Have you reconnected to childlike storytelling play?
July 18, 2019 4:24 AM Subscribe
I lost my ability to enjoy telling made-up stories to myself, and I want it back. Do you have any advice/tips/success stories?
I've been reading Gretchen Ruben's "The Happiness Project" as recommended in Books on taking life from "okay" to "good". Chapter 5 is about having fun, and she mentions the advice she received to think of what was fun for you as a child and try reconnecting with that.
Well, I know exactly what was fun for me as a child. I wandered around the house or neighborhood or wherever we went for vacation, telling myself stories in my head in which casts of characters had various adventures. When I was with friends we'd often tell stories together. When I read a book, afterwards I'd go off and burn off all the creative energy generated making up additional stories about similar characters or worlds. Sometimes these stories were actually rather complex, lots of worldbuilding, large casts of characters, weird moral dilemmas...
This lasted until around middle school. I started to become aware (through a variety of sources) that my play was rife with cliches. I think I once shyly showed a science teacher a story and she said something like "yes, very standard post-apocalyptic trifle" (if that's not what she actually said, that's what it felt like). I got involved with online writing communities and my technical skills improved rapidly but I became deeply self-conscious about "Mary Sues" and other hallmarks of poor storytelling, and it completely destroyed my joy in unfiltered storytelling to myself. I felt weird and embarrassed about the purple-eyed (yes, yes) character and others whose adventures I'd built.
At least, that's how I remember it happening and what I blame it on, but maybe it would have happened anyway-- I relate very deeply to the opening anecdote of hyperboleandahalf's second essay on depression where her ability to enjoy imaginary play just... disappears. I try to imagine myself once again telling the stories of Uncle and Nephew Scissors flying about the house to defeat The Coming Darkness and I feel like I'd no longer be able to immerse myself in it enough to be enjoying myself.
Meanwhile, I've always wanted to write stories and I've suffered from a constant on-off writer's block that bears a weird resemblance to the loss of my imaginative play, because the self-consciousness about getting my ideas down write slowly chokes the fun out of any writing project I start. I mention this because one reason I'd like imaginative play back is that maybe it would refresh my writing inspiration, also.
But it occurs to me that maybe I've simply accepted this as hopeless and actually this is something it is possible to reconnect to/get back. So I turn to you, wise mefites-- expansive creative play that's been killed off via self-consciousness, can it be resurrected? how?
I've been reading Gretchen Ruben's "The Happiness Project" as recommended in Books on taking life from "okay" to "good". Chapter 5 is about having fun, and she mentions the advice she received to think of what was fun for you as a child and try reconnecting with that.
Well, I know exactly what was fun for me as a child. I wandered around the house or neighborhood or wherever we went for vacation, telling myself stories in my head in which casts of characters had various adventures. When I was with friends we'd often tell stories together. When I read a book, afterwards I'd go off and burn off all the creative energy generated making up additional stories about similar characters or worlds. Sometimes these stories were actually rather complex, lots of worldbuilding, large casts of characters, weird moral dilemmas...
This lasted until around middle school. I started to become aware (through a variety of sources) that my play was rife with cliches. I think I once shyly showed a science teacher a story and she said something like "yes, very standard post-apocalyptic trifle" (if that's not what she actually said, that's what it felt like). I got involved with online writing communities and my technical skills improved rapidly but I became deeply self-conscious about "Mary Sues" and other hallmarks of poor storytelling, and it completely destroyed my joy in unfiltered storytelling to myself. I felt weird and embarrassed about the purple-eyed (yes, yes) character and others whose adventures I'd built.
At least, that's how I remember it happening and what I blame it on, but maybe it would have happened anyway-- I relate very deeply to the opening anecdote of hyperboleandahalf's second essay on depression where her ability to enjoy imaginary play just... disappears. I try to imagine myself once again telling the stories of Uncle and Nephew Scissors flying about the house to defeat The Coming Darkness and I feel like I'd no longer be able to immerse myself in it enough to be enjoying myself.
Meanwhile, I've always wanted to write stories and I've suffered from a constant on-off writer's block that bears a weird resemblance to the loss of my imaginative play, because the self-consciousness about getting my ideas down write slowly chokes the fun out of any writing project I start. I mention this because one reason I'd like imaginative play back is that maybe it would refresh my writing inspiration, also.
