1. Danny Michael

    Danny Michael New Member

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    I seem to have lost my 'flair'

    Discussion in 'Fantasy' started by Danny Michael, Dec 6, 2015.

    First of all, this is my first post here, so hello! I hope that this is in the right place!

    So, I am 23 now and I have ALWAYS loved writing. When I was a teenager I could sit at my computer hammering away at my keyboard for hours, producing some pretty great fantasy writing. I used to write a load of very short stories, purely for my own enjoyment (I never really showed anyone my creative writing before).

    Anyway, the last few years I seem to have lost my creative writing skills. I am a small business owner and previously a freelance copywriter, mainly presenting factual articles as opposed to opinion pieces. I also wrote a number of football columns, which were opinion pieces, but as I'm sure you will understand, this hardly fueled my creative writing ability.

    When I now sit down to write something "fun", or creative, I just can't. I seem to be devoid of ideas and can't seem to find that part of my imagination that the cool stories used to flow so freely from. I can write you a killer article or blog piece, but when it comes to writing a story now, I'm beat. It is hard to articulate, but I do get the odd idea or spark, but it tends to lead to a page or two and then fizzles out and falls to the side of the road, never to be seen again. I can't seem to come up with any story lines as I used to do, just the occasional idea that leads to a few nice paragraphs.

    So my question is, has anyone here ever felt like this? How do I get that creative spark back, or is the imagination gone? What did you do to overcome this and are there any suggestions you could make as to how to build on my ideas and turn them into actual stories?

    Thanks in advance!
     
  2. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    What are you doing to feed your imagination?

    Are you reading? Getting really immersed in a TV series or movie? Daydreaming?

    And then, if you ARE doing those things... are you doing it too much, spending all your energy on someone else's ideas rather than your own?
     
  3. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    When previously flowing creativity fails for me, I can usually make a case for brain chemistry. For example, when I stopped drinking vast quantities of (tryptophan rich) milk, my creativity slumped. When I stopped engaging in (dopamine-triggering) online shopping for perfume samples, again, a big slump.

    So my recommendation is to research the many, many things that increase your brain serotonin, and do some of them. No, not the compulsive gambling or spending, but I think(?) that learning something new is one of them. Who knows, you may be a few cooking or ballroom dancing classes away from getting your creative flow back.
     
  4. Danny Michael

    Danny Michael New Member

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    I watch very little TV nowadays (apart from Game of Thrones), I spend a lot of time working so I imagine this isn't doing my creativity any good. I DO read, although nowhere near as much as I would like.

    Thanks, I'm off to look that up right now!
     
  5. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    I find that walking somewhere nice—somewhere familiar—usually sparks creativity. I don't know why, but lots of authors do walking to get their brains working that way. It's important not to go somewhere you need to pay close attention to traffic, though, or worry about getting lost. But if you've got, say, a circular woodland or parkland walk handy, I'd try it. I also find it worked better for me early in the morning. I mean REALLY early—between 5 and 6am in the spring and summer. I get up early anyway, and I found if I got out there before other people were around, I could walk in peace. Somehow having slept and NOT having talked to anybody beforehand also helped. I'd come back to the house all energized and ready to rock.

    It was quite frustrating, while I was still working, to walk to work in the morning, get all sorts of great ideas enroute ...then arrive at work and have to shelve them for the rest of the damn day! Of course I took a notebook with me and scribbled down ideas that came to me during that 25-minute daily walk, but then I wanted to dig in and get started. Instead ...the door of my workplace appeared before me. It was great, after retirement, to be able to do my daily walk and come back to the house instead, where I could make a cup of coffee and start writing.

    I stopped doing the daily walk about a year and a half ago, because of a dicky knee—which is now okay. But now it doesn't get light outdoors till around 8.30am, which is right in the middle of 'rush hour' and too late to be alone with my thoughts ...not to mention slippery sidewalks underfoot. Other major issues (my husband's health) are keeping me from writing at the moment as well. But hopefully when spring rolls around again, all these issues will be behind me, and I can get back to that walk. It really was productive for me.

    If you could work a walk into your daily schedule somewhere, I'd give it a try. At the worst, you'll only get some exercise and fresh air. At best, your creativity might return with a vengeance.
     

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