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Yuurena
Feb '23

Hi again.
I don't know if y'all remember me, but uh, anyway, I am trynna get productive again after a month of doing absolutely nothing :sweat_smile:
So I've been wanting to write a book for a while. I've written about 4 before, so I do have some experience. The problem is that I don't know what I want to write about, and no I don't mean a story. Stories have always been something easily accessible to me and I can just about create any story in a few minutes and develop it into a book, which has been the case for 3 of my books. It has been rewarding and fun to make. But it doesn't scratch the itch, you know what I am saying?
What I mean is that I don't know what I want to say... I just know that I want to say something. The message I want to go for behind the book, the experiences I would want to convey, I don't know what they all want to say. I've googled this of course, and most results suggested writing about my insecurities and the very fact that I don't have something to write about.
It sounds therapeutic and all but, my person is not a subject I want to talk about. Rather than myself, I want to write outside it. I want to see other people, how they perceive things, how they struggle with life and how they come to terms with their struggles. Does this count as me knowing what to write about? :joy: sorry, my thoughts are really all over the place recently. I honestly don't even know why I am writing this here, or what I am expecting as a response. Just uh, thanks for listening I guess :disappointed_relieved:

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    Feb '23

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Surihpas
Feb '23

I think this question is a little difficult to answer for the simple reason you might not be interested in the same things other people are interested in - so you could receive advice about what other people find interesting, but it might not be relevant to you for whatever reason (kind of like what your google search yielded).

I totally get how frustrating it can be to not find the right thing to light that fire when you're itching to write. What I can suggest is either doing some freewriting just to see what comes up (I like doing it with music that inspires me, but you might prefer silence or white noise) or trying to let a character or plot elements come to you. I know that for me, stories most often begin from the characters, and those... just appear unannounced in my brain when I least expect it and being acting as the loudest roommates ever lol. It might be different for you, but perhaps starting from what comes to you the easiest could help.

Also, know you're not alone in this. Even with what I suggested, I also find myself struggle with this question. I don't know if there's any comfort in that, but I feel like there might be so... there it is haha.

Yuurena
Feb '23

it really is super frustrating and also kind of sad. But yeah it is a comfort to know I am not the only one struggling with this. Thank you for listening and for your answer :cry:

delladz
Feb '23

I think by writing with the goal of "I want this to say something" might be a bit of what's hindering you? In other words, there's a pressure to have something meaningful to say with an impact.

Like @Surihpas said, freewriting would help a lot. Don't put the pressure of "This has to mean something!" on yourself because if it wants to mean something, it will. The text and the stories will sort of speak for themselves. I find that letting a story flow naturally until that "deeper meaning" reveals itself is a much more relaxing and natural process of creativity. And if there is no "deeper meaning", thats also ok. Being creative for the sake of creation is something that should be normalized. Take it one day at a time, but most importantly have fun with it!

Also, maybe reach out in the forums and just ask people some questions? Things like "whats the funniest youtube video" or "whats a song that reminds you of your childhood best friend and why". If you want to write about genuine experiences that you can't try yourself, ask other people. But if you can live the experience yourself, go do it!

LouisWinter
Feb '23

I think writing about one's own insecurities sounds like a good start. People don't have to know they're your insecurities, they're your character's

I like this angle because exploring this makes working on it kinda cathartic and I'm not an expressive person.

Another thing is deconstruction or subverting a cliches like Shrek and Megamind

InfiniteLine
Feb '23

Agree with what everyone else has said about the freewriting and not pressuring yourself to need a meaning in the beginning... Often if you just start writing a story, you'll find it begins to develop a theme on its own. Especially if you're able to create engaging characters with their own morals/insecurities/passions, you'll find that the situations you put them in to create conflict will form a sort of pattern you can build on.

Also, worth noting that even if you don't see a deeper meaning in something you write, doesn't mean that others won't find it based on their own personal experiences!

Good luck writing!

FliosRegular
Feb '23

Write whatever comes to mind. Writing can be very soothing for lots of people :slight_smile:

TheLemmaLlama
Feb '23

I know you don't necessarily have to have a message, but I totally get wanting to have a message and not having much drive to write the thing if you don't know what the point is :'D

For me, it's enough just for me to read around; read other people's work (fiction and nonfiction) until I find something to disagree about. I'm a contrarian twit, so it usually doesn't take long :rofl: So your message can be a 'counter-message' to the message of a work you (at least somewhat) disagree with :stuck_out_tongue:

Alternately,

It's a starting point! In this case, I suggest reading around about other people's experiences on forums and such; stuff people have talked about directly but you can't find many works of fiction addressing. Hooray for representation XD

If you don't know which other people's experiences to start reading up on, I guess personally I naturally gravitate towards people who ... share my insecurities XD So I guess we're back to square 1 :stuck_out_tongue: But after going a bit further down the rabbit hole, I do in fact tend to stumble across people whose experiences aren't exactly the same as mine, but just kind of adjacent to mine. Maybe writing about those would be a good idea? :smiley:

Katzalcoatl
Feb '23

What do you like reading about?
What do you wish was written in a book/novel someone else wrote? It can be simple like "why did the MC stay with the trash ML? I will make a better ending to a similar story."

You can write fanfiction as well.

Write down the knowledge you have gained over the years you don't need to write about your personal life.
Write a character who you would wish to become or maybe someone you would of wished was there for you when you needed the most.

Write a fluffy story or a horror story whatever drives your boat.

Most importantly read a lot or watch lots of videos looking for inspiration. I always take note of whatever catches my eye to save it as inspiration for my novel. Phone is full of screenshots over 5k. :sweat_smile:

While asking may help, the main inspiration to help you write is something you want to do. If it's not fun for you the reader will notice.

Lensing
Feb '23

What do you mean by "my person is not a subject I want to talk about"?
The characters of a story are always connected to the writer in my opinion, there is always
a reason why you chose those characters and wrote that story. As soon as you start telling a story
you are getting vulnerable

Yuurena
Feb '23

Thank you so much for your answers everyone. Really means a lot to me :persevere: The thing is that "writing just for the sake of writing" is what I've been doing. I've let my stories take me to where they want to go, and like I said it was super fun and rewarding. I find themes I didn't plan on writing and developments I didn't plan to happen. Yes, it sounds much more appealing than "writing to say something." But I want to try something else. I don't know how to explain it exactly, but I feel like I have so much I want to say; I just can't pinpoint what it is. My vision of the world and the people around me, kind of? I kinda wanna write that, but I don't know what that is.
As for @Lensing, what I mean by

is that I've already written a whole book about my troubles and struggles in life. I know that every character I make will have something of myself in it. There's beauty in that, but I don't want to dedicate a whole book just uncovering my own insecurities and giving them to my characters. I hope that made sense to you.
But thank you everyone. This has been extremely inspirational and helpful. This has given me a lot to think about.

Lensing
Feb '23

It does make sense to me, I know what you mean.

Here is the question for you as a creator, where are the most interesting stories hidden and how can let
them out? And here is my perspective as a reader, I want the writer to share their really intimate thoughts
which makes them vulnerable, that´s the material which doesn´t bore me and then I read the book and I will
love it

TheLemmaLlama
Feb '23
Yuurena

How has the 'read other people's stuff until you find something you disagree with' thing gone for you, historically? (I assume you've read stuff in the past :P)

esquarecomics
Feb '23

I think starting off with a simple message would be best because with more nuanced themes you have to think more about about your story, plot and other elements. I'm a plotter so what helps me is that I take characters, settings, events, etc and write down what each of them mean so you have a clear idea of how to express your message if that makes any sense.

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