I just don't know what.
Okay so for background, when I was younger, like 12, I used to love making worlds without any care as to what I was going to do with them or if people would like them. I felt really creative then, even if my stuff was ""cringey"". I was even writing things and getting commissions for characters because I wanted to share them.
Now that I'm older, I want to go back to that, but I feel like my creativity has run dry. I can't even make a bagel without feeling self-conscious. Nothing I do anymore has any potential to go anywhere.
I want to do that again. I want to make a world and go somewhere with it. I just...have no inspiration. Looking at other people's stuff just makes me upset that I can't come up with anything good.
I'd really appreciate some help here, because I sure ain't getting anywhere on my own. What's something I can do to get myself inspired again?
I just don't know what.
Okay so for background, when I was younger, like 12, I used to love making worlds without any care as to what I was going to do with them or if people would like them. I felt really creative then, even if my stuff was ""cringey"". I was even writing things and getting commissions for characters because I wanted to share them.
Now that I'm older, I want to go back to that, but I feel like my creativity has run dry. I can't even make a bagel without feeling self-conscious. Nothing I do anymore has any potential to go anywhere.
I want to do that again. I want to make a world and go somewhere with it. I just...have no inspiration. Looking at other people's stuff just makes me upset that I can't come up with anything good.
I'd really appreciate some help here, because I sure ain't getting anywhere on my own. What's something I can do to get myself inspired again?
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echothelatias
My two most recent OCs were made using a meme of sorts, actually! The prompt was to list your top nine favorite characters, and then combine their various design elements/personalities/etc into one character. You can also just use this as a starting point and diverge from the original nine if you'd like.
It's actually really fun because it sort of like... puts you in touch with the original idea and joy of creation, the act of creating
for yourself rather than some random critic on the Internet. You're covertly identifying what you love and channeling it through the lens of these other nine characters. I feel like this is best done completely sincerely and shamelessly - be indulgent to your heart's content, throw out that nasty voice that tells you that your character must be as not-Mary Sue and pure and perfect and appealing to the masses as possible. Get messy, get carried away. Again, the purpose of this activity is to create for
yourself, for the sheer fun of it.
Once you have the character themself, you can then begin thinking about their world. You can combine elements of the original nine characters' worlds, or you can make one wholesale. I personally got to this by figuring out backstories for my two, and as I figured out their backstories, little bits and pieces of their worlds fell into place.
I hope this helps! Feel free to pick my brain if you need ideas on how to go about this, or if you'd like to see the characters I made, haha.
@
echothelatias
My two most recent OCs were made using a meme of sorts, actually! The prompt was to list your top nine favorite characters, and then combine their various design elements/personalities/etc into one character. You can also just use this as a starting point and diverge from the original nine if you'd like.
It's actually really fun because it sort of like... puts you in touch with the original idea and joy of creation, the act of creating
for yourself rather than some random critic on the Internet. You're covertly identifying what you love and channeling it through the lens of these other nine characters. I feel like this is best done completely sincerely and shamelessly - be indulgent to your heart's content, throw out that nasty voice that tells you that your character must be as not-Mary Sue and pure and perfect and appealing to the masses as possible. Get messy, get carried away. Again, the purpose of this activity is to create for
yourself, for the sheer fun of it.
Once you have the character themself, you can then begin thinking about their world. You can combine elements of the original nine characters' worlds, or you can make one wholesale. I personally got to this by figuring out backstories for my two, and as I figured out their backstories, little bits and pieces of their worlds fell into place.
I hope this helps! Feel free to pick my brain if you need ideas on how to go about this, or if you'd like to see the characters I made, haha.
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echothelatias what helps me is playing videogames that i like and find inspiration from it or listening to a really good song that i can relate to
i like the spaceships from no mans sky, so i drew some and added my own twist to it.
i like dishonored and bloodborne and thought id create a character that was stealthy and cool looking in a world of gore and gave him a purpose
eventually id take bits and pieces from these ideas and try to make something original lol, like inventing a new type of spaceship.
wow now i got the idea of making a disgusting gore ship haha
i hope this is at least slightly helpful, i wish you luck
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echothelatias what helps me is playing videogames that i like and find inspiration from it or listening to a really good song that i can relate to
i like the spaceships from no mans sky, so i drew some and added my own twist to it.
i like dishonored and bloodborne and thought id create a character that was stealthy and cool looking in a world of gore and gave him a purpose
eventually id take bits and pieces from these ideas and try to make something original lol, like inventing a new type of spaceship.
wow now i got the idea of making a disgusting gore ship haha
i hope this is at least slightly helpful, i wish you luck
A few of my more recent creations are takes on existing premises I enjoy, but with some sort of twist or difference that sets them apart from the inspiration.
