Do you have to be depressed to write well? I think so.

>>7591506
I think so.

>>7591514

Well at least you're right.

Nah. You have to have been depressed at some point in your life though.

>tfw depressed

>>7591506
grow up, stop romanticizing both depression and authors. two definite key factors in writing well

>>7591531

>Haha life is cool it gets better xD

Fuck off

>>>/trash/

>>7591528

I know this feel

>>7591547
It doesn't get better you just become less of a bitch.

No.

>>7591574

Ok let's hear some of your favourite writers then.

Well a lot of the good ones are depressed, but, I think its possible to be good and not be depressed

>>7591506
I think you mostly have to cut off distraction.

>>7591506
No, but Schopenhauer's philosophy is based on his depression and nihilism for the average man. Depression helps to further the philosophy of some but is not necessary for a writer.

>>7591581
Walt Whitman

Great writers succeed in spite of their hardship.

>>7591506
Depression destroys my will to write. I see no purpose in it. So I'm the opposite.

That said, if you've never experienced depression or profound loss, I think it's hard to reach those deep feels sincerely as a writer.

>>7591665

Horrible

>>7591581
gabriel garcia marquez

If DFW is your top best choice for a depressed writer than that doesn't really help your argument

>>7591761

THE SUNSET LIMITED THE SUNSET LIMITED THE SUNSET LIMITED THE SUNSET LIMITED

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>>7591581
lee child

spot the anime faggots in this thread

>>7591506
You have to me intelligent. And many intelligent people (especially those who spend a lot of time alone, aka 'writers') are depressed. They think too much in general.

>>7591561
Eloquently put. I actually agree with this statement 100%

>>7591561

You've never met the bitter elderly then.

>>7591817
They're children.

Automatons in human shells refusing to accept adulthood.

>>7591825

I think this is an extremely arrogant method of thinking. Things happen to people. Things that are so psychologically scarring and traumatic, it's unfair to call them human shells for "bitching" about it. When you grow up or experience what I'm talking about maybe you'll stop being so fucking arrogant.

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>>7591506
Not exactly; being fucking insane is much more helpful. All great writers were either:
> depressed
>mentally unstable,
>massive drug addicts.
Prove me wrong.

>not writing in hypomanic state of elation
plebs

>>7591853
Tolstoy
Joyce
Shakespeare
That got who wrote Hunger

>>7591894
Joyce was a huge alcoholic
https://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/james_joyce_quarterly/v048/48.4.briggs.pdf

Alcohol is just a really shitty drug afterall

If I'm feeling "depressed" I don't write because I don't want to face my emotions. That being said I do come up with good lines while I am bummed out, heart break causes modesty which can give you an outside perspective on yourself and life, which helps my writing and my mental health. When I am in a relationship I don't write as much either though because I want to spend my time with that person, I just can't write with others around. I've got one friend that I can and that's because we've lived together a few times.

>>7591850
I grew up in an poor and abusive household friend, see the best in life.

We can't choose what happens to use we can only choose how we deal with it.

I'll admit I was being unnecessarily harsh though.

This is a laughably bullshit "folk wisdom" myth.

Confirmation bias is most of it, the rest is self-fufilling prophecies.

"I'm unhappy, but people give me attention and love when I make art, I should keep doing this!

A few years later: "I'm a natural artist! The best artists are suffering artists!"

Stop spreading pernicious memes you motherfucker

>>7591963

How's second year psychology treating you?

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It's alienation, not depression. You have to be in some way separate from "normal" people to do art; and not necessarily in character, you physically need time and tranquility to write, perhaps also something which you feel can't be expressed in the usual forms of communication.

I think you are confusing depression with depth.

>>7591506
No. Depression shrinks your brain (literally) and clouds your mind. It's hard to concentrate often when seriously depressed and your creativity and logical thinking go completely down the gutter. Don't listen to all the middle class undergrads on here who romanticise shit like poverty and mental illness as part of some imagined "literary lifestyle" because it's utter nonsense.

