#boredom
Hey all, Sunny here with another writing post! Today we’re talking about another part of the small emotion series I have going, and the topic is boredom.
When would my character be bored?
Boredom is one of those emotions that’s probably more common than you think. This is because it doesn’t usually have a trigger - in fact, it’s a lack thereof. Emotions like happiness and fear and usually lasting as well, but boredom tends to disappear as soon as there’s something to do. Here’s a quick list of situations where your character might be bored.
- Any period of waiting.
- Being sick or injured and having to rest.
- Being held captive (which is surprisingly common in my stories).
- Having a day off or taking a break.
They’re pretty broad, and that’s on purpose! Boredom happens, and it happens a lot.
The Stages of Boredom
I tend to write my boredom in stages, because I see it as existing on a spectrum. There’s a big difference between having nothing to do for a half hour and having nothing to do for a month.
The first stage tends to have subdivisions, but we’re grouping it all under one time frame. This occurs anywhere from the first instance of boredom to being a few days in, if not more. I call it the consumption vs. creation phase, and they tend to happen in that order. When you’re bored, you may find yourself scrolling through social media or watching Netflix for a while. I’ve gone through entire Netflix series when I had nothing to do for a few days. When that doesn’t work to satiate the boredom anymore, many turn to some sort of creation- writing, for example, or drawing, painting, etc. This first stage usually involves people interacting with their environment as it is.
The second stage involves a desire for change. It usually occurs after the first few days and can last for a few weeks, depending on how effective their work here is. Characters will do anything to change their perception of the world around them. This could include things like going for a walk or rearranging their room, or going to visit a friend if they’re able. Anything that makes the world seem fresh.
In most cases, the boredom stops here. However, if your character is unable to do this effectively, they may move to a more unstable third stage. When there’s nothing to do, it can be difficult to predict how a character will react. In my own life (especially during the initial quarantine for COVID-19), here’s how I’ve seen people interact with the third stage.
- Becoming irritable, sometimes pushing people away.
- Becoming depressed and self-isolating.
- Losing caution and not properly addressing risk factors, as long as they’re not bored.
- Reverting to what they were like before the first stage and accepting a new reality.
And, of course, more. This one really depends on who your character is at their core - their values and their self control, mostly.
Best of luck, and happy writing!
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Human, why are you stillhere?
INTP Story Time #33
XXFP Sister: Are you really looking for a job? Be honest
INTP:Legitimately, yes I am. I’ve been getting bored way too easily these days
XXFP:You’re only applying because your bored?
INTP:Yep
I cant be the only one that just has fun like this:
Who wants to talk?
I’m geeked and bored as hell. Message me about anything let’s have a conversation.
Thought I’d never be back huh?
I think I’ll die of boredom today, nothing really gets me out of it. It’s a big mood…..send help
Person: hey, why are you awake?? Go to sleep??
Me: I can’t sleep because I have too much free time. I don’t do anything all day, so I’m never tired. I wake up tired, but by the time I’ve spent all day doing nothing, its 1:00 in the morning and I still can’t sleep.
So bored. Nothing else like it. The perfect boredom.
Castaway on the Moon (2009)
Do you need to distract yourself? Or are you simply bored? Here are some great websites to make the time pass.
- create pixel art
- Awesome photo editor and art program, all free…!
- Totally free transparent textures
- make a cute chibi
- draw some cool generative art
- be a graffiti creator
- create a picassohead (you don’t need to be a picasso to do so)
- paint online
- another awsome site to create pixel art on
- and another one
- create your own mandala
- or color one
- create an avatar
- or you can try creating your own superhero
- here you can interact with organisms in different environments to see how to music changes
- here’s a website that translates the time into hexidecimal colours,
- Here is a website where you can travel along a 3D line into the infinite unkown
- here is a website where you can listen to rain with or without music
- Need a model in a certain pose for drawing? here
- Want to build your own planet
- here is a website where you can create your own galaxies
- make your own pattern (very useful if you need a new background)
- create next hit comic
- make a city which looks like something from 90′s games
- draw a mandala like design
- jig saw puzzles
- more jig saw puzzles to solve
- create a stunning HTML5 animation - no coding!
