Advice/Help Issues with motivation, writing, and criticism

[Deredere]

TL: DR I want to improve my writing, motivation, and not being a baby about criticism. I fee so drained lately and I know school has sucked my life out yet, but something else is draining energy to write anything or do anything creative. I want to have something meaningful, but I might be over my head. I don't want to be an edgy teenager and honestly want 90% comedy so that the fun stuff is fun, but the sad part truly hurt. I want to have good messages and a good story.

Now criticism... I want to improve on it, I really do. I want to be confident in what I write and listen to suggestions. I wanted to be like later Mlp, Steven universe, Star vs. the forces of evil, Yandere Simulator, etc, but now every I love is being cancelled and called problematic. It made me question everything I wanted to be as a writer and question what morals I was being fed. I can't trust my heroes and no matter how many times I want to deny these facts, I know critics are right. but now... I don't know...

 

[Dr Laudanum]

TL: DR I want to improve my writing, motivation, and not being a baby about criticism. I fee so drained lately and I know school has sucked my life out yet, but something else is draining energy to write anything or do anything creative. I want to have something meaningful, but I might be over my head. I don't want to be an edgy teenager and honestly want 90% comedy so that the fun stuff is fun, but the sad part truly hurt. I want to have good messages and a good story.

Now criticism... I want to improve on it, I really do. I want to be confident in what I write and listen to suggestions. I wanted to be like later Mlp, Steven universe, Star vs. the forces of evil, Yandere Simulator, etc, but now every I love is being cancelled and called problematic. It made me question everything I wanted to be as a writer and question what morals I was being fed. I can't trust my heroes and no matter how many times I want to deny these facts, I know critics are right. but now... I don't know...

Criticism is something that can be a bit hard to come across in the beginning. The biggest advice I can give you about it is that you shouldn't take it personally. If someone gives an opinion about something (being it your writing, a show you enjoy, etc.) and if they are doing so in a constructive way, see it as an opportunity to improve, rather than a critical comment. Obviously, only if the person in question is being constructive: so, if the person is justifying their point of view with facts. Saying "This show sucks because [list here plausible reasons why]" is different than saying "This show sucks because it is crap".

When it comes about inspiration, I feel you. Sometimes life can be draining and we run low on inspiration. That's precisely why we need to recharge our inspiration by taking the time to relax and actually enjoy works that might inspire us. Take the time to sit down and watch that TV series you've been dying to watch, that book you have on your "to read" list, a film you find funny. If you are looking for comedy, maybe something light hearted will do the trick. Try to enjoy stuff you like and draw inspiration from it. Inspiration comes in an easier way if we are having a good time.

As for improving writing, reading and writing are the way. As you read books you really appreciate you'll start to improve your writing: not only does it help with vocabulary, it also helps you to find your own style, and it is also a great source of inspiration. You'll be more acquainted with grammar in general.
Reading gives you the base information about writing.
Then, you just need to practice: write as much as you can, on a daily basis. Writing is like a muscle, it needs to be exercised. So, the more you write, the better you'll become at it.

Problematic artists/shows are everywhere. In fact, could we even call it art if it is not problematic? Lol. It might be a shock to come across some of those scandals, but denying facts is never the way to go. You can enjoy a show without supporting the artists behind it. When it comes to the show itself, you must think for yourself and ask the question: do I consider this problematic? If so, then you must balance the pros and cons of watching it. If said problematic thing is ruining the fun, then why watch something that is not fun anymore?
If not, despite being "problematic" then I don't see any reason why not to enjoy it. Just acknowledge that certain part of the show is problematic and enjoy it anyway. Some authors that I enjoy include ideologies that I consider problematic on their works, for example. Still, I try my best to acknowledge it and move on. I do not follow such beliefs and I vehemently am against them, but reading about them does not make me support them, being able to appreciate certain works that contain those issues does not make me support those beliefs nor the artist.
Some people can recognise those issues and still enjoy the overall content of said work, for others, it ruins all the fun. Both approaches are valid, and you must choose the one that makes you feel more comfortable.

I hope this was useful in any way!

 

[Chordling]

In regards to criticism: you can think of specific things about your writing that you would want to improve and ask for advice about those particular devices. This way it is less free form and you hear answers to what you are looking for. It can allow you to focus on one thing at a time.

