Was writing easier for you when you were younger? (+poll)

[DokiDokiTsuna]

• Yes...
• Actually, it's easier now

Show results

For me, it's easier now that I know my limits/weaknesses: before I never used to finish anything; most of the time I couldn't even be bothered to start a story.
Now I know how to plan and build a story I can write from beginning to end, and I've learned to care less about 'style' and poetry and just focus on getting through the events.

The post that inspired this poll maintains that it's often easier to create as a kid who doesn't know all the writing pitfalls and criticisms that people harp on, or the standards that you should hold yourself to; all you know is that you have a story you want to tell. And I can understand that.

For me it was kinda the opposite, though...I had the idea that writing was supposed to be deep and fancy like the books I read in school, and that if my own writing couldn't transport me to vivid fantasy-land like those could (which I now know is impossible) then it wasn't good enough. Writing is definitely easier now than it was then. ^^;

[frgmnt]

Was it easier? Ooooh, boy...

The post that inspired this poll maintains that it's often easier to create as a kid who doesn't know all the writing pitfalls and criticisms that people harp on, or the standards that you should hold yourself to; all you know is that you have a story you want to tell. And I can understand that.

...Yeeeah I'm a textbook example of what you described. Also of Dunning-Kruger effect. I had no technical knowledge about crafting stories so I thought whatever I did was great, as long as I had ideas (and my imagination was limitless; no idea was too stupid, too contrived or too cliche, either). I did have a problem with finishing things, though; way too often I'd get bored of a specific story and move on to something new, or skip ahead several chapters to get to those juicy endgame bits. Before the age of 13, I started probably around 30-40 "novels", but most of them didn't get far, and I only really finished one or two.

On the other hand, learning of the ways stories tend to be structured did give me a frame to lean on, and helped me avoid pitfalls I'd fall into as a kid writer. And it's not like even as a child I wasn't ever frustrated that my writing seems to be missing the crucial "something" that my favourite books have - this did start happening to me as I was getting older, 12+ or so.

The productivity of the child me, however, was something I never regained. Writing a thick notebook-long novel in a few weeks when I was 10? Easy! Writing a page of my comic script or working on a story outline for literally 15 minutes now? ...Well, I have to force myself to do it.

tl;dr my answer would be "yes, BUT..." and my experience was:
Gaining technical knowledge and insight = very good
Limitless childlike imagination going away forever, and losing my productivity (prob because of growing up and becoming mentally ill, though...) = very bad

[jgreene2433]

Writing was way easier when I was younger because I didn't have this subconscious voice in my head asking me to consider things like what my themes are and how might certain elements in my story be interpreted. I was also just filled with idea that didn't have to have any kind of logical explanations, I just did what I thought was cool and fun. Of course the trade off is my work is way more readable now that I'm older.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

Yes.
Because I had no self-awareness about the quality of my own writing, how other people would see it, and most importantly. . .

. . . Less presence in social media. It is the number one easiest way to compare yourself and create inferiority complex. If only I was as active posting my work in social media as I am, I just cannot imagine how I could keep my body intact and unharmed.

[cherrystark]

For me, it's "easier" now because I know the words for the patterns that I noticed as a kid. I realize as an adult, I didn't have a lot of fictional female heroes as a kid. I related more to the male ones because they were treated like real people with hopes, feelings, and morals while the female characters were one dimensional Barbies or huge jerks. I didn't like that. Since I know better, I am focusing on writing characters with more diverse personality types and characters for little girls to see that you can still be kind and like the traditional "girlie" things while still being a hero.

[rajillustration]

Sometimes when I think back to when I was younger, I have a memory of writing these tomes in middle school, but like when I found those tomes on my computer--they were 10 pages long. Each. Like...

...as a kid your creativity is so bound by your lack of ability, but you don't realize it at the time.

