You're 11 years old?

I can related to some of the things, I'v never being good at drawing either. Though I did had a lively imagination when I was a kid. Making up 'role-play' story's with toy cars and so on.

These days, the only time I "think" of a story is when I go to bed, or when I'm riding my bicycle and my thoughts drift away. I usually always make up story's like suddenly being in Gensokyo, or people from Gensokyo visiting me. I also think of story's where I have to fight to save the girls or something like that.

At other times when I'm listing to music while cycling I tend to imagine I'm playing/dj-ing at a gig with my waifu and she sings.

It also seems I can lie fairly easy and come up with story's that seem true with ease. When I imagine stuff like room's and so on they are most of the time based on something I've seen in the past.

And if somebody were to ask me to imagine a place where I can be at easy I'd imagine being at a beach with my waifu.

I use my imagination a lot actually. I've been in poor social and economic conditions every since I can remember, and my family never had the money to buy video games for me. I was not allowed outside by my mother, since I lived in a bad neighborhood until my late late teens, so I had to make do with my imagination. Locked indoors for such long periods of time constantly, not having many friends to come over or talk to at school, single mother always at work, etc. I guess I was just under the right conditions for my imagination to get some heavy use.

Instead of having friends, I created scenarios similar to yours, and relived school days as 'what if' scenarios every day. I went to bed early to close my eyes and daydream, and eventually fall asleep. That later spread to the rest of my life, not just school days. I think I spent my first year and a half out of highschool asleep, or laying in my bed imagining things. I ended up loosing a lot of weight at the time. I'm in college now, but It's not much different from my highschool years.

At age 20 I moved out of my mothers home, and started living on my own. But by then, all these habits have become a part of me, and I guess I'm okay with that.

I found this song a couple of years ago, it's kind of related I guess if you want to take a listen to they lyrics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSO5U_qhT2I

>>4372

No. Neither do I garden. I never even as much as held a soldering iron or a weldor in my hand. And I don't exactly know any basketball players playing for the national team, either (this story was partially true, though - I used to play with some people who now make a living out of it).

Like I said part of it is true, part is not, part is hypothetical.

>>4373

>Making up 'role-play' story's with toy cars and so on.

Me too. But to me, it 'doesn't count'. First of all, you don't make up all of it. You have some real objects you can work with. Again, in this case it feels more like developing a backstory than creating something from scratch.

Pen & paper RPGs is something I was always fascinated by. Up to this day, I download rulebooks and look through them. I even bought some back in the day (when third edition of D&D was released i.e. long ass time ago). But I never really played any of them. The possibilities would overwhelm me (boardgamers call it analysis paralysis; I don't know whether RPGers use it). Choosing your 'development path' was fun as it was relatively well structured - you had a pool of abilities to choose from. But you can do whatever you feel like when playing/telling a story in an RPG. That's too much freedom for me.

I can relate to most of that. When I was young, I was spoiled and wasn't allowed to leave at all, plus I was bullied, so I had few to no friends. I've since started exercising my imagination. It started with imaginary friends. When I learned how to read, most of my friends were dead. I've talked with Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Sartre, Kafka, Camus, Hesse, Mann, Poe, Byron and many, many others, inside my mind. It naturally made me want to project these dreams of mine in the real world.

I can really relate with the "pathological liar" thing. I remember clearly that, when I was in my senior year in High School, I just couldn't give a straight answer. Once, a teacher was heatedly talking about how wrong is our treatment of supposedly crazy people, and went on to ask "Did any of you ever go inside a so-called psychiatric 'hospital'?". My mind went blank and, at the same time, worked at full speed. I immediately answered him, and said that I wanted to share an experience. I instinctively made up a story about how my cousin was born with a rare disease and how I prevented him from killing himself twice, about how my mother also became crazy, I just couldn't stop. In the end everyone was shocked and believed me, I don't think anyone ever found out that these were all lies.