But it occurs to me that maybe I've simply accepted this as hopeless and actually this is something it is possible to reconnect to/get back. So I turn to you, wise mefites-- expansive creative play that's been killed off via self-consciousness, can it be resurrected? how?
A friend of mine who writes really good fanfic recently mentioned that she has a whole other fic-writing pseudonym, which she won't divulge. And under this name she apparently writes the most purple and delightful stories, just the way her id wants it. So maybe creating a whole other 'character' to write as could help you distance yourself from your unhelpful inner editor.
posted by theatro at 5:30 AM on July 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by theatro at 5:30 AM on July 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
Are you still reading the same kinds of fanciful, imaginative books you did when you were a kid? That might help provide some jumping off points.
posted by eponym at 5:38 AM on July 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by eponym at 5:38 AM on July 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
Do you have a kid in your life? Could you tell a story to them, either in person or as an imagined audience?
Growing up I had an adult in my life with whom I’d hike around our local park, taking turns telling a long saga. As an adult I have done this with kids while hiking and they take the story it totally wild directions; their natural ability to “yes and” in improv speak leaves adults in the dust. Sure it’s often some combo of self-insert and tropes, but they’re tropes because they’re powerful ways of processing information. If you’re creating for yourself, as kids are, the tropes need to please no one but you. (Plus the last time I did this the kid and I ended up telling the story of a bear who, through a variety of misadventures, was crowned a god by a fishing village far from home. So even goofy kid stuff isn’t all violet eyed apocalypse-preventers.)
Having watched imaginative kids, I also feel like movement is a big piece of it—you mention this too in your description. Do you have a safe loop of a walk somewhere that you can just let your feet go and your mind wander for 30 minutes at a time?
posted by tchemgrrl at 5:38 AM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Growing up I had an adult in my life with whom I’d hike around our local park, taking turns telling a long saga. As an adult I have done this with kids while hiking and they take the story it totally wild directions; their natural ability to “yes and” in improv speak leaves adults in the dust. Sure it’s often some combo of self-insert and tropes, but they’re tropes because they’re powerful ways of processing information. If you’re creating for yourself, as kids are, the tropes need to please no one but you. (Plus the last time I did this the kid and I ended up telling the story of a bear who, through a variety of misadventures, was crowned a god by a fishing village far from home. So even goofy kid stuff isn’t all violet eyed apocalypse-preventers.)
Having watched imaginative kids, I also feel like movement is a big piece of it—you mention this too in your description. Do you have a safe loop of a walk somewhere that you can just let your feet go and your mind wander for 30 minutes at a time?
posted by tchemgrrl at 5:38 AM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Try D&D or other social role play? Also yes, hang out with kids if you can. If you don’t have them in your circle, consider Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:39 AM on July 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:39 AM on July 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
Keith Johnstone's Impro book has a fantastic section on Narrative Skills including quite a few exercises you can just try out. I recommend the book generally as it talks a lot about how to let go of some of your internal barriers.
posted by crocomancer at 5:44 AM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by crocomancer at 5:44 AM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
I bought a set of Story Cubes and once in a while I bust them out. I roll the whole handful, then try to put them in a line that tells a tiny story inside my head.
I did this once with my youngest (when she was maybe 9?) and she thought it was good fun.
To me, this activity is like lifting weights for my imagination: repetitive and simple, sure, but also just good, productive work.
posted by wenestvedt at 5:45 AM on July 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
I did this once with my youngest (when she was maybe 9?) and she thought it was good fun.
To me, this activity is like lifting weights for my imagination: repetitive and simple, sure, but also just good, productive work.
posted by wenestvedt at 5:45 AM on July 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Seconding theatro's suggestion of fanfic - it's basically exactly what you were doing as a kid, for TV shows/films/books/bands that you love, and you can do it under a pseudonym, which is immensely freeing. You can write alternate endings, plots that diverge from canon, take the characters and put them somewhere totally different, pretty much do whatever you like.
When you read other people's fics, you'll see much of it is rife with cliche and everyone loves it - that's half the point of it, everyone gets to indulge the archetypes they want, the possibly-trite-but-oh-so-satisfying plot twists and endings that the professional show writers have bent themselves in pretzels trying to avoid. And you'll also find people writing in their second or third language, and people who can't write for toffee (by typical objective standards) but their fics will still be popular, just because they gave it a go, or because what they did with the characters pleases their readers so much, they don't care how well it was written.