Pain and isolation unfortunately seems to be the only thing that has the power to push people towards growth. Rilke makes some very good point about that in Letters to the Young Poet, in my opinion.

>>7592182
this is on point in my empirical experience of depression, but i have a friend who claims its his main source of inspiration. it probably varies person to person

>>7592182
This. And what's more, the biographies of the writers in question make a case for boundless self-assurance, even arrogance, being the key to producing literature, rather than depression.

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>le I'm sad cause I'm smart maymay

this meme again

>>7592182
Definitely this. People with depression can only write well when they are on a good day. When I am depressed I can't even read; I can't even get out of bed.

>>7592409
pussy

>>7591506
Depressed, thoughtful, imaginative and creative.

Although, depression depends on only few types of books. The writer should be able to make words out of sad.

I may side with the statement that characters are made by their suffering, but I can't say the same for people. You can fully define a character; you'll never fully define a person.

>>7591528
>tfw depressed and still can't write

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>Was depressed during NGE
>Made one of the most influential and meaningful anime of all time, along with one of the best animated film of all time.
>Made a ton of money.
>Proceeded to make Rebuild series, which is a complete fucking abomination that bastardizes the entire series and what it stood for.
Yes.

>>7592479
CARTOONS ARE NOT ART

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>>7592488
>thousands of paintings being showcased with music and dialogue in the backround aren't art.

>>7592488
Evangelion is art. I've gotten more from EoE than I bet you've gotten from anything on the meme starter kit

>>7592501
EoE is a meme starter kit, though. It's easily the deepest and most complex film you've ever seen if you're a newfag from /r/4chan.

Not to say it isn't amazing, but it's entry level as fuck.

>>7592501
Nearing forty years old, I'm well past any starter kit. Asian cartoons are not art and grown folks should not be watching them. I couldn't give a shit what you think you've "gotten" from them, you're wrong here. Read more dead white men. Have a couple of rounds at The Bible if you're bored.

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>>7592519
>You should discriminate artistic mediums because I'm middle age and I said so.
ok

>>7592519
Kek, I read like a fiend. You can enjoy different art forms you know, bud. Don't be so dismissive. I'd believe someone got something out of fucking tetris if they knew how to articulate it properly

>>7591506
No you have to be in love

>>7591519
Like everybody in the whole world ever.

I like that. It's very democratic.

>>7592519
I agree anon

>>7592519
>Asian cartoons are not art and grown folks should not be watching them
Your shitty, thinly-veiled podracer fanfiction ain't either. Gas station attendant ain't no job fit for a grown man. Use your trip.

>>7591894
Shakespeare did cocaine, it was common then

>>7592421
I remember when I was 14

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>>7592479
>makes a postmodern masterpiece criticizes the medium and fans
>fans are all 16 years old and mistake the show as being super "deep"
>has an insanely devoted fan base liking the show for the exact opposite reason he wanted
>continues to cash in on his own failure (or stupidity of fans depending on how you look at it)

Miyamoto was depressed during the GameCube era.

>>7592385
religious pppl don;t understand because no religious person is smart :o

>>7591735
Pleb

>>7593126

You wish

>>7591506

I don't think Borges was depressed or otherwise particularly tormented psychologically. It's certainly spurred the creative work of many though.

>>7593121
>newton
>not smart

Ayyyy

>>7591853
Soyez réglé dans votre vie et ordinaire comme un bourgeois, afin d'être violent et original dans vos œuvres, my nigga.

>>7591506
They just need a huge emotional palette which usually includes depression, but should not be limited by it, because happiness is profound and indispensable but depression makes happiness impossible to remember.

>>7593160
yeah he is quoted as saying that people have a moral obligation to be happy, which I like but is very foreign to many cultures

>>7591784
>why are there anime faggots on my anime site?

>>7592182
Yeah, the only think I could do when I was depressed were passive things like watching shows or listening to music.
Even doing that was kind of pointless because I would not really pay attention and could not enjoy them.