Variety in advice can be good but sometimes that can lead us to feel like “nothing about my writing is good. I am a bad writer” because everyone’s critical eye is different.

 

[Syntra]

To be honest? Just write what you want to write. If you enjoy your story, it will be that much easier to dedicate your time/energy to it. Forget about perfection and write-- nothing is ever perfect, so focus on getting things done instead. You can always edit it afterwards, but for that to happen, it actually needs to exist first.

Also, get comfortable with the idea of sucking. Everyone sucks when they start out! It's normal-- writing is a skill, as much as playing an instrument is, and I'm sure you wouldn't expect to master the guitar within, say, three weeks. When you accept that sucking is a normal part of your development as a writer, criticism will be much easier to accept. It's nothing personal! (Well, most of the time. Assholes exist everywhere, even in literary criticism, and should be ignored.)

 

[nerdy tangents]

The rest of the roleplay advice is on point so I figure I would focus on the mental health aspect of your question.

The drained feeling is kinda a mood. The pandemic has brought out my own anxiety issues (haven’t had to deal with them for the better part of a decade then, oh yeah I have anxiety issues and a tendency to spiral when stressed.)

So I found a good way to deal with that is one
- sleep. Seems like a silly suggestion but actually getting some rest does help
- distraction. Pick up a new book series or TV show. Try things outside of your current interests. Some might be cool and some might be boring but putting your focus on them will help distract from whatever is causing the stress/drained feeling.

 

[Crayons]

I find the whole "no one must read/watch/enjoy this thing because the creator once denied climate change or believes in something not considered the correct social norm at the present time" thing to be not only stifling creation of new work because of what you mention - the fear of offending people, or not being correct, or being raked over the coals on Twitter - but also deprives people of cultural heritage. People avoiding watching/reading/enjoying art form x because someone has told them the creator is problematic means that almost every piece of art created since the dawn of time is now off-limits.

Example, because people will say I'm overreacting: Robert Crumb was a comic artist who was instrumental in taking the medium from the sanitised Comic Code superheroes into the adult orientated arena (for which we all benefit through the wide range of comics and graphic novels for adult audiences), through underground comics (comix). As such he is a big cultural figure in comics - someone that you must read and know about in order to understand the medium's history and culture. Because the work he did is considered unacceptable by today's moral keepers, Crumb was "cancelled". Therefore young people studying comics or visual art feel as though they are not allowed to read his work even for critical purposes. Part of the point of Crumb's work was that it was deliberately violating cultural norms in order to make a point about the sanitisation of culture.

I just find the authoritarianism and culture policing of today's left-wing and youth culture in general quite distasteful and damaging. And no, I am not a fascist, I'm a democratic socialist and social liberal with a fully stamped leftie scum loyalty card. /rant

So anyway, whatever you do, someone will criticise it for something. Go look on Goodreads at your favourite novels and see the people giving them one star for some petty reason or other.

Also, I'd advise against considering anyone a hero. No one can live up to the mantle of a hero, because they are a real person with all the flaws and hairy bits that we all have. By all means have people you admire but try not to think of them as being some kind of elevated being.

Right, that's enough of that, and on to my next point:

Not everyone is good at giving criticism. This is the first thing you need to bear in mind when preparing yourself to accept constructive criticism. Giving critique is a learned skill just like anything else, and you need to bear in mind who is giving you the criticism, and whether you trust their opinion. To be receptive to criticism you need to keep an open mind and a somewhat objective approach to your own work. Separate the work from yourself. Only then can you make up your mind whether critique is valid. Seek out people you know who can give good critique, rather than people who just want to pick apart your work or flatter you. Whatever you do, do not feel as though you have to take advice from anyone. Listen to the advice, sure, but you don't need to act on it. Get multiple opinions if you can. Try to see things from these other people's point of view, then make up your own mind.

In any case, don't let criticism stop you from doing what you love. Just do it anyway. Keep writing, make mistakes, move on, do your thing.

 

[Akweia]

TL: DR I want to improve my writing, motivation, and not being a baby about criticism. I fee so drained lately and I know school has sucked my life out yet, but something else is draining energy to write anything or do anything creative. I want to have something meaningful, but I might be over my head. I don't want to be an edgy teenager and honestly want 90% comedy so that the fun stuff is fun, but the sad part truly hurt. I want to have good messages and a good story.

