I have this urge to just start writing, but I have no idea what write about. I have reached the point where the things that I was writing as a teenager, while fun, seem kind of empty to me. But at the same time, I don't have any desire to really write about real life or genuine serious subjects. I don't feel like I know enough about most of that to write well about it. So again, I have this desire to write... something! But I haven't been struck with an inspiring idea. I feel the tug of inspiration, but without the focus that usually comes with it. Can anyone relate to my dilemma? If you've been here before, what has helped you?
sorry, i can't relate to your dilemma, never having faced one like it... but as a writing mentor and tutor for many years, i've worked with more than a few aspiring writers who have... what helped them was being assigned a series of prompts on which they were to write a paragraph each... i would vary the subjects greatly and if the mentee/tutee/client had no clue whether they wanted to write fiction or nonfiction, i'd toss in some of both... the very act of writing helped them to discover what they enjoyed writing most and that led to getting ideas of what to write about... you may want to try that... you can find a slew of sites offering writing prompts, with a quick google search... love and hugs, maia
just start writing. write as much as you can and then leave it there. take a walk or something, wait a couple days, read it, and decide if you want to move forward.
I'm in the same position except I have tons of ideas, I have everything planned out- just need to write, but I can't seem do so. So, I'm just planning, polishing, and improving my plot, world and characters etc. But If you're stuck for ideas, try this- http://www.writeaboutdragons.com/brandon_w2012/2013-lecture-1-2/goal-4-write-a-new-story/ I hope you come out of this ans start writing again.
Congrats on volunteering to be the role play moderator. I had that dilemma for the first three weeks of NaNoWriMo. What changed was instead of starting with the plot, I started concentrating on the story. I wanted a book that the readers could get involved in, females who were more than 'pretty' and popular, but still desired by the hot guy because that's part of the fantasy. I didn't want 'rescues' to be a big part of the story, though I do have one, but later it's countered by her own rescue role. And I wanted to be more day to day about the society, no big war or revolution, but still with a lot of conflict. Anyway, that evolved into a plot. Your story of course will be completely different, but what would you like your story to say about society, or about relationships, or about overcoming obstacles, or ? What impact do you want the story to have? Grow your plot from that, rather than just thinking of the story as an interesting plot. Not that this would work for everyone. If your thing is a good fantasy battle between good and evil or a clever detective story where the triple twist at the end wows the reader, a different approach would be called for.
Congratulations, you're growing up (somewhere in your 20's, I presume?) All the sci fi, fantasy, superhero, vampire porn, stuff is starting to seem trivial, but the mature stuff seems difficult. Obviously you want experience, and to mentally engage with subjects (history, politics, whatever) on a more serious level so you can use it in your writing, but in the mean time I suggest taking any current aspect of your life -tiredness, chronic masturbation, getting kicked in the face, extravagant dinners, whatever- and weaving a story around it. It's still fiction, it's still dependent mainly on imagination and word power, but now you have something tangible to work with, because, let's face it, for most of us getting older, writing about dwarves and elves just seems silly. I'm happy for you, man!
