Amnesia? Opinions needed...

[Zei]

I'm in the middle of planning a story, and a main plot point to it is amnesia, but, alas, I have no clue how to write amnesia. Does anyone here know/have a small idea of/think they know what it would be like to just wake up and not know anything about yourself? How you would react? I really need these opinions to make this story more realistic.

[Brenda]

Unless one of us has actually suffered from amnesia, you have as much idea as any of us what it would be like.Do you know/have a small idea of/think you know what it would be like to just wake up and not know anything about yourself? How you would react?

[Kath]

I'd imagine it'd be something like aphasia. For those of you unfamiliar with aphasia, it's a pretty weird/unpleasant thing that can happen to your brain. I've had it a few times associated with visual migraines. I'll be speaking normally (or think I'm speaking normally) but the words that come out of my mouth bear no resemblance to what I'm actually trying to say. It can also affect reading - I'd read a piece of text, and know what it meant, but my eyes wouldn't recognise the pattern of letters as the words they were meant to be. I'd get the understanding of words, without actually being able to say them aloud. And my internal monologue would get it wrong as well - just because we observe, process and regurgitate information from different parts of our brains. Everything is lost on the tip of your tongue. For an amnesiac, I'd guess their entire memories would be scrambled like that. They'd know, on a gut level, who they were, but would be unable to relate that information, or even access it properly. Things would be familiar, but the pieces wouldn't fit together.

[Anareth]

It depends on the kind of amnesia. The movie kind, where people have no memory of who they are, etc. isn't actually very realistic or common. The brain is integrated as a system, yes, but it's also compartmentalized--you're more likely to see specific kinds of amnesia, like an inability to transfer memories to a long-term storage situation. It's usually the result of some kind of trauma--like a blood clot to the brain, though, not just a blow to the head (it would have to be a serious hit to a particular area.)

Amnesia in general is more a storage problem than anything. Usually a person has a perfect or at least normal memory up to the point of trauma and then after that, either can't remember details, or can't establish long-term memories.

[Just Bob]

I'm in the middle of planning a story, and a main plot point to it is amnesia, but, alas, I have no clue how to write amnesia. Does anyone here know/have a small idea of/think they know what it would be like to just wake up and not know anything about yourself? How you would react? I really need these opinions to make this story more realistic.
This probably won't be very welcome advice, but I'd leave amnesia well alone if I were you. It's massively overused in fiction, and makes for some very tiresome plots. One of my flatmates has been ranting about a series he used to like but then went downhill, finally descending in the latest book into an amnesia plot...

[persephone]

If nothing else, google it and read the characteristics of a typical amnesia case. But like Just Bob said, amnesia is overused and boring the way it's typically portrayed, and actually doesn't work that way any how. Know your psychology, and behaviors associated with psychological problems.

[skysong]

This probably won't be very welcome advice, but I'd leave amnesia well alone if I were you. It's massively overused in fiction, and makes for some very tiresome plots. One of my flatmates has been ranting about a series he used to like but then went downhill, finally descending in the latest book into an amnesia plot...

Would that be the Star Doc series by chance?

S.L Viehl wrote five amazing books then decided to give the main character amnesia! *spoiler: What made it even worse is that the character I thought was her turned out to be a different character who had amnesia too*

I agree with Just Bob. Amnesia is definitly tiresome and does not make for a good story.

[Anareth]

Ugh, skysong, no kidding--I decided not to buy the latest one because I tried reading a little in the bookstore and got hopelessly confused. Unless you're writing cheesy soaps, or REALLY know whereof you speak when it comes to traumatic brain injury, avoid amnesia.

[Madrigal]

What everyone else said. Don't.

[Bane]

I'm in the middle of planning a story, and a main plot point to it is amnesia, but, alas, I have no clue how to write amnesia. Does anyone here know/have a small idea of/think they know what it would be like to just wake up and not know anything about yourself? How you would react? I really need these opinions to make this story more realistic.

Hmmm...is it going to be a humorous story? If so, you could write it as everyone telling the person things, and they continue to forget it if it's a constant running amnesia. Otherwise, they forget their idnetity and go searching for people to help them remember. That's normally the train for most amnesiac stories. There was a movie along those lines, but it involved murder, I think. Meh. Write it as though you're the character and you can't remember what the character's all about. :shrug: