REALLYSCARYPANCAKES

thank you, anon! please don't apologize

i feel like i'm just coming out of a creative block myself - i'm severely dissatisfied with the things i make and feel like i'm unable to create any story that sticks or 'means anything', i'm terribly jealous of my younger self! so your message resonated with me. i feel like i'm a parrot surrounded by luminous creatives, so it's a little funny to read someone praise what i see as my weaknesses. we are our own worst critics: our own expectations for ourselves are higher than anyone else's, and that's stifling.

to answer your question concretely, i don't think i've ever sat down to think of characters- they just sort of worm their way into my mind while i'm doing something else, or reflecting on some way i feel. ultimately, they're very self-centered- when i make ocs, i think of fragmenting myself into many little pieces, and i don't think that self-centeredness is something to apologize for or negate in art, i think a lot of great art is solipsistic

i always use the verb "marinate" when i think about creating ocs or stories, for me letting things stew in my brain is key (rather than "trying to come up with something") - this is why i don't do gamejams, it's really hard for me to brainstorm and come up with something for a specific theme, it's gotta just burst through the soil eventually

oh, one more thing: the thing that's finally gotten me out of my creative slump and given me energy to work on long-term projects is being in a better place mentally, so don't beat yourself up if you aren't in the right place to spout out 1000 ocs, focus on getting better