How did you kill this thread Sin? I think you had some very good points. Maybe Helios just needs to be a little more specific so we can help him better: does he mean writing for school projects? Or for his own fun? And in what genres? Ironically, worrying too much about inspiration actually hinders it for some people.
No, your points a very valid… I should be the one to apologize for not replying earlier (I wasn’t ignoring you or anything… it’s just that I had the first of my major assessments for uni today, so the past few days, I’ve focused quite heavily on that and haven’t replied much around here.) Anyway, regarding your question:
Creativity - Well it’s a rather long story, so I’ll cut to the main point 
I’ve always loved to draw things all my life and in the past I’ve always been able to think up crazy stuff to draw (original ideas… or rather, appropriations of existing ones, but ,mine none-the-less!) Nowadays, when I pick up a pencil and grab a sheet of paper… drawing a simple square seems hard enough! (by that I mean… I’ve seemed to lost interest, however deep inside I know I really want to…)
I know this sounds stupid and I’m probably boring many of you with this endless complaining… but one thing that that I’ve always known about the RPGC and it’s veterans is that, you guys have endless amount of ideas, there’s never a dull moment around here… so that’s why I posted this up! 
Motivation - Basically I feel a lack of motivation to do anything in general, The only thing I’ve actually legitimately motivated myself to do in recent times was to start work on a shrine (which I myself chose to do) So I guess the question is, where do you guys get motivation to do things that have to be done… but not by choice? again, if I’m confusing… sorry in advance!
Inspiration - The way I see it, inspiration is the source of the above two points… and I’ve yet to find my source of inspiration!
NB: I also heard that responsibility can be the cause of loosing creativity. But I don’t see myself as having much responsibility. Has anyone else ever felt this way?
Just figure out what your goals are. What are your goals? Why do you go on living?
Well when it comes to down to “what do I want to do for a future career?”… I’m still hazy! So If that’s the reason creativity and motivation is lacking… then It’s going to be a fair while until I get them back! xD
It is not just about your career.
Well apart from that, I don’t really set myself goals… I’m the kind of person that lives life day-by-day.
Well maybe that is your problem?
I’m not saying this to flame you…
But the feeling I had was the right one. You’re basically meandering in life. You lack anything resembling a long term plan, and since you’re in last year of university, this is a disaster. What are you doing in University and why? What are you planning to do after? Are you planning on living with your parents for the rest of your life? You need to get a job. I know there are a lot of people here that could share their experience (and I mean no offense) in the liberal arts and explain why you’re in a bad situation. It basically sounds like you want life to offer you a job and money on a silver platter in the same way you’ve been wanting to have this inspiration and motivation to drop on your lap. You’ve got a lot of changes coming and I wonder how aware you are of what will happen if you’re not ready.
If you’re looking for your place in the world, for a purpose in life, for something to motivate you , you need to be moved by something. For you to be so care free gives me the impression you’ve had a sheltered life. Go out in the world, see it for what its like. Try to get involved in different groups. See what they’re about, what they believe it, why they believe in it and whether or not that moves you. Whether it does or not doesn’t matter. By exploring these things, you won’t just be learning about the world and finding out what’s worth fighting for, you’ll learn about yourself. This is what will provide you with the drive, the inspiration, the motivation to do something. Whether that something is to help a given group of people or to try to go somewhere you know will be amazing.
So I’ll answer the question in your first post and relate it to what I said.
What motivates me? What drives me? What’s my inspiration? I wouldn’t have those right now were it not for the path I chose. I got out of HS, went into biological sciences on a whim instead of computer science. I liked biology and figured I’d get into medicine if my grades were good enough. Then I got involved in a few different things. I did medical volunteer work, I taught undergraduate courses as a pseudo-TA (unpaid) for the department. I tutored HS students in math and science. I did research. The more I did all these things and became involved, the more it formed my core interests. I chose in the end to do a program that mixed medicine and research, despite how it was an extremely long program. I chose this program because its where I saw the future, where I saw change. My experiences had taught me that I don’t like static environments. I like dynamic environments, asking questions and challenging the status quo.