And there's a sense of freedom about publishing your own stuff even when it's not perfect, because nobody knows who you are. It's glorious! Writing fics has been about the only time in my life I've written really freely and joyfully, even when the 'proper' imaginative writing I feel I should be doing has ground to a halt for reasons much like your own.
Check out Archive of Our Own and see if there are any fandoms that take your fancy. I think you might need an invite to join if you want to write - MeMail me if you want one.
posted by penguin pie at 7:19 AM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
When you read other people's fics, you'll see much of it is rife with cliche and everyone loves it - that's half the point of it, everyone gets to indulge the archetypes they want, the possibly-trite-but-oh-so-satisfying plot twists and endings that the professional show writers have bent themselves in pretzels trying to avoid. And you'll also find people writing in their second or third language, and people who can't write for toffee (by typical objective standards) but their fics will still be popular, just because they gave it a go, or because what they did with the characters pleases their readers so much, they don't care how well it was written.
And there's a sense of freedom about publishing your own stuff even when it's not perfect, because nobody knows who you are. It's glorious! Writing fics has been about the only time in my life I've written really freely and joyfully, even when the 'proper' imaginative writing I feel I should be doing has ground to a halt for reasons much like your own.
Check out Archive of Our Own and see if there are any fandoms that take your fancy. I think you might need an invite to join if you want to write - MeMail me if you want one.
posted by penguin pie at 7:19 AM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
SaltySalticid's suggestion about D&D is a good one, if you have a good group. Another related, but smaller suggestion would be to see if you can find a few people who might want to play a game of Fiasco or The Quiet Year. They're both storytelling games, with prompts to keep you going, and they don't require prep beforehand. In Fiasco, you are telling a story as a group in which things are supposed to go terribly, horribly sideways by the end. In the Quiet Year, you are drawing a map and telling the story of a post-apocalyptic community. The thing that I love about these games is that they are just about the joy of telling a story, and in some scenarios embracing the cliches is what makes it fun.
Also, I would kindly suggest that it might be helpful to consider some of the ugly social construction that exists around the idea of a Mary Sue character. Yeah, it's possible to have a female character to completely warp the story around them such that it removes characterization from the other characters and removes any tension in the story. But the term has expanded so much to include just "female characters who are competent". Many very popular male characters (from, say, the Marvel movies) would be labeled Mary Sues if they were female. There's nothing inherently bad about purple eyes or power/competency in a main character. Some people are simply going to take any excuse to pull the power from storytellers, and coming to recognize that has been helpful in my own thinking and willingness to be creative. Sometimes you want the joy of a character succeeding and that's a good, joyous thing.
posted by past unusual at 7:30 AM on July 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
Also, I would kindly suggest that it might be helpful to consider some of the ugly social construction that exists around the idea of a Mary Sue character. Yeah, it's possible to have a female character to completely warp the story around them such that it removes characterization from the other characters and removes any tension in the story. But the term has expanded so much to include just "female characters who are competent". Many very popular male characters (from, say, the Marvel movies) would be labeled Mary Sues if they were female. There's nothing inherently bad about purple eyes or power/competency in a main character. Some people are simply going to take any excuse to pull the power from storytellers, and coming to recognize that has been helpful in my own thinking and willingness to be creative. Sometimes you want the joy of a character succeeding and that's a good, joyous thing.
posted by past unusual at 7:30 AM on July 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
I used to tell myself stories like yours when I was little, and write, and I stopped when I decided I had to spend time on serious art instead. Running a role playing game for my friends was so much fun it was shocking. I got to fall asleep at night thinking about the world I was building and the people in it, and I felt completely the same excitement I did when I was little. Getting to share the stuff I imagined was a bonus. If you’ve never played d&d I think listening to The Adventure Zone podcast is a good way in.
posted by velebita at 8:11 AM on July 18, 2019
posted by velebita at 8:11 AM on July 18, 2019
Lynda Barry is all about this, and for the majority of us who can't take her college classes in Wisconsin she's done a couple of books that are extremely helpful for reconnecting with this part of yourself. I highly recommend them - Picture This! and What It Is. She also put out a book on her course, Syllabus, which I have not yet had the opportunity to read, and her social media presence has a lot of the little exercises she has her class do. Her basic thesis is that every child is an artist, and then we lose that and have to reconnect with it. I've found her stuff incredibly helpful for dealing with my art-related anxiety and cannot recommend it highly enough.