>>7591853
I really doubt that Thomas Pynchon is mentally insane, unstable or a massive drug-addict. It seems like he dabbled/ experimented in/ with hallucinogens in the '60s and definitely smoked weed but I wouldn't put either of these things beyond things that healthy, stable adults occasionally indulge in. Also, what little we know about him it doesn't seem like he suffers from depression. His novels/ articles in the NYT/ writings to me at least don't give off that air.
>>7591894
Tolstoy was not mentally stable. I know he suffered from severe depression at certain periods. He just had alot of money, which probably kept his head above water, and didn't drink, because he had formerly had a problem with alcohol.
>>7593019
No he didn't, or at least there's not enough evidence to validate that claim.

>>7591506
what causes depression?
that is what makes anyone write well.

It helps. Depression and anxiety open up the possibility of writing through the stress, which encourages writing. In happy times writing is more of a deliberate task.

>>7593518
if you're seriously depressed getting out of bed is a challenge let alone writing a fucking book

>>7593528
Sure, but creativity comes out of it at the other end and you know it does. And it takes serious, serious depression to completely crush someone's writing habits. I maintained a journal through all of my worst times, if an irregular one.

>>7593534
I didn't feel anymore creative after two years of crippling depression. In fact, my brain is seriously atrophied and I've been devoting as much time as I can to reading and studying just to get my mental capacity up to speed again. For a while I even struggled with basic mental arithmetic and reading comprehension.

Who's that guy in the right

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>>7593542
Will this hell ever end

>>7593542
Habits, my good man. Solid writing habits however irrelevant the writing is go a LONG way in the battle between depression and creativity. You'll have better luck next time if you're better prepared for it, which is the whole game really.

>>7593547
If it makes you feel better I went from daily suicidal ideation to actually quite liking myself and being able to function like a real human bean.

>>7593552
reading and writing habits that is

Depression is useful because it helps you observe yourself and others more truthfully. It's been shown in psychological science that depressed people can more accurately describe themselves and others. This is interpreted as cynicism by normies, who ignore certain realities of human nature.

The most important thing is observation. That's what makes a great writer. Bring able to observe and then describe in detail even the banalities of everyday life can actually make for some very excellent writing. Tolstoy was known for this.

>>7591506
I've been depressed on and off for 12 years now and all that i have written when depressed has been too self-indulgent and absolutely one dimensional according to my friends.
I've written better when i've been in love or have had a terrible break up. Make of it what you will because i still am writing for a shit local newspaper in Burgerstan.

>>7591872
This and only this

>>7591872
I miss this feeling. It would all be worthwhile for this.

>>7593553
Your ideation; did the significance of these thoughts occur to you at the time? In retrospect what hit me was that I always considered such feelings with distance, until it crossed from being ideation to wish and practice.

>>7593606
I think I respected the gravity of the situation, I thoroughly did want to die. I was kept tied down by my lack of energy and because of my family. On the worse days it was like being on the precipice of sanity. For some reason, I had always concluded I wanted to die by slitting my own throat, and as I would lie in bed - I swear I could feel the cold metal tracing across my throat. It was an awful, frightening sensation.

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>>7591561
>>7591825
>normies

>>7593553
What was the process like? Surely it began with a small, positive habit, right? Some self-affirming thought? What was the catalyst for your salvation from the brink of suicide?

>>7592182
Seeing as other people seem to be agreeing with you, I feel like it is my duty to point out that this is complete and utter bullshit. Brain scans of depressed people show that certain areas are shrinked relative to healthy controls (e.g. the prefrontal cortex - responsible for control and regulation) whereas other areas are larger (e.g. the amygdala - the brain's emotional centre). So depression does not 'literally shrink your brain' at all.

yes it helps to feel an irrational amount of personal responsibility for "the unfortunate way things are"

>>7592630
being sad that something didn't go your way and enduring real grotesque trauma are different animals frendo

>>7591506
No. You have to learn to write well to write well. If you attended public school, did not have a private tutor, or are not naturally 'gifted' (in which case you'd have been reading from a very young age) you're not off to a good start.

