I Feel Stuck and Passionless

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lucgn01
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

Joined: 4 Jun 2019
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Posts: 74
Location: Los Angeles, California

19 May 2020, 2:31 pm

I'm 19 years old and I just started summer vacation. I was excited because I wanted to finally get back into fiction writing, which I had done a little bit of last year. However, I'm having trouble actually starting and getting anything done. A part of me is wondering if I'm more in love with the idea of being a famous writer than actually putting in the work. I feel awful about it. Who knows? Maybe this line of work isn't for me. The main problem is that I have nothing else going on outside of that. I have no hobbies outside of playing video games and watching YouTube videos. I'm not currently working, either. I feel like a huge waste of space and I don't know what to do.



kraftiekortie
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 87,510
Location: Queens, NYC

19 May 2020, 3:33 pm

What do you like to write about?

Much of good writing has to do with life experience, in addition to creativity.

Although, contemplative and socially isolated people like Emily Dickinson prove that there are exceptions to that rule.



SecretOpossumCabal
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

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Joined: 9 Jan 2017
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 155
Location: Boston

19 May 2020, 6:10 pm

Do small writing exercises if you're having trouble with bigger projects. Like try to describe the mood of a moment and see where such a little project might take you. Such as the evening falling on a city, or describe a moment at the beach, park, etc. Take small steps before you take the bigger ones. You can write the dialogue between two characters without regard to the plot that surrounds them. Just tiny little projects like that go a long way in refining your creativity and helps you to better perceive the bigger picture down the road. Flirt with your creativity. Don't be impatient and try to do it all at once.

If you're not working, be sure to at least work out. Working out refines your creativity and sharpens your senses. I can't even begin to count the amount of ideas i come up with when I'm working out. And yea falling into videogames/distractions will dull your creative edge, so be careful with those things. Waking up in the morning and going straight into videogames or distractions is a recipe for depression. So be sure to only do videogames/media consumption AFTER you've worked on your hobby -- no matter how small of a step you're taking in it. A thousand small steps over the course of a month can still take you far, and you'll get stronger as you begin to understand what the vision is and what pieces go where. Just be patient with yourself. Men tend to flower in their late 20's and 30's (where we realize our worth) so there's a long road ahead of you.

Good luck!