How to handle Telepathy?

[Luxuria]

I know this might seem like a repost, as there was another about multiple personalities. But I have a different, but kind of related writing issue. I didn't want to highjack the thread.

What I need assistance with is figuring out HOW to write telepathy. Because two characters realize they can talk to one another in their heads, but the issue is their thoughts are not filtered? So, I don't want the reader to be overwhelmed by so many italic lines. But it's not the kind of telepathy where a character thinks: John, I need you to hear this.

It's all of john's thoughts and I was thinking the best way to do this was just have the character acknowledge the other is thinking about something or whatnot. Because I can't show all of it, because it would bog down the story. Is this a good way to go about doing this?

 

[Banespawn]

So, it's more like mind reading? There must be some kind of control over it, on one side or the other if not both. If someone else is constantly hearing John's thoughts in their head, that would be pretty maddening.

If it's like mind reading, you don't need to express the thought at all. Once you establish how it works, you can handle it similar to how Chewbacca's dialogue is handled in Star Wars. We never really know what Chewy is saying. It's only through Han's response that we get the gist of it.

Whoever is reading John's thoughts can react to what he is thinking, and we can figure out in that way what he was thinking.

 

[Luxuria]

So, it's more like mind reading? There must be some kind of control over it, on one side or the other if not both. If someone else is constantly hearing John's thoughts in their head, that would be pretty maddening.

I guess? But I also feel like it's different, because it's not exactly mind-reading as it's not a conscious deed. It just kind of happens? I agree with you that having all the thoughts would drive the character crazy. But how can I make it less structured, but with some guidelines? I have never used telepathy as a power before and so I am a bit lost. Any ideas?

 

[Banespawn]

I guess? But I also feel like it's different, because it's not exactly mind-reading as it's not a conscious deed. It just kind of happens? I agree with you that having all the thoughts would drive the character crazy. But how can I make it less structured, but with some guidelines? I have never used telepathy as a power before and so I am a bit lost. Any ideas?

Maybe it only works when there is physical contact. Maybe other people's thoughts are just background noise until they come in physical contact, then they can hear that person's thoughts clearly.

 

[Luxuria]

Maybe it only works when there is physical contact. Maybe other people's thoughts are just background noise until they come in physical contact, then they can hear that person's thoughts clearly.

Oh... That's genius! I love it. The touch connection works perfectly with HOW these characters get this extra telepathy. The question is, does it need to be skin-contact, or could hair work? Would it have to be attached to the head or not, if it does??

 

[Banespawn]

Oh... That's genius! I love it. The touch connection works perfectly with HOW these characters get this extra telepathy. The question is, does it need to be skin-contact, or could hair work? Would it have to be attached to the head or not, if it does??

Hair cells are dead by the time they leave the follicle, according to some quick research, so just touching someone's hair might not be enough. You could do it however you want, but I'd think you'd want it to still be attached to the person. Don't give yourself an easy way out when you need a thought read and are having trouble figuring out how to make it work.

 

[Luxuria]

Hair cells are dead by the time they leave the follicle, according to some quick research, so just touching someone's hair might not be enough. You could do it however you want, but I'd think you'd want it to still be attached to the person. Don't give yourself an easy way out when you need a thought read and are having trouble figuring out how to make it work.

Thank you for this information. It's good to know that about hair, because then yes, it wouldn't lend to telepathy. I won't. I am very into not making things easy for my characters. Haha.

I don't think this works through clothing or gloves, yeah?

 

[Banespawn]

Thank you for this information. It's good to know that about hair, because then yes, it wouldn't lend to telepathy. I won't. I am very into not making things easy for my characters. Haha.

I don't think this works through clothing or gloves, yeah?

Up to you, but I think skin to skin contact would be necessary. That's how Rogue from the X-men works.

 

[Luxuria]

Up to you, but I think skin to skin contact would be necessary. That's how Rogue from the X-men works.

Awesome.

And being me, I realized this skin-contact thing can take many interesting turns. First, how long does a finger (or limb) remain 'alive' once severed? Like, the skin? Secondly, what happens if John eats someone's finger? How long do you think he would be able to hear the other person's thoughts. (The moral issue of cannibalism aside.) I would assume 2 hours at most? But if skin is the key element, then where does skin END, exactly? Is it a anatomical boundary or more like, 'skin = flesh?'.

This is how my brain works. Haha. This story is going to surely take a few strange turns.