe it is too much about me instead of being about the topic. Etc. maybe someone else said it better. And so on.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Do it all the time look at my original posts on this site my stroke really messed me up Needed my wife to help me.
lost ability to touch type spelling lost any words with double letters forget it a, e, i or any other letters that sound the same forget it. Typing on here is my form of therapy. Like my walking improving daily. Some days I feel like i'm back in grade school.

 

[AspieChris]

@AspieChris

If you have something worth more than 20 lines you should read through and edit it.

Sometimes I find what I wrote isn't worth saying after all, and don't send it.
Very often I shorten it. Editing is a very good way to improve clarity.

You may have something else going on:

In a sense, when writing you always start with a "stream of consciousness": your personal reaction to something you've read, or your own way of capturing an interesting and sharable idea.
A "stream of conscious" text is by nature idiosyncratic. It's almost always poorly structured for other people, both in terms of the sequence and of content of the ideas, the way they're recorded, and the general readability of the text.

(BTW there are writers who've used it. But only very good writers can pull it off).

So maybe you should work on getting your ideas structured before you start writing. Or perhaps review what you've done after each distinct idea/concept has been captured in text.

I've created a lot of slide sets and class material over the years, and for those I do both of the above, plus a serious edit (and with classes you have to test everything too - it's very time-consuming).

The first step, and one you might like to try out a few times, is to write out the core ideas as "bullet points", with as few words as you can, and no more the the essential ideas.
In this form, it's very easy to get the sequence right, and to avoid meandering (e.g. over-explaining something that's really only intended to contextualize one of the core ideas).

This feels a bit strange the first time, but you speed up quickly. After a while you can do it in your head, at which point you'll be faster and you'll be writing better text.
NB: It's "better" for conveying facts or an opinion. This isn't a technique for creativity (rather the opposite

I’ve tried that. The end result is that I spend enough time arranging my thoughts that I forget more then half of what I originally wanted to say, and I usually had a clear point in the beginning which gets completely lost. ADHD rearing it’s ugly head.

It’s like waking up after a dream. It quickly degrades from specific details into barely remembering if it was good or bad, in a really short amount of time.

 

[Hypnalis]

I’ve tried that. The end result is that I spend enough time arranging my thoughts that I forget more then half of what I originally wanted to say, and I usually had a clear point in the beginning which gets completely lost. ADHD rearing it’s ugly head.

It’s like waking up after a dream. It quickly degrades from specific details into barely remembering if it was good or bad, in a really short amount of time.

If you're arranging your thoughts while recording the key points, you're not doing what I suggested.

An aside: you've probably heard something like that before, perhaps stated in stronger terms. And certainly it's harder to concentrate on some things than on others. But I'm teaching you an approach to do something you say you want to do.
OFC it's ok to want something, but refuse to work on it, but where does it lead you?
One answer to that is: never getting past the first step in anything that matters to you.

If IRL you've done anything beyond the level of an absolute beginner: why did you work on it?
If that factor doesn't apply to the most basic step in rhetoric, don't read on.

If it does:

The technique requires that you isolate the core of what you want to say from everything else. Ideally, if you have 5 core points, you write 5 words total. That's difficult, but no more than 5 words per core idea.

If e.g. you write one point, then slip into formulating the delivery, stop immediately. If you're lost in a dream, return to the task when you're not.

As for the 5000 words to present it: that's a separate step.

BTW: If I'd written <= 5 words for this: List core ideas concisely
(there's an implied "first" there, but it doesn't have to be written).

 

[Outdated]

You may well be doing something like what I described in your head. Your posts here are certainly all well structured by any standards. This cannot be accidental. But it can certainly be "self-taught" And you may also have a natural talent for it.

I've been thinking about this for a few days now and I think you might be right, I think I stumbled across a system of writing and speaking by accident. But it worked and I've stuck with it all my life.

It started with writing out job application letters when I was 16. This was way back before we had computers and letters were hand written, but still the hardest part by far was working out what to say and how to say it.

When I wrote out a paragraph that sounded just perfect I kept a copy of it to use in other letters. Eventually I had a whole stack of different paragraphs that I could use and interchange depending on what sort of job I was applying for. My responses during interviews was much the same, I had a head full of nicely phrased preprepared answers.

A few people have pointed out to me over the years that if they see me telling the same story a second time it's exactly the same as last time they heard it, not just the same words verbatim but also with all the same facial expressions and hand gestures in the same places. They said it's a little bit freaky, like seeing a video replay.

During my autism diagnosis I was told that this is a common autistic trick. They likened it to the patient reference cards that doctors use where they record things like your family situation, kid's names, etc, so that next time you visit they can pretend that they remember you.

Over the years I've created a vast collection of these "reference cards" for lack of a better term. A well worked out response for pretty much every question anyone has ever asked me in my life. And on the very rare occasions when someone asks me something that I'm not prepared for brutal honesty jumps out of my mouth before I can stop it. But such is life.

The way in which my mind is organised makes it a lot easier to have organised responses.

 

[Hypnalis]

@Outdated

You're an AI

Actually not that different in terms of the techniques. But OFC that's no more computer-like than understanding "If it looks like rain, take a Goretex shell with you".

I think I do something quite similar, but I have a terrible memory for details, so my system would sound different if I described it. But the difference isn't in how I learn or what I do - it's how I set up my standard responses.
Very interesting that it's a known "autistic trick". It's certainly been effective for both of us - perhaps its status should be upgraded to "effective technique".

FWIW I think I know how I do this, and there might be a way to describe it: I'll add another post later.
(this is because my supposed method just "popped up" in my mind - I need to know it's not just plausible fiction

 

[Outdated]

FWIW I think I know how I do this, and there might be a way to describe it: I'll add another post later.

I look forward to that.

One of the greatest writing challenges that I ever had was when I was unemployed. I was burning out and had no intention of finding a job but after being on benefits for 6 months they put me through an intensive job search program.

For 2 weeks I had to show up in the unemployment office every day, and every day I had to use their computers to apply for a minimum of 5 jobs. This was so that they could review your job applications and make sure that you're really trying.

I didn't want a job but I had to write letters that looked like I was keen, managerial experience really helped there. The first day I spent sending applications was difficult, but then it also became a system. On about the 3rd day I rattled off 5 applications in about 20 minutes, and the unemployment lady came over to check on me because I was already packing up and getting ready to leave.

She was incredibly impressed with my letters and asked me if she could use them as examples for other people on how to write letters. When I consented to that she brought out the book of jobs that they don't show to dole bludgers and told me I could have any of those jobs I liked, so I picked one close to home and worked for another year.

I never told her that those letters were guaranteed to put employers off.

 

[Misty Avich]

I've often started to write a story only to lose interest and rip the pages out and throw them in the bin. This usually happens when I watch a movie or a series of something, and I get a fanfiction idea in my head that urges me to write a story about it. But then after writing a few pages I suddenly lose interest and think that the story probably wouldn't work out, so I cancel it.