For example, one of my settings is heavily inspired by comic book superheroes, but the story takes place in a medieval sword-and-sorcery world. This isn't an original concept as DC, Marvel and many others have published plenty of comics that put their characters in alternate worlds, including fantasy worlds or other periods of time, but I liked the idea of exploring what a group of original superheroes in a fantasy world would be like.
A few of my more recent creations are takes on existing premises I enjoy, but with some sort of twist or difference that sets them apart from the inspiration.
For example, one of my settings is heavily inspired by comic book superheroes, but the story takes place in a medieval sword-and-sorcery world. This isn't an original concept as DC, Marvel and many others have published plenty of comics that put their characters in alternate worlds, including fantasy worlds or other periods of time, but I liked the idea of exploring what a group of original superheroes in a fantasy world would be like.
Formerly known as Brenning.
@
echothelatias
Are you more of a writer or an artist? For me, most of my ideas would come to me if I just start sketching without anything really in my mind, one doodle after another. And after few doodles ideas would start to come to my mind- who the person I'm drawing might be, what is their story etc. And now you only need to improve their design and do a proper drawing c;
With writing, I've heard you can do a similar thing- just start writing about anything, even if it doesn't really make sense at first. Just to be constantly writing for half an hour or so, and some ideas might actually be born of that.
@
echothelatias
Are you more of a writer or an artist? For me, most of my ideas would come to me if I just start sketching without anything really in my mind, one doodle after another. And after few doodles ideas would start to come to my mind- who the person I'm drawing might be, what is their story etc. And now you only need to improve their design and do a proper drawing c;
With writing, I've heard you can do a similar thing- just start writing about anything, even if it doesn't really make sense at first. Just to be constantly writing for half an hour or so, and some ideas might actually be born of that.
[center]@echothelatias
This is more visual than with writing, one of my favorite OC's color schemes was inspired by color schemes in nature, as well as the schemes of some of my favorite characters as well. I say that you take inspiration from lots of your favorite sources and mix em' up! Sometimes I'll go in nature and something will really inspire me, which ends up in me trying to find the pinpoint reason I was inspired. I still think this can help with writing and stuff though!
[img]https://78.media.tumblr.com/5ddd8efb18e6ce9938b5997388339fb5/tumblr_messaging_p7jmafb5Tz1vv56qj_1280.png[/img]
[img]https://78.media.tumblr.com/72545be3765d3ded275f48b49a63a6e1/tumblr_messaging_p7ejadcobn1vv56qj_250.jpg[/img]
Rose was inspired by the Japanese White-Eye, and how it's frequently spotted near cherry blossoms!
[img]https://eshtrak.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/norouz-bahar.jpg[/img][/center]
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echothelatias
This is more visual than with writing, one of my favorite OC's color schemes was inspired by color schemes in nature, as well as the schemes of some of my favorite characters as well. I say that you take inspiration from lots of your favorite sources and mix em' up! Sometimes I'll go in nature and something will really inspire me, which ends up in me trying to find the pinpoint reason I was inspired. I still think this can help with writing and stuff though!
Rose was inspired by the Japanese White-Eye, and how it's frequently spotted near cherry blossoms!
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cass
she/her
fr +3
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echothelatias
Okay, these may sound weird but, they help me:
Take a walk (in a park, on lake or beach, or just around your neighborhood) and just take everything in, notice small details that you never noticed before. This may stir up some ideas.
If you're a writer, think about a mundane situation given an odd twist (example is a librarian that's secretly a cat.) If you're an artist, give a go at surrealism, very fun and thought provoking.
Whether you're a writer or not, start writing a story with no plan of how it will go at all. Let it unfold right in front of you. Get inspired by ideas from other books, movies, television shows, and video games (my novel that I'm currently working on now has been inspired by ideas from things such as Flight Rising itself, but if you ever read it, I doubt you'll be able to tell.) The only rule about this one is no writing it down and organizing it, think of important parts of the story, and just connect those important parts. Don't go with what they told you in middle school, don't organize everything. Giving it an outline restricts your creativity.