I was never able to draw satisfactorily, but I have lots of ideas. I just can't place them properly on a piece of paper. I do plan on painting some abstract art, however. On a side note, even now I'm tempted to make up something about how I have a childhood friend that always loved to paint before she moved and lost contact with me, until yesterday I heard news that she was killed through a car accident and left all her paintings to me in her last will, saying that I was the only one who could understand her feelings. But I digress.

I do write short stories, though. And I love to read. I might write all of these random thoughts I have and later turn them into proper literature. I can't draw, make music, take pictures, record movies, or really do anything besides writing, reading and thinking, so that would likely raise my low self-esteem. I agree with your considerations about our mind. The human brain is such a wonderful little nifty thing, now I'm even considering studying psychology at my local university to ease my depression. I'm relating with you guys so much it's kinda scary. Sorry for the blog post.

I have a vast, very vast imagination that I got from wanting to do lots of things but never being able to do them for a variety of reasons (single working mom). However, I have no artistic skills whatsoever to express these thoughts.

People tell me to learn these things, but I don't believe such a thing is possible in my case. I simply lack the talent.

>>4395
I think "talent" is basically synonymous with "creativity". Anyone can be good at something if they work hard enough, but the ones who are great are the ones who use their skills to do something unique. If you have a vast imagination, you have talent; you just have to learn how to use it.

>>4393

>I can really relate with the "pathological liar" thing.

In my case it's so bad it kinda scares me. I never fully realized how bad it is until I began to analyze my behavior and wrote all of it down. Now that I'm more aware of it I constantly notice that I'm doing it again. Previously, I only 'noticed' the larger, more developed stories (such as those 3 I mentioned in my first post) but I develop really short ones (they are so short they should be called 'excuses' rather than 'stories') all the time.

I developed two new ones over the past 15 minutes. First, I realized I'm out of shampoo and need to go out and buy some. From that point I went to telling the clerk that it's not for me but for a friend of mine. If I were asked how I knew which one to buy I'd say it was shown to me. Then I'd explain what my relationship with said friend is (the funny thing is I have no friends whatsoever in the first place).

This is downright ridiculous. I mean seriously, what kind of cashier would ask why are buying it in the first place, let alone how did you manage to get the right one? I'm really paranoid but better safe than sorry I guess. But it only shows how adapt I've become at making my lies sound plausible and how I always think of their weak points and have another excuse in case someone will notice them.

The second one was 'why I'd wear long sleeves all year long' (which I don't; actually, I spent lots of time shirtless). I came up with burn marks on my hands which I try to conceal. Then I began to think how I got them etc. etc. The thing is, after some time I began to believe I actually do have scars and I was somewhat surprised to find out I don't. I vaguely remember other times when I mistook my lies for real events. I told them too many times and I had troubles recognizing what's real and what's not.

I read that this whole 'pathological lying' thing is closely related with your environment as a child. If people had high expectation for you you were put under more pressure and thus you were forced into a corner. Sometimes lying was a necessary evil.

In my case, some of it might be true. My parents weren't exactly strict but they expected a lot out of me (joke's on them - now they have to support a good for nothing NEET). In school I was always supposed to be at top of my class and they never tried to conceal their disdain and anger when they were called to school - I was a good student but there were some problems with my behavior. I was too talkative. Oh, the irony - now I don't have anyone I talk to and I hate talking (>>/ot/7076). But I digress.

I went to a 'normal' elementary school in the neighborhood but then I was sent to a quite 'elite' middle school. In that class there were only 3 other boys (and a total of 20 students or so). I'm mentioning it because recently I was reminded of a conversation that somebody overheard shortly after we entered that school. Apparently, we were boasting like there was no tomorrow and it was pretty obvious everybody lied. The question is, how weird was that scene? We were 12. I don't think it's exactly unnatural for boys of this age to try to impress their peers. But at the same time I realize our environments were somewhat similar. Three of us (I include myself in this group) were expected to be very successful. Out of us my parents were rather lax compared to the other guys'. I barely knew their parents but it was obvious that they were very strict. //The 4th guy is another case as his father was infantile and rich, and he liked to show it off.// Coincidence?