Now criticism... I want to improve on it, I really do. I want to be confident in what I write and listen to suggestions. I wanted to be like later Mlp, Steven universe, Star vs. the forces of evil, Yandere Simulator, etc, but now every I love is being cancelled and called problematic. It made me question everything I wanted to be as a writer and question what morals I was being fed. I can't trust my heroes and no matter how many times I want to deny these facts, I know critics are right. but now... I don't know...

Hi! I'm sorry to hear you're feeling a bit drained. I would try to reconnect with what makes you happy about writing. Maybe reread some stuff your proud of or write a real casual RP. Reconnect with your passion before you throw yourself back into the constructive criticism grind. I hope you feel energetic and back to writing soon.

 

[Deredere]

Crayons I thought no one liked those edgy comics and made parodies of said edgy comics. They thought that the classic superheroes were too gritty. I only seen parodies. Is angst and gritty stuff liked on this website more than fluff and comedy?

 

[Idea]

L: DR I want to improve my writing, motivation, and not being a baby about criticism. I fee so drained lately and I know school has sucked my life out yet, but something else is draining energy to write anything or do anything creative.

Improving your writing: Research, practice and self-awareness. The question is very broad, so going into a lot of specifics I think would be reductive, though I can think of things like the golden rule of consistency which can help improve things in a general sense. However, to improve your writing research about writing itself and the things you're writing about. Then practice and listen to feedback. Finally, try to get an awareness of where your strengths and weaknesses actually are.

Improving your motivation: If you're thinking this way, you're starting off in the wrong foot. If you are dependent on a given mood to do something, that will spiral into it becoming less and less frequent. The more you make something a habit, the more naturally it will come to you. If you only write sporadically when you feel like it, you will become less used to it, which means you'll have a harder time with it overall. That in turn makes it harder to get in the mood to do it, which makes you practice even less, which continues the spiral. The key, the first key to improving your motivation, is not relying on the mood to come on its own. If you are able to, induce. If not, make yourself write.
Of course, this doesn't mean there aren't good ways to deal with having lower motivation. Making the problem smaller, such as by segmenting the post into fragments to write one at a time is one way I use for instance. Having a methodology I can fall back on if my brain isn't cooperating is yet another. But the more you give up on trying, the harder it will be to try.

If you don't have the energy, try to set up simpler roleplays with more time in between posts. Or you could use a session-type RP even, where you just roleplay with someone on a fixed time and otherwise don't have to write.

Improving on dealing with criticism:
-> Ask for specifics. Don't accept an "it's boring", but don't reject it either, ask exactly why the critic thinks it is boring.
-> Don't take more than the critic's word. People say what they said, don't try to conjecture about what the critic might be thinking about other things or anything like that. In the same vein, don't assume criticism means people hated your work. Criticism is just easier to detail than praise, especially when a work is really good, because the bad things tend to stand out more easily and we tend to things that are good as just normal and expected.
-> Try to think about what to improve, not what is bad. You can't change what's in the past, but everyone can improve.

I want to have something meaningful, but I might be over my head. I don't want to be an edgy teenager and honestly want 90% comedy so that the fun stuff is fun, but the sad part truly hurt. I want to have good messages and a good story.

First, you make a good story first, messages can come later. Putting the message ahead of the story tends to be a recipe to fail at both. A good story with a bad or no message can at least still be entertaining and interesting. A bad story with a good message is at best boring and at worst so confusing, preachy, or revolting it causes people to get the wrong or even opposite message. This goes double or triple for roleplay where A) you don't have full control of the story, and B) you aren't supposed to be conveying a message because the people who is supposed to be reading it either already knows that message or they disagree with that message.

If you want to make something meaningful, know your priorities. Rather than having a message, which supposes a specific end goal you are preaching, maybe explore a theme. This way, you can do it without getting in conflict with making a good story, by just making a interesting character or plot which is involved in that theme.

I wanted to be like later Mlp, Steven universe, Star vs. the forces of evil, Yandere Simulator, etc, but now every I love is being cancelled and called problematic. It made me question everything I wanted to be as a writer and question what morals I was being fed.

Ignore the mob. There's a lot of cancellation and calling things problematic out there. Most of the time it's by people making stuff up.

It's a good thing to question though. It's a good thing to think for yourself what you really believe. But "questioning" shouldn't immediately mean concluding the opposite, it should only mean re-examining. And if the end result is different from what you originally thought, well, how many people wanted to be astronauts as kids and ended up being happy with something entirely different?