- make a movie
- create and dress up dolls
- play a piano
- you can also play a guitar
- create sounds
- another sound creator
- create a logo
- design your dream home
- sketch rooms
- explore fashion trends and create your own sets
- build a website
- try this app for building a website
- Or maybe start learning how to code!
- design your own t-shirt or a beanie or sweatpants and order them
- design your own phone case
- pretend to be a graphic designer with this cool online tool
- Make your own Glitch art
- Here’s another glitch art maker
- And another!
- Holy hell, here’s a third!
- make an image look like it was created by a commodore 64
- freaking cool text generator!
- Easy to use word processor
- Make up really cool patterns or run your photos through it :)
- Write an essay on anything with no hassle
- Wanna see how something you write would look like if it was on JacksFilms YGS((Your Grammar Sucks videos on YouTube))?
- Make pictures out of text
- ASCII word generator
- Need an idea for some fanart-here :D
Still haven’t found something that would float your boat? Try these:
- watch a documentary
- learn to code
- do something yourself
- workout with the help of this great youtube channels
- learn things
- play pokemon or zelda or other awesome old school games
- waste your time on miniclip
- play games at additing games
- or try games at agame
- calm your thoughts
- the quiet place
- it will be okay
- vent or listen to someone
- pour out your soul
- explore the sky
- look at art from around the world
- virtually visit museum of iraq
- explore world with arounder
- create a music playlist
- list through rare books
- scroll useful science website
- create sand art
- brain games
- try out tastekid and discover new favorite band or movie or book
- interactive 3D anatomy
- random street view
- post a secret
- create a family tree
- find our what’s the difference between x and y
- help scientists and become volunteer researcher
- create your own font
- read a classic short story
- In the mood to read, but not sure exactly what book to go for?
- scribble on maps
- listen to letters
- play with acrobots
- listen to podcasts
- make a bucket list
- Ever want to see the most truly useless websites in creation?
- Prank a friend with this blue screen of death!
- Zone out watching the colors drip down
Maybe none of these peeked your interest-maybe you’ve been wanting to create an o.c, but never really knew how to start-or you just enjoy making O.C’s….
This masterlist is to help you in making your own OCs….it can also apply to developing RP characters i suppose!(´ヮ`)!
How to Write Better OCs:
- basic tips on how to make your oc even better
- tragic backstory? learn how to write one/make yours great
- writing specific characters
- a wordier, great guide on how to develop your character
- kick out those vague descriptions and make them AWESOME
Character Development:
- how to actually make an OC
- Q&A (to develop characters)
- more Q&As
- giving your character a backstory
- how to write an attractive character
Need an Appearance idea?
- Humanoid generator? check
- Here’s another one
- and maybe if you didn’t like those this’ll work
- Need Monsterpeople?
- Well, then here ya’ go
- Maybe you need Cats?
Diversity
- adding more racial diversity
- avoiding tokenism, AKA, how to add diversity to your cast not just because you “need” it
- writing sexuality and gender expression(doesnt include non binary, if you have a good ref to that, please add on!)
- masterpost on writing more diversity into your story
- cultures of the world
- guides to drawing different ethnicities(not just a great art reference, but also really helpful in appearance descriptions!)
Mary Sue/Gary Stu
- Test to see if your character is a Sue
- Explains subdivisions of Sues/Stus
- Powerful Characters Don’t Have to Be Sues
Villains
- villain generator
- need an evil sounding name for your evil character? bam
- villain archetypes
- what’s your villain’s motive for being a villain?
Relationships
- character perceptions(What your character thinks of themselves and what others think of them)
- how to write strong relationships between two characters
- 8 ways to write better characters and develop their relationships with others
- OCxLove Interest Handbook
- develop your couple with good ol’ Q&A!