I relate to a lot of the OP post, actually (I'd say you write pretty well for an 11 year old). I'd just like to think I'm a little more visually-minded, but that's flattering myself, I suppose, and I was always at least a little confident about my imagination. I totally get the 'backstories' part. Whenever I was truant from school, I just spent the bus-ride thinking about what I would say to the attendance secretary when she inevitably called me down. Also came up with little stories about what I'd say to 'person X' if they talked to me. They never did, and when they actually did, it never went as planned...Still, I liked that feeling. The whole "slice of life imagination" thing just really resonates with me.

>I always wonder whether it's okay to use real events/people/one's own behavior/routines in fiction.
As a 'writer', I always try and do this. I just interpret the "characters" of my mind as composites of people I used to know. Even if I'm not trying to, it happens. I think it's perfectly fine to do stuff like that. It adds to the realism/believability of the story. If I'm writing about Susie-Perfect (what are those characters called again?), then it seems boring. But if I'm writing about, say, the valedictorian who was, at the same time, a massively boring burn-out, with "human conflicts" (whatever those are, I guess it's just angst) inside, then I'd say I have something close to a decent character. That was a really, really shitty example, but you should get the point. I lost the ability to make up characters when I lost my "fantasy", so I just borrow from the world around me. Snoop Dogg once said "I can’t rap about something I don’t know. You’ll never hear me rapping about no bachelor’s degree. It’s only what I know and that’s that street life. It’s all everyday life, reality". Yeah, I just quoted Snoop Dogg on /tc/. Then again, you all seem to roll with the Wu-Tang, so that might cause some strife. Of course, musically, Wu-Tang are ten times better. My favorite hip-hop icon is B.I.G. all day, though (dude had some crazy flow). But I feel as though that's not to be discussed on /tc/, particularly this thread.

I also re-write parts of my life. That's my greatest shame, probably: It gives me pleasure to re-write the parts that I screwed up. There's an entire compilation of this shit on my computer. Bunch of little stories. Stuff I remember being bad, I just reset and re-write - Ever since I discovered the idea of world-lines (which I 'misinterpreted' as "parallel worlds" until...Steins;Gate). I also have the awful habit of abandoning 'projects' that I start. There are at least five stories that would have been quite lengthy and perhaps even good, if I finished them beyond the first few chapters/paragraphs.

>>4403
>I think "talent" is basically synonymous with "creativity".
Very true. I agree with your post as a whole, man. "Anyone can play guitar", but it takes an actually good guitarist to make something worth listening to.

>>4393
(Massive digression, here)
I grew up/still am poor, and often find myself endowed with huge amounts of free time, so I've had time to really gouge out the local libraries. Monthly, at most, though. I hate 'library guys', you know? A couple of the writers you mentioned really resonated with me through the years - Camus is one of my favorite writers, but I don't really enjoy his novels. His essay collection (The Myth of Sisyphus) is still one of my favorite books of all-time, though. Stuff he says in that book just makes sense to me. Nevertheless, didn't really enjoy any of his novels. They felt too...tight-assed (for lack of a better term) for me, as opposed to his essays, which felt like he was writing straight to the reader, no pretense. It was reminiscent of Dostoevsky, but with Fyo-Do, I understand - That's just his general style/translation issues. Camus, though, had eloquence, and the novels I read by him didn't really show that. Kafka (who I was turned onto, by Camus, as one could assume), on the other hand, is one of those freakishly good writers, who can do what I've always yearned to - Blend fantasy and reality into one awesome mess. 'The Trial' had a few parts that scenes from SZS or FLCL seem to echo, man! Yet, at the same time, it retained a somber, realistic tone. It's craziness. He's easily one of my top five writers. And Camus' book is the perfect companion to his novels. Shit got real after I finished the Kafka chapter, and re-read The Trial. It's like...Camus is the utensils, Kafka is the meal. One affected the way I saw my life, one depicted it as the other saw it.