I know critics are right

I'm gonna tell it to you straight: No you don't. I don't know who these critics are, or what exactly they said, but the topic you're talking about is too broad to say something like that is true. Critics are correct on specific occasions and wrong on others. Only one person is infallible and that is only on one specific kind of subject, and only if you follow my particular religion.

Beyond that, everyone makes mistakes. Starting from the assumption the critic is correct is hardly different from starting from an assumption of guilt (though I do recommend starting from the assumption that the critic is correct one one's own work, but certainly not on others and not blindly).

Crayons I thought no one liked those edgy comics and made parodies of said edgy comics. They thought that the classic superheroes were too gritty. I only seen parodies. Is angst and gritty stuff liked on this website more than fluff and comedy?

There are people who like all kinds of things. But you shouldn't be writing for what other people like, you should write for what you like, and find partners who like those things too. You'll always write worse if you're writing what you don't like.

 

[Deredere]

The key, the first key to improving your motivation, is not relying on the mood to come on its own. If you are able to, induce. If not, make yourself write.

I tried making myself do something that I was really passionate before; it was chemistry. I loved it before I knew how difficult it was. I tried my best and it was so hard. I pushed myself like I never did before and I passed with a 90%, but I felt like it was never worth feeling so anxious, pulling out my hair, or even bursting out crying in the classroom. I now hate chemistry. I don't want to push myself to frustration from what I love. I want writing to when I'm stressed, but no what causes my stress. I don't want to hate writing.

 

[Idea]

I tried making myself do something that I was really passionate before; it was chemistry. I loved it before I knew how difficult it was. I tried my best and it was so hard. I pushed myself like I never did before and I passed with a 90%, but I felt like it was never worth feeling so anxious, pulling out my hair, or even bursting out crying in the classroom. I now hate chemistry. I don't want to push myself to frustration from what I love. I want writing to when I'm stressed, but no what causes my stress. I don't want to hate writing.

I'm not telling you to push yourself beyond your breaking point. What I'm telling you is to push yourself a little bit past your immediate comfort zone. It doesn't have to be a lot, in fact it shouldn't be a lot. It should be picked carefully with awareness of what is realistic for you. But it shouldn't be just when you feel like it. Because the times you feel like it will only keep getting shorter that way. People only worry about stubbing their toe when they aren't starving to death. Our problems seem worse the more we get used to not having anything worse to face.

But do what I am suggesting and I can tell you this, you will feel like writing more. Hence why I suggested it as a way to "improve your motivation". You need to gradually and with moderation get used to it to going just a little bit further. The more used you are to writing the more naturally it will come to you. Its the same thing with studying, with exercise, with eating healthy, any of that... try to push yourself all at once and of course you won't be unable to keep up, but do so slowly and gradually and change is possible.

Of course, you can decide to not accept this advice, it is your decision. It's fine to be as you are, and this is a hobby, it's for fun and fun is ultimately what matters. But I'm sure you're aware there isn't a magical fix, and if you do wanna improve anything, effort is going to be required, and effort is rarely a pleasant thing.

 

[Deredere]

Thank you for the advice. I can be inspired much easier than I can be motivated. The thing is when I ride my bike, inspiration flows through me and I get my best ideas from it like DnD characters being eldery or having working class citizens (and even some middle class citizens) be superheroes like a magic mop, glasses to see through things, or a welder having fire powers. It's just hard to express it as of now. Could I Dm one of you personally to let all my ideas out? It might help.

 

[Crayons]

Crayons I thought no one liked those edgy comics and made parodies of said edgy comics. They thought that the classic superheroes were too gritty. I only seen parodies. Is angst and gritty stuff liked on this website more than fluff and comedy?

I'm not entirely sure what you mean but I'm going to try to parse it.

Superheroes didn't used to be dark and gritty at all. Comics Code was used to censor comics to make them suitable for children. Underground Comics came out of counter-culture reacting against restrictive norms, which later led to the opening up of the comics medium to adult-audience books (not just gritty superheroes but literally any title not aimed at children aged 12 and under).

Whether people on this website like gritty stuff is completely beside the point. You can look at a whole range of other examples where a creator's behaviour or content that could be considered problematic causes that creator to be "cancelled".