posted by bile and syntax at 9:42 AM on July 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by bile and syntax at 9:42 AM on July 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
Playing Dungeons & Dragons or one of the many many other Role Playing Games out there. It is literally a group of people sitting around telling a story together, with the DM setting the scene &; playing all the other characters. As someone that used to tell stories with friends at school, seriously it's almost exactly the same thing just with some random dice throws to keep unexpected things happening. I have players that create back stories for their characters that run pages of writing, others draw or create art. One guy wrote a silly jingle for his second hand horse selling business. And I'm inspired to paint miniature figures. Once you get the basics you can run the games yourself which is even better I spend all my free time imagining adventures for friends, creating worlds &; people.
It is so much fun (I have muscle pain in my stomach today from laughing so hard at a session we played last night) &; you can make great friends, you may have to try a different group or 2 to find a group that focuses on story is the only thing, some people prefer the combat side of things, but find yourself a role play heavy group & you'll have just the thing you're looking for. .
If you go to the D&;D Adventure League website there is an area to search for games in your area. Adventure League was created to have games that new players can go to gaming stores & just join in &; learn about the system.
posted by wwax at 9:58 AM on July 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
It is so much fun (I have muscle pain in my stomach today from laughing so hard at a session we played last night) &; you can make great friends, you may have to try a different group or 2 to find a group that focuses on story is the only thing, some people prefer the combat side of things, but find yourself a role play heavy group & you'll have just the thing you're looking for. .
If you go to the D&;D Adventure League website there is an area to search for games in your area. Adventure League was created to have games that new players can go to gaming stores & just join in &; learn about the system.
posted by wwax at 9:58 AM on July 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Nthing getting back into fic. Also, do you do any crafting? Making small toys (dolls, animals, whatever) can launch you into imagining their world.
posted by tan_coul at 10:09 AM on July 18, 2019
posted by tan_coul at 10:09 AM on July 18, 2019
I agree with everyone above that fic is where it's at. I write fic both under my own pseudonym (linked in my profile), and another, and it is so damn freeing to have that two-steps-removed-from-me place to write for fun. Even in that pseudonym, at least half of the shit I daydream about storywise never makes it to the page, so to speak, and that's okay! Whenever that whisper starts up in my head about ugh, how self-indulgent and unbelievable and trite, I tell it, so what? this is literally just for me!
And like penguin pie says, if you read other people's fics, you can see all kinds of people letting their ids fly story-telling wise, and those stories are often wildly well-received, even when they are objectively not good. Sometimes such stories aren't well-received, but even that's encouraging! Because if that person is merrily posting away their hundred thousand word-long, wildly specific epic for all to see, then surely you can play around with some supposedly trite scenarios in your head.
You might also find the concepts of drawerfic and idfic helpful. There's nothing wrong with writing and/or imagining for an audience of one, the important thing is having fun. Maybe if you specifically try writing something wildly self-indulgent, stuffed full of your favorite, most tropey ideas and impulses, while telling yourself no one else will ever see this, it's just for me, so why not go all out, then maybe you can exorcise some of this self-consciousness. If it leads to something else, great! But if not, it's not a waste, because you've made something you enjoy and had fun doing it.
Also, related to the suggestion to play RPGs, if a tabletop game with actual IRL people isn't an option for you, or feels like too much, try playing a video game RPG. My preference for this is to go with something low stakes like Stardew Valley. You can build your character, imagine their backstory, and as you do all the stuff in the game, you can build a mental story to go along with it. Banish your Mary Sue fears: the way most of these games are constructed, you're meant to warp the story around you and fix everything, more or less. So lean in, and imagine as detailed a story as you want to from there. The game Rimworld could also be good for this; I play that in god mode aka developer mode so I don't have to do quite so much resource collecting and worrying about disasters, and can just noodle along building shit and playing puppet master to my colonists.
posted by yasaman at 11:23 AM on July 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
And like penguin pie says, if you read other people's fics, you can see all kinds of people letting their ids fly story-telling wise, and those stories are often wildly well-received, even when they are objectively not good. Sometimes such stories aren't well-received, but even that's encouraging! Because if that person is merrily posting away their hundred thousand word-long, wildly specific epic for all to see, then surely you can play around with some supposedly trite scenarios in your head.