My motivation throughout my undergrad was that if I wanted to get into this extremely selective program, I needed to make sure I had the proper experience and grades. Therefore from my perspective it wasn’t a matter of if I was going to get in because there was no alternative. So I got them all and then I got in a highly respectable school and was fully funded for the entire duration of the program. My experiences have shaped me along the way, they tell me what I like, what I would like to achieve, what makes me think “man that’d be cool”, even if its hard. Its been a progression of objectives. Between each long term goal are series of smaller short term objectives that need to be met.
Now that I had entered the program, I had to readjust because I obviously wasn’t done. The target now was surviving the medical classes and completing the PhD. I laid out what had to be done, planned my work and charged in. Now I’m nearly done with my PhD, will be done with med school shortly thereafter and I’m putting things in place for the next phase.
I set the target, make a plan and I attack. I get a result, I readjust, I make a new plan and I attack until I achieve my goal. That is how I work. Its very mechanical, but its the most practical method that I have found to do what I do. I don’t think I’m a smart person. I just developed effective strategies to achieve my goals.
Like Sin said, you’re in a point in your life where you really need to set a goal for yourself. It doesn’t have to be a big one, but you need some clear idea of where you’re going. I meandered through most of my education, then woke up one day and asked myself what the hey I was doing since I knew that even though I found my courses insteresting, they weren’t really going anywhere. So I took off to another country for half a year where I spent most of the time in a trainee program actually working (and it was a very traumatic experience taking off to there, believe me. And I spent a good chunk of the time homesick and wanting to muffle one of my corridor-mates with a dirty sock, but I also have very fond memories of my time there). When I came home, though, I wasted an entire year trying to write my thesis only to find I just couldn’t get the damn thing finished, and started working part-time instead. I was very lucky to find a job (two jobs, actually, but the first one was a telephone marketer so eh) pretty quick, and then I could use that up until then pretty useless Bachelor’s degree into a useful Master’s course that actually had a practical bend and lead to a job. I have a temporary position in my chosen field right now, and I might have a half-time job coming up in January. But the thing is, I found a field where my major in literature history could be used as a gateway into something that doesn’t actually have anything to do with my past major. One can’t expect things to just fall into place like that. I had to have a lot of luck, a bit of connections (that I had to seek out actively), and a wide look around.
And it’s a huge relief to set a goal and put yourself on a road towards something.
So basically, what you’re experiencing is very common at your age. At least you’re questioning it so you know you’re not just letting yourself go. Like the gang said above, don’t worry overmuch about it. Focus on getting your life in place. If you can’t release your latent creativity now, you will later. 
I ride the damn bike to loose the bad juices and then sit down when only the good juices remain and start drawing/typing. If bike unavailable, sugar/caffeine intoxication when everything seems palatable.
One thing that Sin didn’t explicitly say but that you can see in his post which I think is very interesting is the human psychological phenomenon of liking what you’re good at, even if it didn’t start out that way. He didn’t go into biology being naturally “good” at it or having a particular anti-biology-Nazis-killed-my-parents kind of motivation - it requires a willingness to learn and the ability to work which I think most people on this board have. As you get better at something, you like it more, because you’re good at it, and people compliment you at it whether directly through compliments or indirectly through grades, creating a reward-feedback system. A lot of people also get into computer science because they were “good” at it as a kid because they played computer games or fooled around with the operating system or whatever and were getting than the average person at using a computer.
You just need to find something you think you’ll enjoy, and then get really good at it, whether it’s science or programming or some kind of engineering or being a trapeze artist or whatever. As you do it more you will inevitably enjoy it more as people see you as the expert.
People who say that they hate their jobs (besides numbing, repetitive jobs) almost always aren’t very good at it.
I agree with most of what Cless said, he made some important points. I disagree the generalization that people who don’t like their jobs are bad at their jobs. Cless brings the idea that people enjoy rewarding work. Obviously, a successful job is rewarding, but poor working conditions can diminish one’s perception of success / the magnitude of the reward. Under any condition, doing a job unsuccessfully, however, will bring no rewards and thus little satisfaction.