Anyways, have a lovely day! C:
@
echothelatias
Okay, these may sound weird but, they help me:
Take a walk (in a park, on lake or beach, or just around your neighborhood) and just take everything in, notice small details that you never noticed before. This may stir up some ideas.
If you're a writer, think about a mundane situation given an odd twist (example is a librarian that's secretly a cat.) If you're an artist, give a go at surrealism, very fun and thought provoking.
Whether you're a writer or not, start writing a story with no plan of how it will go at all. Let it unfold right in front of you. Get inspired by ideas from other books, movies, television shows, and video games (my novel that I'm currently working on now has been inspired by ideas from things such as Flight Rising itself, but if you ever read it, I doubt you'll be able to tell.) The only rule about this one is no writing it down and organizing it, think of important parts of the story, and just connect those important parts. Don't go with what they told you in middle school, don't organize everything. Giving it an outline restricts your creativity.
Anyways, have a lovely day! C:
@
echothelatias
i'm not very good at putting my thoughts into words, but my advice is to think of something random, literally anything and incorporate that into a character or world. something you find cool, weird videos on youtube, some picture you like, anything!
there are some really cool character idea generators out there. for example
this really cool monster kid generator comes up with some really great character concepts. maybe try it a few times and connect the characters, give em more traits and personalities, then give em an adventure to go on!
going outside and just thinking really helps too. write down random words, words to get your mind flowing. if you think of a concept that sounds silly,
use it.
take inspiration from the worlds and characters in your favorite games, books, shows, time periods, and movies and just mash it all together.
don't feel like you have to get everything done in a certain amount of time, some authors take *years* to finish a book. but at the same time, definitely don't spend too much time in the planning stage or you'll probably never get the motivation to start. (i've made this mistake countless times haha) when you have a base (a character or a world concept) just let your thoughts flow!
@
echothelatias
i'm not very good at putting my thoughts into words, but my advice is to think of something random, literally anything and incorporate that into a character or world. something you find cool, weird videos on youtube, some picture you like, anything!
there are some really cool character idea generators out there. for example
this really cool monster kid generator comes up with some really great character concepts. maybe try it a few times and connect the characters, give em more traits and personalities, then give em an adventure to go on!
going outside and just thinking really helps too. write down random words, words to get your mind flowing. if you think of a concept that sounds silly,
use it.
take inspiration from the worlds and characters in your favorite games, books, shows, time periods, and movies and just mash it all together.
don't feel like you have to get everything done in a certain amount of time, some authors take *years* to finish a book. but at the same time, definitely don't spend too much time in the planning stage or you'll probably never get the motivation to start. (i've made this mistake countless times haha) when you have a base (a character or a world concept) just let your thoughts flow!
As someone with low self-esteem who used to be known for artistry and creativity but has since slunk into the shadows and been eclipsed by peers, I feel you on a personal level. It's hard.
The thing that's worked best for me is going out somewhere alone- somewhere where I can be distracted by and absorbed in my surroundings rather than comparing myself to others and wallowing in my lack of inspiration.
Just be there, pretend that it's all there is, and enjoy things as they are. Take a notebook or whatnot with you, but don't pressure yourself into creating anything if you don't feel comfortable. If you want to write or draw or whatever but don't have any ideas, just put your pen(cil) to the paper and start doing something, even if it's just drawing parallel lines or starting with "I'm not sure what I'm doing right now" or "once upon a time there was a dog". More will flow from that, and even if the going is slow, it's very cathartic. Don't take it too seriously.
Hope this helps. :)
As someone with low self-esteem who used to be known for artistry and creativity but has since slunk into the shadows and been eclipsed by peers, I feel you on a personal level. It's hard.
The thing that's worked best for me is going out somewhere alone- somewhere where I can be distracted by and absorbed in my surroundings rather than comparing myself to others and wallowing in my lack of inspiration.
Just be there, pretend that it's all there is, and enjoy things as they are. Take a notebook or whatnot with you, but don't pressure yourself into creating anything if you don't feel comfortable. If you want to write or draw or whatever but don't have any ideas, just put your pen(cil) to the paper and start doing something, even if it's just drawing parallel lines or starting with "I'm not sure what I'm doing right now" or "once upon a time there was a dog". More will flow from that, and even if the going is slow, it's very cathartic. Don't take it too seriously.
Hope this helps. :)
