Hi everyone. Another blog, another guy trying to give you some pseudo-useful advices on how to optimize a specific area of your life. If you think about this blog in such an honestly quite negative way, you probably should not put any effort into reading my texts. If all of you would think like that, I probably should not even bother to conceptualize, to start writing and to communicate my thoughts…
But within the last few years, I have experienced a different mindset. When I told people about my secret hobby, many bursted out into „Oh“s and „Ah“s and „Wow, that’s so cool“. Before you desperately wonder what mighty awesome amusement could evoke such admiration, let me tell you: I love to write, to combine letters into words and to assemble sentences, ideas and sometimes entire worlds. So if you want to put a label on this pastime, you might call me an author. For many years, I had kept this occupation hidden. I myself did not value the effort and creativity I put into countless hours of creation very highly. I was not sure what people would think of it, as being an author is not the most trendy kind of hobby that I could imagine as a 16-year-old teenager. Even worse, I was afraid of being laughed at because I was not only writing texts but also poems about love and some other romantic stuff. So during my time at high-school, I kept this occupation hidden. Frankly, I stopped writing those romantic and heartbreaking poems quite soon, but the enthusiasm for creation was something that stuck with me ever since.
It took almost another year to publicly announce in class that I have this somehow unusual pastime. While others went out for a drink, had fun at doing sports and met up to do some really funny stuff – I did the same. But in addition, I felt the growing desire to create something. Right now, I am at about 2/3 of my current project (a fantasy book). Looking back at the previous 3,5 years during which I created the world and the plot, I am relieved that I did announce my creative writing enthusiasm. It was like a step stone that helped me getting confident about my hobby. I do not consider creative writing as something strange anymore. Talking to people and telling them about what I love has helped me to realize what a valuable skill I have gained by permanently putting letter behind letter.
We played for hours, invented entire worlds and forgot everything around us.
Nowadays, the loudest response I get while talking about being an author is something similar to this: „I could never write a book. I am not creative enough. And I do not have the discipline.“ That is so sad to hear. Thinking back of when we were children, we never said I am not creative enough to play knights and castles, my mind is not disciplined enough to frame a new romance for Barbie and Ken. We just did it. We played for hours, invented entire worlds and forgot everything around us. Where did all this creativity go? When did we lose it? I think we did not. All the creativity from our childhood is still there. We just have to learn to access it again. To put reason, careful consideration and rationalism behind us from time to time to be able to think with a fresh mind. To use it to create something new, something outstanding. That is why I do not agree to all those statements about not having creativity. I strongly believe that each and everyone of us has the power and the creativity to create something outstanding.
So let’s get back to the starting point. Why did I decide to write this blog? One month ago, a good friend of mine started his own blog. He aimed to inspire people, and he did inspire me (if you want to read more, this is his website). While reading his posts, I wanted to do something similar. In the next weeks, I will share experiences that I made. I will talk about mistakes and failures, about struggles, but also about gains and great achievements. About goals I set and those I missed. I invite you to join me while I share these insights. And perhaps, you will also find a spark of inspiration through my words and stories that help you to rediscover your own personal creativity.
Hey Jannis!
Great to see you’ve started a blog of your own. To me, the desire to share vs the fear of not being taken seriously is a crazy experience of the writing process. You’re absolutely right that daring to share and show pride in your work is a huge milestone when creating something. Keep up the work!