 

[Sara Sidereal]

Today's correct opinions are tomorrow's bigotry. The only correct beliefs are those you arrive at on your own.

TL: DR I want to improve my writing, motivation, and not being a baby about criticism. I fee so drained lately and I know school has sucked my life out yet, but something else is draining energy to write anything or do anything creative. I want to have something meaningful, but I might be over my head. I don't want to be an edgy teenager and honestly want 90% comedy so that the fun stuff is fun, but the sad part truly hurt. I want to have good messages and a good story.

Now criticism... I want to improve on it, I really do. I want to be confident in what I write and listen to suggestions. I wanted to be like later Mlp, Steven universe, Star vs. the forces of evil, Yandere Simulator, etc, but now every I love is being cancelled and called problematic. It made me question everything I wanted to be as a writer and question what morals I was being fed. I can't trust my heroes and no matter how many times I want to deny these facts, I know critics are right. but now... I don't know...

Who gets to decide what's bad, and what are their credentials? Does a blue checkmark mean that you've solved ethical philosophy? I must have missed that issue of Nature.

 

[Deredere]

Also, get comfortable with the idea of sucking. Everyone sucks when they start out! It's normal-- writing is a skill, as much as playing an instrument is, and I'm sure you wouldn't expect to master the guitar within, say, three weeks. When you accept that sucking is a normal part of your development as a writer, criticism will be much easier to accept. It's nothing personal!

If we don't start out perfect, then why does people yell at you for making one mistake. Even learning from that mistake and they still yell at you. It sometimes does feel like I'm being told that. That one mistake means you are a horrible person. Why would a jerk yell at me? Maybe they aren't jerks, maybe it's me. Maybe writing isn't cut out for me, maybe doing the things I once loved isn't cut out for me, there is always a critic and critic are always right. If they were wrong, why would they push something that's wrong? They're all right.

 

[AnnJam]

Okay I can't speak on the other stuff, because my depression makes me periodically apathetic at best about the shit I love. However, on the point of criticism you need to learn what it looks like and what it shouldn't look like. Critique should never make you feel bad, useless, lesser or like you're failing as a person. It should be informed, it should address direct issues from the subject you've asked for critique of, and should never be about you or your personal character. It should acknowledge they understand what they are critiquing, it should say something positive and reinforcing about your work, and it should also point out a area of weakness without attacking you personally.

 

[Deredere]

No, it's not that. It's to critique myself as a person. It feels like no one wants to read a story that comes from a bad person so I asked myself what was wrong with me and to forever remove those awful parts for me to feel like someone . I had the list and everything. I'm a hypocrite saying I love everyone but I don't, I think I know everything but I'm a moron, I'm too dramatic and emotions as none of this will ever matter. I just want to find a way to get rid of these awful parts of me.

 

[AnnJam]

If we don't start out perfect, then why does people yell at you for making one mistake

If they're yelling or getting mad they're not being critical they're being a bully. You can write something that sucks, you can be not good at something, and still receive a critique that doesn't make you feel like a bag of shit. A critique should make you think critically of what you're written, whether you agree with it or not, and you should be able to walk way from a critique without feeling like you've been emotionally stabbed!

I would say, and this is personal, a critique should feel more clinical than emotional!

 

[Deredere]

I'm sorry for the self hate. That's also a bad habit of mine. This was meant to be about writing, not my feelings. You know what they say, 'Facts over feelings'. I just need to man up and take every criticism I have all at once to tweak the bad parts out.

 

[AnnJam]

No, it's not that. It's to critique myself as a person.

Ahhhh! Now I know this more introspective and self love motivated, but I feel like your much to down on your own work that you're failing to see your own progress and skill. Sometimes before you look to impress others you have to impress yourself, take pride in your work and it begins to show. From there you can get more critical on the craft and mechanics of writing. But right now I think you should work on loving what you do well, and how to identify what you don't do well but with kindness in mind.

I would start by comparing a piece of your own writing you love to a piece of writing you don't. Identify what you like about each and things you don't like. What are things you feel you did really well, and where did things fall short. It sometimes helps to know your own writing and see where you've improved or generally done well.

 

[nerdy tangents]

I'm sorry for the self hate. That's also a bad habit of mine. This was meant to be about writing, not my feelings. You know what they say, 'Facts over feelings'. I just need to man up and take every criticism I have all at once to tweak the bad parts out.