Christ, that was rambling. Out of breath and everything.

Shorter, fancier version:
I fancy myself a 'writer'. I used to be fantastical and imaginative as a 'writer', but digressed/progressed to realistic and 'poetic' (I guess it could be called that) stuff around the middle of high-school. I enjoy making up stories about stuff that could have been reality, but, for various reasons, aren't. I can't really make up stories on the spot, however, given time, I come up with...boring realistic stuff about characters who are 'bothered' (everyone I met/meet is 'bothered' in one way or another, so that's what I know). My fantastical imagination decayed, but, with that decay, comes a desire to write about the life that I see, and the faint willpower/ability to do so.

I'd like to write a short story or something about a guy who has a waifu and everything, but I don't see how I'd actually amount to such a heavy thing (waifu's are serious business, bro), without really making the protagonist a self-insertion. I mean, I think it's fine if I'm writing stuff that I don't think anyone will ever actually read, but I'd love to share that if I ever actually started/finished it. Ahh, well, screw it. Someone will beat me to it, and they'll do a better job.

>>4403

>you just have to learn how to use it.

I think that's what I suck at. I just can't express these things in a way that satisfies me.

>>4440
That's what teachers are for.

>>4422

>I'd say you write pretty well for an 11 year old

I'll assume it's a joke for the sake of my sanity.

As for the writing thing you could say I write well for a non-native speaker. English isn't even my second language as the 'elite middle school' I mentioned was German (and I'm not German, either).
And I could work on my English, too. I realize I repeat lots of words as I try to look for a synonym whenever I can't translate some words directly and since the words I just used are still fresh in my mind...
That, and I begin lots of sentences with 'and'. And other stuff like that. I'm aware of most of my mistakes and I know that style is something you develop over time but I still feel like achieving one that would satisfy me might be impossible for me.

>I think it's perfectly fine to do stuff like that.

It's not something you can objectively judge. It feels wrong to me, it doesn't to you and that's all there is to it - neither of us is right nor wrong. I just prefer to assume the storyteller makes all of it up and when he uses a real event or something like that he's just cheating. It's called 'fiction' for a reason.

Hemingway, for example, was a massive cheater. But I still like his simple style. Kapuscinski on the other hand feels like a more honest guy even though he also uses real stories (well, that sort of is the point). But what makes his books amazing is his style, too. The exact opposite of what I like (I prefer simple, witty sentences - Twain and Vonnegut are my favorite writers) but I still love all of his works. Guy should've been awarded Nobel-prize in literature. Then again, judging by some recent winners maybe it's better not to win one.

>(what are those characters called again?)

Mary Sue/Gary Stu

>"Anyone can play guitar", but it takes an actually good guitarist to make something worth listening to.

I agree. With enough practice just about everyone can master an instrument, even if it would take a lifetime for some people. Just covering some songs perfectly doesn't make you a competent musician.

>Nevertheless, didn't really enjoy any of his novels.

I though 'The Stranger' was brilliant and it would be very high on my 'favorite books' list. I liked 'The Plague', too.

>>4440

>I just can't express these things in a way that satisfies me.

I feel like that, too. I think there is a lot I'd like to express in some way but I don't even know what it is. In this regard I'm like... Meursault (since Stranger just came up). There are thousands of emotions I bottled up but they are still there, ready to burst.

>>4446

Sure, I'd love to have a guy I could run after and scream 'seeensei~'.

>>4446

I did consider going to school for something like that, but in this economy I doubt I could support myself. I settled on a science degree with lots of opportunities in my area, but I plan on possibly going back to school or something when I get settled in. I have a friend who's willing to help me draw as well.