You might also find the concepts of drawerfic and idfic helpful. There's nothing wrong with writing and/or imagining for an audience of one, the important thing is having fun. Maybe if you specifically try writing something wildly self-indulgent, stuffed full of your favorite, most tropey ideas and impulses, while telling yourself no one else will ever see this, it's just for me, so why not go all out, then maybe you can exorcise some of this self-consciousness. If it leads to something else, great! But if not, it's not a waste, because you've made something you enjoy and had fun doing it.
Also, related to the suggestion to play RPGs, if a tabletop game with actual IRL people isn't an option for you, or feels like too much, try playing a video game RPG. My preference for this is to go with something low stakes like Stardew Valley. You can build your character, imagine their backstory, and as you do all the stuff in the game, you can build a mental story to go along with it. Banish your Mary Sue fears: the way most of these games are constructed, you're meant to warp the story around you and fix everything, more or less. So lean in, and imagine as detailed a story as you want to from there. The game Rimworld could also be good for this; I play that in god mode aka developer mode so I don't have to do quite so much resource collecting and worrying about disasters, and can just noodle along building shit and playing puppet master to my colonists.
posted by yasaman at 11:23 AM on July 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
Make up a pseudonym or three, write some fanfic! It cannot possibly be worse than half of what's out there, as you will quickly learn if you look at an archive like Archive of Our Own.
posted by praemunire at 12:32 PM on July 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 12:32 PM on July 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
In addition to story cubes, there are also story cards that can be played with or used as writing prompts. Link is to a set I like, but there are fantasy, sci fi, all kinds of genres out there. They are fun to play with and tell stories with before getting into any writing.
Morning pages might be a useful tool to supplement what you're already doing and to get in touch with your creativity, but I think the full Artist's Way is probably better for another time.
I disagree with the recommendations for fanfic, mostly because people are assholes and it's fairly discouraging to put a lot of work into a story and then the only people who read it are those who hate your ship and you end up with zero kudos and an inbox full of death threats. If you do try writing fic, look at AO3, see what is popular and write that.
posted by betweenthebars at 12:46 PM on July 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Morning pages might be a useful tool to supplement what you're already doing and to get in touch with your creativity, but I think the full Artist's Way is probably better for another time.
I disagree with the recommendations for fanfic, mostly because people are assholes and it's fairly discouraging to put a lot of work into a story and then the only people who read it are those who hate your ship and you end up with zero kudos and an inbox full of death threats. If you do try writing fic, look at AO3, see what is popular and write that.
posted by betweenthebars at 12:46 PM on July 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
the only people who read it are those who hate your ship and you end up with zero kudos and an inbox full of death threats.
I've been writing fic for over ten years, and this has literally never happened to me or anyone I know, and I haven't only been writing in niche, Yuletide-level fandoms. I've gotten like one mild, no-effort flame that I laughed at and deleted. If harassment is genuinely a concern or becomes one, lock your story so it's only visible to logged-in AO3 users, disable anonymous commenting, and turn on moderated comments for anything you post.
I'd also respectfully disagree with just writing what's popular, because that seems contrary to the goal of reconnecting to your own creative and storytelling urges. Part of the appeal of writing fic is that it doesn't have to be about writing something that's popular: your job's not on the line, you're not getting paid, there's no deadline, you don't have to care about or think about the ~market~ for your story. You're writing for yourself, and the handful of other people who might be into what you're into. And honestly, if you're not immersed in fandom-as-community, then who cares if what you write is popular or not? Fandom and fic-writing are only as communal as you want or need them to be.
If the goal is truly to just find the fun in writing and storytelling again, any positive response in the form of kudos and comments is just a bonus. AO3 provides the option to turn off even seeing kudos/hits counts on your stories, and to turn off receiving any notifications of any kudos and comments. Doing so may help you keep from feeling self-conscious. You can just write and post into the void and see if that kickstarts your storytelling.
If you know you'll end up fixating on wanting validation in one form or another, just don't post anything you write. But as a way to reconnect to fun storytelling for yourself, writing fic is a good place to start, since by the genre's own standards, you don't have to write anything original or groundbreaking, and even the most cliche plotline or trope is welcome.
posted by yasaman at 2:13 PM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
I've been writing fic for over ten years, and this has literally never happened to me or anyone I know, and I haven't only been writing in niche, Yuletide-level fandoms. I've gotten like one mild, no-effort flame that I laughed at and deleted. If harassment is genuinely a concern or becomes one, lock your story so it's only visible to logged-in AO3 users, disable anonymous commenting, and turn on moderated comments for anything you post.
