Stuck Ideas

[BunnyJen90]

Thanks I think those that are telling me to stop playing so many video games are from an older generation. The older generations don't tend to enjoy video games as they grew up with TV instead. At least that's how it is with my parents. They would much rather watch TV then play video games

 

[JBCrowson]

If I have a thing A and another thing B, and I consistently choose A over B, then what I want is A. Period. I can say I want B, but until I actually starting doing B rather than A, it's just talk.

To put it another way, it's not a distraction, it's a choice.

To put it another way, it's not a distraction, it's a choice.

It's a little less black and white than that. As the dragon said, the science of computer games has led to them being designed to trigger the reward centers of your brain causing release of the same chemicals that crack and other drugs do. People can and do get addicted, with withdrawal symptoms when the stimulus is cut off. People vary in the degree to which they are predisposed to facilitate those reward circuits and become addicted to things in general. There is a vast literature on managing and treating addictions and the addicted.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Thanks I think those that are telling me to stop playing so many video games are from an older generation. The older generations don't tend to enjoy video games as they grew up with TV instead. At least that's how it is with my parents. They would much rather watch TV then play video games

Out of curiosity, but how old are you? And what do you count as older generations?

I personally think there's nothing wrong with either playing computer games or watching TV. If anything, I think it's important to relax and have some "boring" time in your life where you don't have to worry about stuff and can just be entertained.

Having said that, if you want to write a story, then you have to make time for it. It's the only way, cause no one is going to write it for you. That means you have to be concious with your time. Like I said, it doesn't have to be a lot of time, but you need to set aside some time to write. It can be 30 minutes a day, or 3 hours each saturday, or during your hour long train ride to work, or whatever else works for you. Some people get up earlier to write, some people go to bed later. Some people write first thing when they get home, or after dinner, or whenever. It doesn't really matter. Just pick a time.

And that means you need to set priorities. It doesn't mean you can never game again. But it might mean you reduce your gaming time by a little to get some time to write. Or it might be finding time somewhere else. A good excercise can be to track your time for a week. Just see how much time you spend on different things. I'd bet there is a lot of room in there where you're just doing stuff because you can't be bothered to be more active, like zapping around tv channels looking for something to watch, or browsing your games catalogue for half an hour just to find something to do.

As a side note, I actually think it's a bad idea to quit gaming altogether if you're enjoying it so much. Do what you love. Also, don't write because you hope to replace your current job with it. There are more full-time football players than full-time novelists.

 

[Jackarandajam]

Thanks I think those that are telling me to stop playing so many video games are from an older generation. The older generations don't tend to enjoy video games as they grew up with TV instead. At least that's how it is with my parents. They would much rather watch TV then play video games

People from older generations who watch too much TV don't get anything done either.
I haven't seen anyone suggest watching TV is a good alternative to playing video games.

If writing is what you want to do, spending four hours a day pumping iron is -not- writing, and some of that time is probably going to have to be sacrificed if you ever want to get writing done.

No matter how unfair it is, everybody gets the same 24hr day. Minus eight hours of sleep and thats 16hrs.
I get up at 4am to get my writing in, because it's the only time slot available. So when other people are trying to decide between video games and a TV show, I'm probably asleep. I'm a millennial.

 

[skip.knox]

FTR, I'm seventy-two. I prefer playing video games to watching TV.

Indeed, "watching TV" is itself rather an anachronistic phrase. Does it mean only watching broadcast? Streaming? YouTube videos? I watch Criterion on my XBox. As crude as the phrase is, I find "consuming content" covers all the bases least clumsily.

Also FTR, my father thought all the time I spent reading books while a teenager was unhealthy, wasted time, too. I should be outside. So there you go.