In my books, the narration will be switched off from character to character if I feel like the other isn’t adequate for the time being. Because of that, I felt like empathy would be the easiest for me to experiment with considering whenever I sit down to a keyboard to write any part of my book, I always have to in a sense “switch gears” in order to capture the full effect of capturing the minds of my characters, despite the fact that I created them near from scratch.
“Many writers are notorious eavesdroppers.” Although I don’t necessarily eavesdrop on people’s coversations, I tend to watch how they react to different situations and… okay I give up. I eavesdrop — a lot. So I guess I’m just another of the “notorious eavesdroppers”. But then again, I am a writer. Many of my characters, if not all of them, are based off of people that I have constant contact with. That way, I can get in tune with their feelings and emotional state in certain situations.
Mandy is mostly suppose to portray myself, so it's simple enough for me to get my own feelings to come out right; but what about other characters like Halle, Jacob, David, and Abrai? I have to guess at what they would say up to a certain point, but because I can be so attuned to the feelings of others (obviously because I made an above average score) my writing (according to others) is really, really good.
Maybe this sense has more of a meaning that just being useful for those who tend to create impossible worlds in their head. Perhaps there is a reason that we must have a certain amount of knowledge for what others are feeling. So why doesn't everyone have the afinity of empathy? Maybe along with needing to know, things should stay secret.
I took the Empathy Quotient quiz. It was only sixty questions and took less than ten minutes. Some of the questions like "When I was a child, I enjoyed cutting up worms to see what would happen (Definitely disagreed) and "I can pick up quickly if someone says one thing but means another" (Definitely agreed) were easy to answer because I instantly knew how I would respond.
Proof of work:
(screen shot of the 60 question's used to assess empathy)
My score: 63
David's score: 40
0 - 32 = low (most people with Asperger Syndrome or high-functioning autism score about 20)
33 - 52 = average (most women score about 47 and most men score about 42)
53 - 63 is above average
64 - 80 is very high
80 is maximum
0 - 32 = low (most people with Asperger Syndrome or high-functioning autism score about 20)
33 - 52 = average (most women score about 47 and most men score about 42)
53 - 63 is above average
64 - 80 is very high
80 is maximum
