I love writing but it makes me depressed

Quit?

Yes	6.8%	[ 3 ]
No	75.0%	[ 33 ]
Gold	6.8%	[ 3 ]
I don't care	11.4%	[ 5 ]
Total Votes:			[ 44 ]

[Tilly Flower]

I love to write and it is all I have wanted to do since I was five. In the past year however I have found myself more depressed when I write then happy and overjoyed like I used to get.

I am a terrible writer and have been thinking a lot of just quitting but I feel like it has always been a huge part of me and just giving up don't feel right. I write all the time and read tons. I don't know what to do anymore.

Edit update: 10/31/14

I have made up my mind. I am going to try this years NaNoWriMo. If after that I am unable to feel anything for my writing other than sadness I will quit for good. Thank you all for your time, sorry to have wasted it.

[Alberic of Krufton]

What about it makes you depressed? The subject matter? Dissatisfaction in your level of skill? Disappointment with projects?

[PAUL-NAT-X]

hmmm.
read a few books to find your suited writing style.

[Your_NewLunarDoll]

It's OK to take a break and come back to it at a later time. Live your life --watch movies, discover new music, chill-- and you'll come back stronger and better.

[Sir Icehawk]

Alberic of Krufton

What about it makes you depressed? The subject matter? Dissatisfaction in your level of skill? Disappointment with projects?

Ditto.

[LunarDeathBunny]

Sometimes I feel as though I can't write unless I am depressed.

[SebastiansLittleDoll]

I used to feel anxious whenever I'd write, 'cause I'd imagine certain... important individuals in my life insulting me on my writing abilities. Often times I'd just drop my pencil and stop writing, so I wouldnt have to think about them.

That's not the way it goes, of course. Eventually I just slapped myself in the face and mentally told these people to '******** off' and let me write. In the end you're writing for yourself, after all. No one should come in the way of that, especially if its something you enjoy, or once enjoyed.

Now, I'm only saying this in case you can relate to this specific example, and 'cause I think the other posters said most of whatever else I'd say instead. If it's what you're writing that's bugging you, maybe you'd want to switch things up and write something different?

[Tilly Flower]

Alberic of Krufton

What about it makes you depressed? The subject matter? Dissatisfaction in your level of skill? Disappointment with projects?

My spelling, grammar, tenses, everything is pitiful.

I am not sure. I go to write and my head fills with all sorts of depressing thoughts. Any writing used to make me happy but now as soon as I open a project my mood starts running down hill.

[Tilly Flower]

paulnat1

hmmm.
read a few books to find your suited writing style.

I read a lot. At least two hours a day, often more.

[Tilly Flower]

Soup Dumpling

It's OK to take a break and come back to it at a later time. Live your life --watch movies, discover new music, chill-- and you'll come back stronger and better.

I did take a break and now I think that was a mistake.

[Alberic of Krufton]

Tilly Flower

My spelling, grammar, tenses, everything is pitiful.

I am not sure. I go to write and my head fills with all sorts of depressing thoughts. Any writing used to make me happy but now as soon as I open a project my mood starts running down hill.

Spelling and grammar can always be improved, even if you don't feel as though your language skills are especially strong. Reading certainly helps, and you've mentioned that you do a lot of that... increasing the variety of books you read will almost certainly be beneficial, get you exposed to stuff that's above what your reading grade may currently be. (No one except kids just starting out will ever benefit from See Spot Run, for instance.)

Teach yourself, or request help from teachers or talented peers, if you have any. Strunk and White have a very small book called The Elements of Style which is immensely helpful for fixing and understanding common grammar mistakes. (Alternately, here's a readable .epub. I bought a copy of the book for myself years ago, and it has a lot of good information in it.) After that, it's all a matter of practice to utilize the lessons you learn.

Some sort of negative association is attached to writing, you said. Do you think it's caused mostly by your anxiety over your skill level, or have people in your life not been supportive?

[Tilly Flower]

SebastiansLittleDoll

I used to feel anxious whenever I'd write, 'cause I'd imagine certain... important individuals in my life insulting me on my writing abilities. Often times I'd just drop my pencil and stop writing, so I wouldnt have to think about them.

That's not the way it goes, of course. Eventually I just slapped myself in the face and mentally told these people to '******** off' and let me write. In the end you're writing for yourself, after all. No one should come in the way of that, especially if its something you enjoy, or once enjoyed.

Now, I'm only saying this in case you can relate to this specific example, and 'cause I think the other posters said most of whatever else I'd say instead. If it's what you're writing that's bugging you, maybe you'd want to switch things up and write something different?

No one ever reads my writing and no one care to do so. I have no worries that others won't like it since no one will ever see it.

[Tilly Flower]

Alberic of Krufton

No one in my life cares if I write or not. They don't want to hear about but they don't care if I waste my time with it.

I have always had a high reading level. In 5th grade I was tested at being a level with collage students. I love reading.

I have read many books on grammar and tenses and not one inch of it stuck. At least not much. When I write it all comes out in a mess.

[Alberic of Krufton]

Tilly Flower

No one in my life cares if I write or not. They don't want to hear about but they don't care if I waste my time with it.

I have always had a high reading level. In 5th grade I was tested at being on level with college students. I love reading.

I have read many books on grammar and tenses and not one inch of it stuck. At least not much. When I write it all comes out in a mess.

That's... a depressing sort of situation to find yourself in. You don't have any friends who are writers? No one in your family writes?

Depending on how you feel about putting your writing out there, maybe finding an online group of similar-minded people may help. In my own experience, getting encouragement and interest from others (and doing the same for them) has helped me write hundreds of thousands of words more than I ever did when it was a solo hobby. Maybe you can make friends and find people who are interested in being beta readers for you---you take care of the story, and they help you clean it up and straighten it out. Just a thought.

[Tilly Flower]

Alberic of Krufton

That's... a depressing sort of situation to find yourself in. You don't have any friends who are writers? No one in your family writes?

Depending on how you feel about putting your writing out there, maybe finding an online group of similar-minded people may help. In my own experience, getting encouragement and interest from others (and doing the same for them) has helped me write hundreds of thousands of words more than I ever did when it was a solo hobby. Maybe you can make friends and find people who are interested in being beta readers for you---you take care of the story, and they help you clean it up and straighten it out. Just a thought.

I only have a friend and he has tired of listening to me talk of my stories. No family that writes, or read much for that matter.

The idea of letting anyone read my writing is scary.