I think something to keep in mind is that

In the case of writing it is all about feeling. Unless your asking for like purely grammatical assistance (Ex. Should I put a comma here?) than all criticism is based on the other persons feeling and personal preference.

It doesn’t make you a bad person or a bad writer if you don’t change just because someone made a comment. Because at the end of the day their just giving you their opinion not an objective fact.

It’s fine to want to improve but don’t hold other people’s opinion up as divine law.

Because everyone has different opinions, what infuriates one person might be someone else’s favorite thing in the world.

 

[GojiBean]

Phew... There's a lot to say here after reading your initial comment, and the responses to others.

So, here's my thoughts for you:

1) The self hate needs to stop

It's harder than it sounds, I know. I'm no psychiatrist, and I won't pretend to be one. However, this is a statement of fact nonetheless that you need to stop hating yourself. You know that you have to already, so that's a good first step.

Now let's build on that here and now, shall we?

If you don't listen to anything else I have to say in this long-winded reply to your dilemma, please at least pay attention to and remember this Deredere : There is nothing wrong with you.

There never was anything wrong with you. There will never be anything wrong with you. And no one worth listening to will ever tell you there's anything wrong with you.

You are who you're meant to be. If others don't understand or appreciate that and "yell" at you for making simple mistakes then screw them. They're the ones who are letting their personal bias, exaggerated self esteem, and a negative attitude rule their language and behavior. Not you.

When people come down on you for mistakes in a negative fashion, they're projecting their own insecurities and trying to drag you down even lower so they can get the "high ground" over you and feel better about themselves. It's a classic bully behavior that's about as old as humanity itself. Drag someone lower and you'll never be at the bottom. It's self preservation of the ego. And it's incredibly toxic.

Don't let them do that to you. If there's nothing positive coming from them in regards to your mistakes, then disregard everything they say and move on to the next person who gives you positive feedback in addition to honest criticism.

Speaking of...

2) Learn to identify and separate honest criticism from dishonest criticism

Honest criticism comes in several basic forms. But the most common is what we call "Praise, Correct, Praise," or PCP.

In its simplest form, it looks like this: "Hey, this is pretty cool (P)! I think this bit here might be dragging on a little bit (C), but otherwise I think your story is shaping up nicely! (P)"

This is a bit of an oversimplification of what you're likely to get, I admit. But it's probably the easiest example to use to get the point across. People who have something to say that's worth your time to listen to will always carry a certain level of humility which comes in the form of having the maturity to identify and point out what you're doing well first before providing their thoughts on what they think you could potentially do better.

Key phrase: "their thoughts."

Writing is art. And all forms of art are 100% subjective. There are no doctrines. There are no hard rules that must be followed. And there is no true "right" or "wrong."

Dishonest criticism is what you've been facing every time someone's ever "yelled" at you for mistakes. For example, if you forget to capitalize the first letter of a sentence and someone goes "Bruh! Did you ever study grammar? Capitalizing the first word is elementary school shit. Get it right, or stop writing."

This, my dear fellow writer/role-player, is what we call a pure and unadulterated "Asshole."

Assholes have nothing kind to say. They have no actual critique for your work other than the blatantly obvious that you could easily realize and correct yourself upon a general edit check. And they contribute nothing to your growth because they have nothing to offer that you don't already have.

The reason they have nothing to contribute to your growth or any actual critique to offer? They have no idea what they're talking about. They're only in it to find something they think is wrong, and then make a big deal out of it.

It's a whole lot of yammering on about nothing, saying nothing, but doing so as loudly as possible in an attempt to turn it into something. But it never will be.

Never, EVER listen to people like this. If they pop up here on RPN or anywhere else then you should block them, report them to Moderators, or simply ignore them.

They're not worth your time, and they certainly aren't worth the energy it takes to worry about what they have to say. Instead, ignore them and use that energy instead to either find someone else's critique to pay attention to that's worth it, or put the energy towards trying to come up with something or fix something that already exists in a current/ongoing work of yours.

3) Trust your current skill set

No matter how noobish you might think you are about any aspect of your writing, I can all but guarantee that you know far more about the things you love writing about and are far more talented and capable of making them interesting, impactful, emotional, and unique to your creative process compared to other people who enjoy the same things than you realize.