/oneofus/

Depression leads to introspection which leads to having an actual insight into human consciousness which is necessary for a writer.

>>7591506
>posts the infinite meme guy

If you seriously think he's a remotely decent writer, then you obviously haven't read very many novels in your life.

>>7595552
Butthurt Bloom and his Band of Bothesome Bromantics

>>7595568
I don't even know who bloom is. All I know is that he's a kike that gets memed on here almost as much as the Infinite Meme guy

>>7591506

No, that's totally absurd. Got me thinking though. Does anyone know if William S Burroughs was ever depressed? How about Chekhov or Pushkin?

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>>7595571
>I don't even know who bloom is.

>>7595594
>Was Borroughs depressed
HAHAHAHHAAHAHA
Really though, that man was beyond depressed. Heroine-shooter, wife-shooter, madman (absolute).

>>7591506
many great artists were depressed.
art can be a relief to mental disorders.

>Whether we believe the Greek poet, "it is sometimes even pleasant to be mad", or Plato, "he who is master of himself has knocked in vain at the doors of poetry"; or Aristotle, "no great genius was without a mixture of insanity"; the mind cannot express anything lofty and above the ordinary unless inspired. When it despises the common and the customary, and with sacred inspiration rises higher, then at length it sings something grander than that which can come from mortal lips. It cannot attain anything sublime and lofty so long as it is sane: it must depart from the customary, swing itself aloft, take the bit in its teeth, carry away its rider and bear him to a height whither he would have feared to ascend alone.

>>7595598
>muh lets make fun of him because he didn't actually fall for the memes

Writers are just faggots. Stop over complicating things. You know it is true.

Though it's easy to feel powerless in the face of mental illness (whether its genuine or just your own pliable inadequacies getting the best of you), I think that a lot of people's success stories of overcoming obstacles and doing great things for the world share one big commonality:

They fucking got on with it.

And guess what? You can too.

It's easy to create those I'm-a-special-snowflake excuses that you think'll somehow separate you from those successful (but at the same time: ORDINARY) humans you idolize so much. It's easy to circlejerk with your sadness, insecurities, lack of commitment, "bad genetics," or whatever lies you're peddling to yourself.

But at their core, that's all they'll ever be: lies. All that's really separating you from these people are the limitations you place on yourself.

And if you're satisfied with that, more power to you. But if you're not, then the only one who can make it change is yourself.

Stop worshiping the circlejerk and get back to fucking work.

>TLDR

A quote from our very own Pale King:

>The entire ball game, in terms of both the exam and life, was what you gave attention to vs. what you will yourself to not.

it will make it nearly impossible to write large amounts each day. you won't be able to write more than a page or two.

if you're sad or emotional then maybe it will pour out, but depression no

>>7591506
Utter bullshit. Despair can provide inspiration in certain circumstances but depression makes most people unmotivated and withdrawn. I could name a million great writers who gave no indication that they were depressed while writing (and i bet you could too if you stepped outside this stupid theory for a minute) which disproves you bullshit emo meme right out of the gate.

>>7592479
Tatami Galaxy is the most /lit/ anime
Sorry NGE

>>7591743
He was pretty depressed when he wrote hundred years and no one writes to the colonel, though.

>>7595655
So apparently every fitness coach is a deep philosopher now. Fuck off, kid.

"I spend most of my time in a very bad mood, and I hope it shows."

Christopher Hitchens

>>7591894

>Tolstoy

Orphaned when he was 9. Lost most of his money once. Was addicted to hookers and gambling for a time. Had an existential crisis later in among other shit. The guy definitely went through several bouts of depression.

>Joyce

Alcoholic.

>Shakespeare

Probably did coke like a lot of people in that time did.