The role of imagination in writing

Before we start, this obviously isn't a thread questioning the usefulness of creativity and innovative ideas, because even if there is nothing new under the sun, I think we can all agree that phoning it in and following a strict formula does not good fiction make. No, the question here has more to do with mental imagery.

A bit of a preface. I have cognitive OCD, I was diagnosed with it when I was fourteen. In the seven years since, I've found something irreplaceable in writing and literature, or rather, in storytelling. Ideas rage around in my head like a storm. Sharing these ideas, and exchanging them with others, is all I find myself wanting to do. I do have some other hobbies, but above all I consider writing one of the most important things in my life. So you can imagine how distressed I get when I feel like I can't write.

For those who have OCD or know someone who has it, "intrusive thoughts" is probably a familiar term. They're strange and often distressing thoughts that normally you wouldn't voluntarily think of on your own. Most everybody has them on a day to day basis, but people with OCD have a subconscious tendency to cling to these thoughts and ascribe them some significance, usually out of distress or an elevated level of anxiety. For a good example of what it feels like to someone with anxiety problems and/or an obsessive personality, think back to the last time you saw a horror movie and let your imagination run away with you.

Oftentimes, as is the case with me, the more you worry about the presence of such thoughts, the more frequently they tend to appear, sometimes to the point where they consume your every waking moment in severe cases. Eventually, it reaches a point where you can't even bear the weight of trying to use your imagination, because every time you try to imagine something pleasant, or something that you like, such intrusive thoughts will interrupt your attempts to ward them off and occupy your mind instead.

Thankfully for me, I sought therapy. I got things under control. Things were good. For the most part, things are still good. But dealing with it on a day to day basis is still a big thing for me. I still have intrusive thoughts on a frequent basis. Therapy taught me how not to be bothered by them, but there's one problem that can't easily be fixed. Even if I'm no longer bothered by these kinds of thoughts, they still appear, usually when I'm in the middle of imagining a scene in my head. They're not nearly as upsetting, but obviously being constantly interrupted when you're trying to work can make life difficult for an aspiring writer. When I first got out of therapy, my solution for this was simple. Don't imagine so much. I told myself that having the theater of the mind open for business 24/7 wasn't necessary, and to save imagination for when it was needed or appropriate. But then I began to think that maybe this was hurting my ability to write. Like if I didn't picture the scene in my head, it would come out a boring mess on paper because I wouldn't have any idea what I was supposed to be doing. This has been my problem for the last few months, and it's kept me from getting as much done with my writing as I feel it should have.

So that's my question for you all. Do you think the use of mental imagery is necessary for an author, or can one simply write without trying to picture things in his head detail for detail?

Since one of the unique strengths in written literature is letting the reader be able to imagine things, I'd have to say no, a writer certainly doesn't have to have a clear mental picture in their head of their story.

It helps.

But in all my time and reading some extremely bad works of fiction, I've only formulated one mental image that violently conflicted with the text (the described position of a table seemed to contradict the actions of the characters) so I don't always have one, particularly for dialogue-oriented scenes.

The way I usually write is to try and imagine and visualize what I put to paper. The car chase scene late in my novel for example, I would actually picture Glenn and Enrica discussing her actions, then seeing the car and discuss why it looks suss then when they follow it the car tries to ditch them, Glenn radio for intercept, the car nearly causing a crash, ect. It would be like seeing it as a film or video, and I would try and convert that to text.

Usually it works, in that I can picture clearly and hear Glenn's voice as he instructs another officer to try and block the vehicle as it passes a street. Sometimes though it doesn't...seeing the scene play out it would look better in your head than it does played out or in print, or you can't write it in a way that does it justice or when you write it the scene looks wrong.