1. Only that I found my way to express myself. Being a rather quiet person that thinks a lot of odd things this lets my imagination breath. 2. Yes. I decided I would be a writer when I was eight - and that year I spent a lot of time writing and creating comic books and had a wonderful teacher. The next few years and a few lousy teachers - nothing. It wasn't until I was 12 going on 13 that I started to really write. 3. No . I've battled depression. The only thing that worked for me was to make a conscious habit of not to dwell or wallow in depressing thoughts. When one comes I kick it out. I'm not one of those people that can sit there and turn their depression into art - maybe after a spell but in the depression it's so strong the whole mood is self sabotaging - why write, you're no good at it, that sort of thing.
Fair play to you, I couldn't agree more with what you've said here. Depression is the end-product of selfish thoughts, and if you wallow in it, it will snow-ball and gain its own momentum. Then by that stage, it won't let you go
I think it has, although I rarely think of it. It has probably made me more confident, something I wouldn't expect. It has also turned the fact that I see the world differently than most people into something good. it made me get to know and understand myself better. yes, I guess so. When I was younger I always wanted to write, but was terrified of the thought of someone reading my writings. I never considered writing a career alternative, it was just something I did for fun, as a creative outlet. Things turned around when I decided I was ready to write a story that I could share with others. And I realized that being read is a lot of fun, actually. Now I don't hide my stories any more. If I'm really upset I usually write journal entries rather than creative writing, but yes, I've always found tremendous relief in writing my thoughts and worries down. It might not solve them (but sometimes they help me find a plan of action to deal with it), but it feels better. I hope this was what you meant?
I know people sometimes say they get tired of editing the same chapters over and over. I love reading my chapters. I love editing them and those eureka moments when I add or fix something and the outcome is exciting. The story is real to me when I'm reading or writing it. I know the people, I see the world they live in. I feel the warm summer days in the forest. I'm still building the city, I hear the change in sounds in my head. I've not yet gotten it quite right but I'm working on creating that distinctly different experience. I wrote about how odd it feels when a city at night is as bright as day but the critique group didn't get it, so it needs work. I'd say that's the biggest thing that's changed.
The writing itself didn't specifically change me, because I've always written so it's been a part of me forever. I suppose my personal growth might be reflected in my writing, though, but it's hard for me to judge that. But I definitely feel that since I took up writing full time, I'm doing what I was always supposed to. Writing had no particular relationship to my ups and downs, because I usually don't have many, except when a life hands me a shit sandwich and those situations simply have to be resolved in real life. Having had many patients with clinical depression, and seeing them struggle so much with suicidal and nihilistic thoughts, lack of energy and hopelessness until they find the right medication and a dose and start to recover, I deeply admire any artist who suffers from it and still manages to create. I get pms and don't know what to do with myself because I don't feel like myself for a couple of days, let alone feeling like that for months or even years. But I think writing has put me more in touch with my inner self, I reconnected since I started to write full time, and perhaps I'm calmer, more contented.
I can honestly say that writing has changed me I am a more focused more detail oriented person than I was before I started writing.
Of course! Now I spend most of my time like a vampire in the shadows, thinking about stories in my mind and taking notes with a pencil and a notebook I always carry in my pocket, so I don't forget them, while I'm being isolated from every social circle. Just kidding . I do believe it has changed the way I see and interpret things. Some time ago I was very narrow minded. I was the kind of people you would categorize as having a "One track mind", and I was even proud of it. But after I started writing, I started seeing things on a different way. I learned to put myself into other people's shoes, and most importantly, I learned that everything isn't always black or white, there are a lot of grey tones between them that are often hard to see. I think it also helped me not only to see things, but also to watch and observe. So, yeah. I think writing has changed me, and hopefully for the better
Why, yes, I think it has. Not at first, though, as it was more of a product of who I was becoming. More specifically, it was a thing that I did in response to my love of reading and my love of creating. However, I came to my first major project, Imagine, which took me to all kinds of places. I dealt with emotional issues and learned a lot about my personality and character. Even so, it was mostly fun. It wasn't until I decided to write in a personal journal that I saw any huge changes--and that wouldn't have happened had I not been interested in creative writing. By writing in my journal, I delved so deep into my personal being (though not all of the information made it to the page) that I became a better person, much more self aware, and appreciative. I discovered many of my personal flaws and was able to work on them. I confronted my insecurities. In time, I embodied more of who I wanted to be. Fiction, as a whole, has allowed me to grow tremendously. I have always been more of an introvert. When I was younger, I struggled with finding my voice because I was insecure about many things. What I've learned about writing in the last few years has given me a lot of confidence in both my voice and knowledge. I can communicate now in ways that I couldn't before, both orally and in writing. Then again, many of these changes could be attributed to growing up. (I'm only 20, now.) Still, I think writing as a whole has played a major role in developing my consciousness and sense of self. It also helped me to maintain value in creativity. More than anything, writing has changed the way I think. Everything comes with much more clarity. I edit my thoughts more quickly, allowing me to find just the right construction more frequently than before (even if it remains less than perfect ). Finally, without writing, I don't know what I might have preoccupied some of my free time with. Video Games? Sports? Sex? Drugs? Nah, probably not the latter two.
I have become way more of a PITA about texts. "My awesome?" in response to "your awesome!" I've turned into a dick.
I think writing taught me patience and perseverance. Good thing because both come in handy nowadays when I don't have much time to myself!
I'm mostly the same, and most changes after I became a writer aren't directly related to writing. I'm happier now because I get to do what I wanted and therefore chose to do, and I'm incredibly glad to finally be out of the homework/bullying/school/university/ living with my parents / getting a driver's licence kind of life and living the quiet life I've always wanted, and where I can decide things for myself. That doesn't, however, mean that I don't have worries, because scheduling, chores, economy and the writing itself are issues I need to tackle on a frequent basis. The largest problems I face today are money, eating, exercise and focusing on writing story with both loads of external distractions possibilities and a magnitude of other interesting writing ideas, and then structuring that and making it work, and through all of this my mind is constantly having a battle between two prominent personality features of mine, namely my inherent laziness and my expansive nerdiness. The word that best describes my life at the moment is "stoked", and while I also felt that towards becoming a writer in the first place, now it's about the things I'm currently writing or I'll write in the future and how excited I'm about that and also to see others' responses to my finished works, and also simply to enjoy and be proud of actually having achieved finishing and publishing a work that you can stand for, which, at least for my part, is a pretty great achievement.
I've definitely changed since I started writing but considering I first started writing stories when I was 6 that's hardly surprising. However since I started writing more seriously about a year ago (basically just trying to write more often) the way I see things changed. I can't read novels without asking myself why they work/don't work anymore and I have a lot more useless scribblings on half forgotten story ideas that I'm still revising. I look at things differently now and don't take people at face value. I was always going to write but it helped me to be a happier person because I'm doing what I like and I always have an idea in the back of my mind to keep me happy even when nothing else works. I have had a lot of emotional ups and downs and I find that my writing helps because it's there and I can always focus on it if I want to take my mind off other stuff. I never force myself to write when I'm at a low because it brings me so much happiness the rest of the time and I never want it to feel like a chore.
I listened to David Grossman's Freedom to Write Lecture (2007), where he has some things to say about what writing means to him, and how it affects his live. A very good speech. Basically he says: it keeps me free, it keeps me human, I am no longer a victim of anything. But he says it so much better.
