# Do you think in correct English?



## Lorna (Aug 27, 2012)

I'm asking this question as after years of reading and writing and education I'm still having problems with grammar. My problem seems to be that when I think about what I'm directly experiencing either from my own POV or my MC's my stream of consciousness is not in correct English. Every time I write I feel like I'm translating direct thoughts into a second language. 

Take this morning for example, this is how I would describe sitting in my room after breakfast looking out of my window, turning on the computer and posting this problem. Without editing. 

'Brew finished, sweet after taste look out of my window grey sky penetrated by white blur of sun August apathy Summer swelling ready to be harvested. Turn away thinking about what to write today and whether it will be worth the effort. Doubts plaguing my mind about whether this is the right path in life and how to craft these words into some form of value for other people. Plug in switch on, the laptop is always trustworthy reaching out into cyber space unfathomable mind attempting to connect with somebody to whom I can speak with who will listen.' 

As you see, my natural thoughts come out as a list of impressions often with a rhythm and most certainly not in correct grammatical order. If I wanted to make these words make sense it would take me a good 15-20 minutes of editing. 

Is this a common problem? Does anybody else feel like they are translating thought processes into correct English as if it is a second language? 

Because of the way I think I find it much easier to write poetry than prose. I've had poetry published whilst my prose is still at a pretty low standard. If other people answer that writing prose is natural to them and poetry odd maybe I should think about turning my WIP into poetry?


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Aug 27, 2012)

I either think in images, or I think in complete sentences. No word fragments. I also talk out loud to myself a lot. It's probably related to the fact that I can't remember anything unless I write it down. I brainstorm ideas in the shower and forget them by the time the shower's over. I literally have to stand there repeating the idea out loud until I get a chance to write it down somewhere, or I'll forget it.


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## kennyc (Aug 27, 2012)

I think in books: Amazon.com: How the Mind Works (9780393318487): Steven Pinker: Books



I'll say this, animals think, they don't have language, it's okay. Writing is a different skill than thinking or storytelling for that matter.


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## CupofJoe (Aug 27, 2012)

I think and dream in images and most often in the third person... I see a story as if I was in the room as an invisible camera, I even fly around the room to see other people's viewpoints. I think I watch too much TV...


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## Neurosis (Aug 27, 2012)

I think in electro-chemical impulses between neurons.

Seriously though I generally think in entire phrases, and have a near perfect memory for quotations and passages of text I read or come up with. However I have absolutely no ability to visualize anything or remember anything visually, plus I have like no visual creativity whatsoever. So I suppose it all balances out.


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## Devor (Aug 27, 2012)

I think in words, but I can visualize well enough when I try.

I think best when I've got a problem I'm trying to reconcile, and I'm at my most creative when my mind has a topic but is just wandering on about it.  Give me a blank page, and I'll give you squat.  Give me three lousy ideas and time for a short walk, I'll come back with something pretty good.

I tend to think the way I write, rather than the other way around, so my grammar has always been pretty strong.  My prose, if anything, tends to be too ambitious and turns-of-phrase often need to be simplified in editing.  But that ambition often pays off, too, and the final product tends to say a lot in relatively few words.


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## Chilari (Aug 27, 2012)

I think in words, sometimes complete sentences, sometimes more impressions, single words that sum up what I'm thinking, and sometimes visuals or feelings. I think in general I've always thought in a very literary way. I often associate letters with feelings or words that don't contain them (often M or B for some reason). I struggle to read/understand things where a homophone has been used by accident, though I'm getting used to the your/you're one now because of how often I see it on the internet. This often means written puns or jokes that rely on homophones go right over my head because the word has _that_ meaning and not the other one and so I read it with _that_ meaning. It also means I struggle to say words that are pronounced differently from how they're written.


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## Zero Angel (Aug 27, 2012)

I don't think in correct English, but I do think in conversational English. This is probably because I am constantly imagining I am talking to people.......


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## Penpilot (Aug 27, 2012)

I'm similar to Zero Angel. But I do and can slip into a similar mode of thinking as you Lorna. It can be very handy sometimes, but I temper it with the realization that I'm relating this image/this story to someone else, and although those images are great, they don't tell the story. I need to add context. I use this train of though prose to shape and establish rhythm and voice for my POV characters.


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## Anders Ã„mting (Aug 27, 2012)

I don't always think in English since it's not my first language, but when I do it's pretty much correct.


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## Reaver (Aug 27, 2012)

Lorna said:


> 'Brew finished, sweet after taste look out of my window grey sky penetrated by white blur of sun August apathy Summer swelling ready to be harvested. Turn away thinking about what to write today and whether it will be worth the effort. Doubts plaguing my mind about whether this is the right path in life and how to craft these words into some form of value for other people. Plug in switch on, the laptop is always trustworthy reaching out into cyber space unfathomable mind attempting to connect with somebody to whom I can speak with who will listen.'



This reminds of Cormac McCarthy. He's done pretty well, so why not write this way?


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