I'd also respectfully disagree with just writing what's popular, because that seems contrary to the goal of reconnecting to your own creative and storytelling urges. Part of the appeal of writing fic is that it doesn't have to be about writing something that's popular: your job's not on the line, you're not getting paid, there's no deadline, you don't have to care about or think about the ~market~ for your story. You're writing for yourself, and the handful of other people who might be into what you're into. And honestly, if you're not immersed in fandom-as-community, then who cares if what you write is popular or not? Fandom and fic-writing are only as communal as you want or need them to be.
If the goal is truly to just find the fun in writing and storytelling again, any positive response in the form of kudos and comments is just a bonus. AO3 provides the option to turn off even seeing kudos/hits counts on your stories, and to turn off receiving any notifications of any kudos and comments. Doing so may help you keep from feeling self-conscious. You can just write and post into the void and see if that kickstarts your storytelling.
If you know you'll end up fixating on wanting validation in one form or another, just don't post anything you write. But as a way to reconnect to fun storytelling for yourself, writing fic is a good place to start, since by the genre's own standards, you don't have to write anything original or groundbreaking, and even the most cliche plotline or trope is welcome.
posted by yasaman at 2:13 PM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
then the only people who read it are those who hate your ship and you end up with zero kudos and an inbox full of death threats
This...really doesn't happen very often at all. Most antis are chickenshit cowards who don't try it on at AO3.
posted by praemunire at 2:37 PM on July 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
This...really doesn't happen very often at all. Most antis are chickenshit cowards who don't try it on at AO3.
posted by praemunire at 2:37 PM on July 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
I recommend two things:
1. For a little while, try to see just how cliched and embarrassing you can be. Aim to write the stupidest, most obvious twaddle you possibly can. Then do more of it. Then MORE. No - more embarrassing than that. Okay, good, that was pretty embarrassing. Now turn out another one that's just as stupid.
Stop when it gets boring.
2. Try churning out as much as you possibly can. Read about the 20-Song Game and the Immersion Composition Society - the basic idea is to set yourself a laughably impossible goal, like "write and record 20 songs in a day." For you, it might be "come up with 20 fully realized stories with at least 10 characters each and a setting so fully defined I could draw it - in a day."
The idea is to get yourself to generate SO MUCH STUFF that you don't have time to worry about whether it's good, or stupid, or derivative, or anything. The only thing that matters is finishing.
I have had great luck with a version of the 20-Song Game (you should definitely modify it as much as you like to suit your own needs) - after a dry spell, I managed to write 10 songs in a day, one of which was literally me singing single-digit numbers over three chords ("4 ... 1 ... 2 ... 5"). But the very last song I wrote that day is still one of my favorites. Pushing yourself to produce so much that quality CAN'T matter is (in my experience) one great way to just find the joy in creating again.
HAVE FUN!
posted by kristi at 12:05 PM on July 22, 2019
1. For a little while, try to see just how cliched and embarrassing you can be. Aim to write the stupidest, most obvious twaddle you possibly can. Then do more of it. Then MORE. No - more embarrassing than that. Okay, good, that was pretty embarrassing. Now turn out another one that's just as stupid.
Stop when it gets boring.
2. Try churning out as much as you possibly can. Read about the 20-Song Game and the Immersion Composition Society - the basic idea is to set yourself a laughably impossible goal, like "write and record 20 songs in a day." For you, it might be "come up with 20 fully realized stories with at least 10 characters each and a setting so fully defined I could draw it - in a day."
The idea is to get yourself to generate SO MUCH STUFF that you don't have time to worry about whether it's good, or stupid, or derivative, or anything. The only thing that matters is finishing.
I have had great luck with a version of the 20-Song Game (you should definitely modify it as much as you like to suit your own needs) - after a dry spell, I managed to write 10 songs in a day, one of which was literally me singing single-digit numbers over three chords ("4 ... 1 ... 2 ... 5"). But the very last song I wrote that day is still one of my favorites. Pushing yourself to produce so much that quality CAN'T matter is (in my experience) one great way to just find the joy in creating again.
HAVE FUN!
posted by kristi at 12:05 PM on July 22, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by johngoren at 5:29 AM on July 18, 2019 [4 favorites]