In any case, the common emphasis is to really just go and try things and see what its like in person and to give it enough time to see what the payoff, monetary or otherwise, is like.
That’s… not really what they said. More like, “worry more”.
First of all, I would like to say thanks to everyone who posted, I read through every post thoroughly and they were extremely helpful! However, there are some disagreements I have (which I believe may be my own fault for badly wording the comment about “…living life day-by-day”), which I have addressed below.
Alright first up, everything you said up until “Are you planning on living with your parents for the rest of your life?” (exclusive) I totally agree with! I don’t have any solid long term plans and I’m not sure where I’m heading exactly (at the moment.) However if there is something I do know, I’m not going to be living with parents for the rest of my life. In regards to getting a job:
It basically sounds like you want life to offer you a job and money on a silver platter in the same way you’ve been wanting to have this inspiration and motivation to drop on your lap.
This statement was most definitely true when I was in grade 10 (yeah sad, I know xD), but in regards to “now” it most certainly isn’t, I’ve been working part-time/casual for the past two years and this year I haven’t because they had no need for extra staff (and I was technically casual as well 
) and I know getting a job isn’t easy… not easy at all (especially in these times.) But I’ll admit I’ve been lazy, but I’m still actively looking non-the-less.
For you to be so care free gives me the impression you’ve had a sheltered life.
Regarding this statement, I know it’s a judgment from my previous comment (which I stated above was badly worded.) In regards to my comment, I don’t fully plan everything… I’ve got an assessment next week and the week after as well, so I prioritize and organize which days I do what! I know I got a month to enroll for next year, so I’ll do that today or tomorrow) But I don’t plan Like years ahead… so I guess I’m more of a short-term goal setter as oppose to a long term goal setter. Now back to that “sheltered” statement, I know you mean well and I don’t mean to take offense to it… but to be honest (with all do respect) that’s 99.9% wrong! (and I’d rather not go into that here either, as that’s my own business… and I’m sure you would agree.) But again I understand, it was a judgment of my previous remark.
I would also like to make a point as well, the main gist of your post Sin and the majority of the following posts revolved around getting a job and career opportunities (apart from your own experiences) which I wasn’t really after. The main point of my initial post was:
1.need creativity for drawing and 2. sources of general motivation and inspiration.
Which you guys did seem to cover, but steered of onto careers and jobs.
Overall everything else you said was invaluable and your past experiences as well as Weiila’s was very inspirational and provided me with a lot of advice! As for everyone else, thanks for your contribution… it was really helpful!
Glad to help. 
THAT’S IT! YOU’RE IGNORED TOO NOW!
Alrighty, I’ll break up your previous statement to prevent misunderstandings and from passing unsubstantiated judgemental statements.
“I don’t see myself as having much responsibility.”
“I’ve yet to find my source of inspiration!”
“I feel a lack of motivation to do anything in general”
“I’ve seemed to lost interest”
- Hazy about future jobs.
I read those statements and there is a consistent pattern with what you were talking about in the thread. I don’t know if its true, but it gives the impression that you feel generally lost. While at first it seemed like you were looking for some kind help to overcome a kind of writer’s block, after inquiring, it generally sent alarm bells ringing since you’re in your last year of university and are either unprepared or uninterested in what is available to you.
Your vague call for inspiration just had me wonder what you wanted to be inspired to do? Your posts just gave the feeling it was more than art. As my previous statements pointed out, I can only speak in extremely broad generalities right now. So help us understand your situation a little bit more and elaborate on what you’re up to.
Overall, I get the feeling that our response will sound something like “why don’t you try doing X Y or Z, to see if you like it, if it makes you feel motivated / inspired”, where X Y and Z are activities or groups somewhat related to your potential interests.
@Sinistral: I know I kind of touched on different areas, but they were all examples of different situations that these issues affect. However, in the end your own personal story and that of Weiila’s made me more aware… it opened my mind.
Either way, I’d rather not go into anymore detail, I’ve already received heaps of useful advice… so yeah, thanks again Sin and the rest of you guys! 
Doesn’t this also sound like the RPG leveling-up system? (RPG players save the pets of random villagers because they are good at it.)