In order to prove this point, I would like to both make a request and ask you a few basic questions. My request is this: Please don't answer these questions here on RPN. Instead, type out the question and then your answer to said question and print them out on paper and keep that paper on your desk where it's always within reach so you can go back and read through them at any time that your motivation may be dwindling.

The reason I'm asking you to do this should become pretty clear in due time

So, the questions...

1 - Why do you want to "improve" your writing?

2 - What are your biggest weaknesses as a writer? (pacing, plot, story, tension and release, comedic timing, character development, etc?)

3 - Why do you believe the above are your biggest weaknesses?

4 - (Read your answer to question 3 out loud to yourself...) Are these actually weakness?

Did you write them down on a document and print it out yet?

No?

Okay, I'll wait...

...

Did you do it?

Cool!

Moving on!

4) Check yourself and your doubts.

In my experience it's a hard truth that 99% of the time the things which writers feel are their greatest weaknesses are in fact their strengths. But these strengths are being weighed down by self doubt, perfectionism, and a constant self-comparison to your favorite authors/producers/directors, etc. But the fact that it's so hard to recognize it as such is what makes it so crippling.

Allow me to share my own experience with this as an example of just how wrong you probably are about your "weaknesses" as a writer.

I long believed that writing characters was my greatest weakness. This was especially true only a few years ago because of a series of mistakes I made in a role-play where I felt I completely butchered one of my longtime favorite characters to use in role-playing, and I nearly gave up on using this character as a result. I thought I'd ruined his personality. I thought I'd ruined his skill set. I thought I'd ruined everything about him that made him who he was from his origin story to what I was planning for the endgame of said story.

However, following a period of self-reflection and study I discovered it wasn't the character I had ruined. It was the world around him.

Characters are only as interesting and their world and obstacles make them. When you fuck up the world and don't give them any meaningful obstacles, even the most otherwise interesting characters who have a plethora of opportunities to show amazing growth can become boring and have nothing meaningful to contribute no matter how carefully you try to craft the plot and story they're following.

My weakness wasn't character. It was worldbuilding and providing meaningful obstacles to his success that were my weaknesses.

So I would caution you to think about what your weaknesses are, ponder it for a while, and then ask yourself if they're what you're truly weak at or if there's something else that you're doing that may be making it look like they're your weaknesses when it's really something else.

You may just be surprised at the results.

5) Stick to what you love no matter what.

Just as it's a folly to compare yourself to other authors, producers, directors, etc, it's a folly to compare what you love to any "modern" or "changing" interpretations of them by other people.

If you love comedy, write comedy. If you love high fantasy, write high fantasy.

Just as there's nothing wrong with you, there's nothing wrong with the genres or styles that you love to write in. Just because other people are cancelling them or calling them problematic doesn't actually make them so.

People don't define reality. Reality defines people.

All the people trying to cancel what you love are the same people who could never actually do anything with those same things. Whatever negative things they have to say about it are (pardon the crude expression) about as valuable to you and the rest of the world as the sweat off a homeless man's balls.

Stick to what you love. Because the fact that you love it is good enough a reason as any to stick to it and keep chasing it.

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Writing is and has always been about more than just making a statement, making your mark, or even telling a compelling story.

Writing is about making yourself happy and finding that sense of fulfilment that comes with the entire process. The fulfilment of creating the initial concept. The fulfilment of creating your cast of characters. The fulfilment of creating the first outline. The fulfilment of writing the first draft. The fulfilment of editing that draft into its second version, third version, and beyond as you refine and sculpt it like a painter uses singular strokes to finalize the image on a canvass.

Writing is about you.

Your happiness, sadness, anger, desperation, depression, excitement, and love.

Everything that makes you who you are will be reflected in your writing. And it shouldn't be any other way.

You are enough. And so is whatever you love to write about and involve yourself with.

Turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the toxicity of the world around you, and seek out the respectful and honest criticism where you receive the positive alongside the corrective pieces of advice that come your way. Those are what will help you to grow and mature as a writer the most, and will help you realize what your true weaknesses are so you can work on them and discover just how strong your writing skills actually are in the here and now and how much better they can be in the future so long as you keep your mind clear of the fog that's trying to get in your way.

You are enough, Deredere.

Believe in that first and foremost, and believe in what you love and what you do now.

If you can do that, you'll find peace and happiness as a writer and you'll seldom run into these kinds of crippling issues with motivation and inspiration again.

Cheers~

 

[altair]

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