Writing is hard!

[Borachio]

Wait, now I'm really confused.

What if you imagine you're being yourself, but really it's someone else?

 

[Oruc]

Yes. I get that. And it's my position.

But then Mr Hawk comes up with this:


Which somehow has me stumped.

It's sabotage! telling someone not to feel any pressure, is going to put them under even more pressure. If someone told me that it would be all I would think about before attempting whatever it is I needed advice about.

"Be yourself" may not be an advice, but it is correct without being itself able to advise you or have you reach what is correct about it and hinted through it.

The worst one can do is to try to act or think as if he is someone else, cause then he won't even be someone else, merely being what he imagines someone else is.

You should tell them to strive to be better, "be yourself" is stagnating

 

[Kyriakos]

Wait, now I'm really confused.

What if you imagine you're being yourself, but really it's someone else?

If you imagine you are being yourself, then it has to be supposed that in effect you are being only a very small part of what you consciously would be able to be, given that "being" does not mean "controlling" (at least if juxtaposed to the term of "compulsion").

Of course there is no set "you", anyway, from the perspective of other people. Only you can form your own basis for being what you are. Other people see your form, and react to your words and so on, but only you sense those from your specific point of view, which may be very different (moreso in regards to your thinking).

You should tell them to strive to be better, "be yourself" is stagnating

Who knows, maybe "be better" can have even worse effects on one. At any rate it is not for me to tell anyone anything. 'Do not disturb my circles'

 

[onejayhawk]

But then Mr Hawk comes up with this: Which somehow has me stumped. Wait, now I'm really confused.

What if you imagine you're being yourself, but really it's someone else?

You don't need to call me "Mr". I go by J. "Mr" still lives in Kansas, where I started life.

You cannot be someone else, but it is common to act like you are. In fact, it's called "acting". Actors do it in movies. "Be yourself" means "Stop acting and behave normally." Unfortunately, it is said when the person is unsure what "behave normally" means. As noted before, it also means "Relax, because you are too tense." Relaxing on command is difficult.

On the subject of writing, stories are like strings, which unwind as you put them on paper. The hardest part is often finding the end of the string, that is getting started.

J

 

[cybrxkhan]

Aso, one other thing that has helped me that others also mentioned - jot down random notes all the time. Write excerpts from the story even if they're not in order. Write down anything related to the story, even if it's just outlining a character or the setting. Anything helps to get your brain working.