I talk to myself to find good ways to express a thought with language, but not to think.

> Or written in a journal?

I do this to remember and sometimes to prompt thinking, but writing isn't the thinking. It's the outcome of it.

Do I just have a narrower definition of reasoning?

The reason I'm interested in this is because I have a very low verbal IQ but a relatively high spatial IQ. I have often wondered if this divergence is because I don't reason with language, or perhaps what I experience is normal but I just disagree about the semantics of reasoning. Unlike some people, I can do internal monologues, I just have no idea what people mean when they describe that as reasoning.

For example, if you're trying to work out why some electrics aren't working, do you say in your head, "I should check the fuse box" or do you just visualise the system and components that need checking? I do the latter, and words would only enter my head if I need to write that down or say it to someone else. Furthermore, I don't even understand how you can monolog in your head about something prior to thinking it. This concept makes no sense to me and would be an alien form of reasoning to me if people can do this.