I enjoy writing but the only time i do write is when i am depressed or i have an issue that needs resolving. I use it for self therapy. I can type for hours about myself and how i'm feeling. It allows me to understand myself. I'd love to write a story but all i know is how to write about myself. I do have a good imagination but just don't know where to begin. Can anybody give a novice advice?
Since you like writing about yourself, it might be a good idea to start with a short story, about an event in your life. The trick is to dramatise it, and to write about something interesting, not whinge about how life sucks etc. It may be helpful to write it in third person, not first, but take it easy and see where it goes. Good luck!
Hi, Townes welcome to the group! I sometimes write a lot of stories that are therapeutic but I hide it in fiction. A good way of doing that is by narrowing your theme - loss, heartbreak, anger and then building up a scene in which you want to showcase the theme. You can transplant the idea into any genre - horror, sci-fi , romance or even a nice literary drama piece. Give the piece a character and then give him an ordeal, a decision a complication.
Writing from paintings/photos can also work as a prompt - Edward Hopper's paintings might work well for this. Take a painting that depicts a person/people in some way and ask yourself where the character is, what they are feeling, and how they might have got to where they are now. Even if you later deviate wildly from the picture, it might be a good way of channelling initial ideas.
Look, if your writing helps with your depression, go for it. There are many excellent reasons for writing, and being read and appreciated by others is not all there is to it. Catharsis isn't the same thing as creative writing, but both have value (and there's no reason you can't get good at both, as long as you understand the difference).
Not necessarily. If you just pour your emotions out on paper but it doesn't actually take hold of a story, but that helps, then yeah that's catharsis but not creative writing. If you pour your emotions out on paper but you mould the emotions into a story, and it makes one feel better, that's catharsis and creative writing at the same time. This is what I've done - I started writing my novel when I was very depressed but forming it into a story and therefore writing creativity helped recovery.
I wouldn't say that i'm just pouring my emotions out. It is a story, but a story with real characters. Its biographical. Its all about me and my situations and dilemma's. When i reach a dilemma in my life, believe me i encounter many of these, then i will write it down as it is. If for example i am unsure it is me or somebody else thats at fault i will tell the story and then understand. Yes i will also say how i'm feeling and will also answer my own questions.
That works for you because as you read you always have context. And since you read knowing your intent, it works. But fiction is a lot more than that. There are structural issues you need to be aware of, like what a scene is and how to start/end one. When we begin to write we usually nave no skills other then the nonfiction compositional techniques we all get in school, and they tend to make whatever we write read like a report. You might want to do some digging into that the pros feel are the basic skills needed, in the fiction writing section of the free library. Certainly can't hurt.
There are a whole bunch of keywords and phrases I could throw at you (like, "figure out how theme works"), but they're probably meaningless to you. IMO the best way is to start experimenting with, and completing, short stories.
