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I fear I've lost my imagination - looking for helpful writing exercises

Alexxx-Returns

Alexxx-Returns

The Sergal that Didn't Vore
I feel like.... I can't create scenarios any more. Like I've developed a massive apathy for anything creative, and I've become more of a facilitator. I haven't created anything in a LONG time with my imagination.

This is probably my fault for browsing the internet most days for at least a couple of hours... clicking and rushing to the next page, clicking again, going back, clicking on the next thing... no new updates/posts, ok, go back to the next one. I've developed a mentality of sitting there, expecting stimulation to magically come to me, and I feel like this has something to do with not being able to create. Like... like my brain is all knotted up and tense, and it needs to be relaxed and fluid again.

I need to start somewhere in creating again by writing. But since I have nobody I can RP with (not seriously, anyway which is what I'd be wanting to do), I was thinking there might be exercises that people know of that I could try, to help loosen my rusted imagination. Get me providing stimulation for myself once again. I want to change how I've become.

All advice appreciated =)
 
Biochemiphy

Biochemiphy

I'LL BE BACK "SOON"
Get help from Spongebob. c:
nTrMhYX.gif
 
Alexxx-Returns

Alexxx-Returns

The Sergal that Didn't Vore
Logan Who said:
Slightly confused... what do you need advice for? Writing closed stories, or coming up with scenarios solely for RP'ing?
Click to expand...

Exercises to help stimulate the imagination and get the creative juices flowing.
 
Alexxx-Returns

Alexxx-Returns

The Sergal that Didn't Vore
Logan Who said:
That just created more questions, while not helping me to figure out what you are looking for xD
Click to expand...

What sort of questions does it create? If I can answer them maybe it would be clearer.

I don't really know how else to explain this =(

I mean maybe like... improv stuff, but not acted out?
 
Biochemiphy

Biochemiphy

I'LL BE BACK "SOON"
I know how you can exercise your imagination! :D :D :D
Let your mind just spout out everything it thinks of and don't filter it and then write it all down.
 
Conker

Conker

Destroyer of Nazi Teddy Bears
I like to listen to instrumental music and write whatever comes based on the music and the title. What I produce is usually more poetry than anything, but it still garners some fun ideas.
 
Unsilenced

Unsilenced

Mentlegen
Being very bored helps. I've come up with a lot of ideas while performing mind-numbing tasks.

Most of my ideas usually start with some kind of image, though. A single moment in time with a strong emotion attached to it. Then I start to write a story around it. The image is often inspired by music, video-games, movies, etc. Also RP sometimes, oddly enough.
 
facelessmaker

facelessmaker

New Member
This is more a spiritual thing than anything else I think. This is coming from experience. I'm only 23 but it's been a wicked beautiful enthralling hell of a ride so far.

I've been struggling with this for years since I started writing music and just recently gotten into drawing but I've learned that it's not something you can force or expect. It just happens if you relax and let yourself dream. Oddly, I wrote death metal and most of the things I tried to express weren't things I wanted to dream about because they were frightening and terrible to me. That's probably why almost nobody seems to like any of it too. It's very aggressive, terrifying, and brutal(but enough of that ;P). Also, inspiration isn't something I personally can look for anymore. It's just a feeling that comes and goes. If I look for it and actually find it, it's very short-lived but if it's something I didn't expect then it's vastly deeper. Since I no longer look for it, I feel it much more.

I've recently started working for my dad and the work we do often requires 1-3 hours drives just to start work. This gives me a lot of time to sit back, close my eyes, and just rest, relax, and be or allow whatever hell I'm going through to go it's course. I often feel a pressure to produce something because I want to see progress, I have astronomic dreams that I'm often sprinting toward but feeling like I'm not even moving, I want to express myself, I want to explore, I want to feel, and I want to share everything that's beautiful within myself and everyone else but that pressure is like a thumb over a slow-running faucet. Sometimes that faucet is pouring out so much nothing can stop it but when it slows down it's easy to cap.

I seriously recommend just laying down or sitting back and letting your mind and you emotions go wild. If you get scared, be scared. If you feel like crying, cry. If you're frustrated, get as frustrated as you can get. If it feels like there's just nothing, let there be just nothing and see if something comes along. Don't forget to listen and feel the love when it reaches out to you. It's always there but it's easy to lose sight of. I'm sometimes delivered to that feeling when I've let myself sink as far as I can go and let the currents toss me about without fearing too much.

Exercise and getting out in general is always great too. I've noticed that, as much as I want to power through things and get to where I want to be, it's incredibly easy to stagnate and wither if you don't stretch and let yourself breath unless you can be a robot or something. This is where I struggle now because I don't have friends I can go and have a great time with. When I'm not working, I'm often alone. When I have time off, I sometimes make it a fight or flight scenario to get out and exercise or something. Anything. It loosens up your body and mind.

Like I said, no hard answers here but I know how you feel and I feel it all the time. This kind of stuff is like running into a rock. What does water do when it meets a rock? It goes around it =) At one extreme point in my life I felt as if I was literally stone and it was crazy. Expressionless, lifeless, dead, helpless, lost, gone. For days and days I went to sleep and woke up feeling exactly the same. Then I finally let everything go and it was magic. I was drunk with euphoria for for a few days. I couldn't resist smiling. I felt so good. And then everything changed and the worst experience in my life happened but I won't get into that as it would blacken this entire message.

Anyway, I hope this is at least slightly helpful. I know how you feel. Just remember that water metaphor if nothing else seems to bear any weight. That's a really good one <3
 
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13Swords

13Swords

Sgt. Unfriendly
Here's one that I don't see done too often. Think about all the rps you've ever done, any of the fantasy stories you've written, and more. How many of them take place in the neolithic era? I don't think I've read any. Try making a setting module for neolithic ages from any setting. There is no steel; the sharpest thing is a knife chiseled out of flint. There is no wheel; what you or the dogs who eat your scraps won't carry, you can't take with you. There is no writing, no alphabet, no literature, no data transfer beyond what a teacher directly tells a student. Even magic, should it exist, is largely a total mystery to them. Everything the tribe needs, they have to provide themselves- food, shelter, protection, medicine, transportation... Where they live is going to greatly affect their living behavior. What are the challenges of trying to live in one place over another? How do they address them? What do they come to value? What behaviors are rewarded and punished, and by whose authority? What kinds of art can they make? Can they make music? What kind of ceremonies and celebrations do they have?

Don't know if this will help, but here's hopin. Been in a drained spot before, no fun.
 
Aggro

Aggro

Spread your wings!
When this sort of thing happens to me, I do a little thing where I make myself into a character with, say, bipolar syndrome, and I go to my friend and have a conversation with him as that character. Its a bit silly, but it has really helped just kick start the imagination for me. Even if it doesn't motivate me to do something, it still requires a good deal of thought, and is rather fun! :)
 
Sylox

Sylox

boi...chill out!
When I'm stuck, I spend 20 minutes writing down what comes into my head. No prompts, no specific style, just write it down. If I like it, I'll go with it. If not, I keep writing until I come up with something.

When I do come up with something, I just go from their and put down a general outline of how I want the story to go.
 
Roose Hurro

Roose Hurro

Lovable Curmudgeon
Banned
Alexxx-Returns said:
But since I have nobody I can RP with (not seriously, anyway which is what I'd be wanting to do)...
Click to expand...

Ahem... if you want, I can post a link to a site where I've just started RPing again. I'd even be willing to do a 1x1 with you, to help your muse. Keep it simple, with just two. Right now, the RP I'm in isn't rush-rush, so I could do with some other creative project, for when I have the time (work and use of public comp limits my time).
 
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