[Black_Conscious]

....Idk I am Still Young, But I Would Say my Mindset Has Change a lot since I was Small, So I Guess, It Has Helped me Write Better Then Before, but I would Like to Think that After each year there is an Improvement On what you are working On whether Writing, Drawing Or Anything Else

[ToxicRamen]

I did when I was younger because I came up with lots of ideas even some that were similar to cartoons & comics I've seen. But now I'm trying to too hard to be more original with my ideas and my ideas tend to change frequently.

[thedude3445]

Except for 2016 I have increased my wordcount per year every single year since 2010, in prose and other mediums. As I understand the medium better and get my outlining process more refined, writing becomes easier and easier and I quite enjoy it.

[DiegoPalacios]

Yes and no......

on one side, when i was a kid, i had no filter so i just tried what i thought it would be cool or funny, on the other side i got bored too quickly so i rarely finished anything.

[ble]

I never wrote down when i was younger. I had story ideas or crazy imaginary stuff sure, but I just kept them on my head, i mostly draw a lot, never did the actual "writing process". Even to this day, I still do a little of that, that's why i never consider myself a writer lol. Just someone with weird imagination.

Shouldn't this be on the writing / novel category?

[indagold]

No it was a nightmare of me not knowing what the hell I was doing and having no planning or buffers or skills meant that my work took eons to finish and drained whatever free time I had. I knew what I was making was shit but I kept going because I felt I couldn't wuss out and abandon it praying it'd get a fanbase which never happened.

[NickRowler]

I say no, one part being I was so dyslexic I could hardly write a thing. And also part, when it came to stories I brainstormed, they were mostly fanfics or just doing my version of some else’s story. Like coming up with how I would create a wizard/witch school after I read Harry Potter.

[malwdark]

It was easier because I wasn't aware of how messy my stories were and I didn't plan anything, it was just chaotic fun.
Now its harder because I try to keep it organized and make sense xD
On the other hand, I used to care a lot about making credible adult characters back then. Now I know adults are dumb so no problem with them making lots of mistakes.

[Pomms]

I think that the best thing about writing as a kid was mostly that there were no fears about other people's opinions and you could do whatever - nobody would read it anyway!

However, as my writing progressed, I started creating better structures and more defined characters. Things were written because they made sense for the story, and not because it was what I wanted it to happen, even if it didn't make sense.

.

[Penni]

Writing was actually harder for me when I was younger, mostly because I didn't have a good support system that encouraged me to write. But I did have the luxury of doing whatever I wanted since I didn't know what I was doing anyway

[jcmraz]

Yes. Because I was much worse at it. I could sit down and just write. It was all bad but I didn't have that internal metric or quality filter that needed to make things make sense or tell a good compelling story. I could just self-insert and fantasize. Now I have that pesky interest in making something good. And also I don't like reading those types of things anymore so I don't want to write them.

[AmysGames]

Hm, I'm not quite sure. I feel like, as other people have said, I was a lot less inhibited when I was younger, since I definitely came up with all sorts of creative story ideas. Looking back on it though, a lot of them were just that—ideas. I rarely wrote actual completed stories, ignoring major plot points and focusing more on random filler.

So, yes, I guess I had an easier time coming up with creative concepts when I was younger, but also no, because I had a harder time actually putting together a full story. I guess that's why most of my stories are adapted from stuff I came up with as a kid: I had the ideas back then, but now I have the ability to actually do something with them.

[amortelito]

Yes, it was easier to write when I was younger.

But the script was trash because I didn't know better. Ideas flowed faster but that doesn't mean they were good. I cringe when I read my past stuff.

[Puck]

Drawing and writing was faster but I also didn´t care about anything.
I would draw 10 pages a day with my brother in the kitchen and I didn´t think one
second, just write while I´m drawing. The stories were all the same and didn´t make
any sense and the figures looked awful which I also didn´t care about. But it
was very entertaining and that´s why I love drawing with my nieces, they just
don´t care about things that I bust my head over, just drawing and having
fun