- how to write realistic relationships
- how to write relatives for your characters(this is more OC related to a canon character, but will help in writing family members in general)
ARCHETYPES
- 12 common archetypes
- 8 archetypes for male/female characters
- female archetypes (goes pretty indepth from two main categories)
- a list of archetypes
NAMES
APPEARANCE
- tips for better design
- basic appearance generator
- pinterest board for character design (includes NSFW and images of skeletons/exposed muscle (?) so tread carefully!)
- clothing ref masterpost
- Clothing generator
- Another clothing generator
- More clothing generator
- Aaaand even more
- Steam punk clothing
- Char Style preference
- Dress Generator
DETAILS
- give your character better powers
- a list of professions
- proactive vs reactive characters
- positive and negative traits
- interest generator
- skills generator
- motivation generator
- 123 ideas for character flaws
- list of phobias
- Oh shit someone died
- Backgrounds and stuff? yep
- Quirks
- Personality. you need that shit
- Need something fandom related?
- City generator hell yeah
- location? got ya
- World-building?
- make your own god damn laws
- Landscape.
Need Item names?
- Fantasy/sci-fi/etc. medicine names
- Stuff to make things more interesting.Weapons, clothes, treasures… whatever your characters need.
- Item & Artifact Generators
Other stuffs!
Omg amazing this is a lifesaver
Holy shit this is amazing thank yoh
You have quite a funny way of expressing adoration
Or maybe I’m just imagining things
Bored and lonely with nothing better to do
Than pine for your adoration!
Well this is just interesting. I wish I had better friends where I live.
Some days I look around and realise how lonely I really am. Like I do have friends. But there is only one person who checks up on me.
No one messages unless they want something. Not even a random hi.
I like getting asked stuff!Plus I’m bored in class and it’s freezingneed to get my mind off how cold I am..
We’re all readers, streamers, facetimers now! Here’s what I’ve been up to / is on my list (and I’ll continue to update probably daily):
1. This thoughtful piece on the importance of friends when living alone by Lindsay Zoladz.
2. She linked to a piece in Jacobin about solidarity from Jedidiah Britton-Purdy.
3. Every time I see someone cough or touch on TV, I wince–turns out I’m not alone!!
4. Consuming all of Basically, basically.
5. I finally watched Shrill, season 2. Patti Harrison steals that whole show.
How will I ever regain the ability to focus on homework again?? My discrete blocks of time all blur into one another–meal time is study time is job app time, is leisure time, is exercise time. What we talk about when we talk about the new normal!
According to TNS’s gallup about boring things Finns find Finland to be the most boring Nordic country. The most boring Finnish city is Kouvola and the most boring tourist attraction in Helsinki is Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art.
The prototype of bored Finn is a 18-24 year old single man who spends a lot of his time on the internet and has a goldfish (?!). He lives in Kouvola, uses public transportation and chews gum while listening to mp3-player.
The results:
The most boring…
City: Kouvola 43%
Place to visit: Tax office (69%)
Nordic country: Finland (15%)
Car label: Nissan & Skoda (29%)
Hotel chain: Omenahotels (35%)
Restaurant chain: ABC-restaurants (43%)
Tourist attraction (in Helsinki): Kiasma (33%)
Food: Avocado pasta (34%)
Sport: Golf (41%)
Way of dressing: Rapper (33%)
Cute/Fun activities to do with friends
Based off of all the bullshit I do with my friends.
- My best friend and I once made Pinterest boards for our ideal weddings and then compared.
- We also sometimes play puzzle games using one Xbox controller (She grabs the left side of the controller and I grab the right side and we have to function as one person).
- My friends and I frequently blast music and sing along to it while we cook or bake.
- My best friend and I are both artists so we created a game in which one of us draws a very detailed pair of eyes and the other person draws the rest of the face as horribly as possible to create a cursed/hilarious result.
- Face masks + virgin cocktails + Mario Kart = A damn good time
- For sleepovers we like to dig up awful wattpad fanfic and do a dramatic reading using horrible fake accents
- Listening to Russian Hard Bass while you play uno makes shit INTENSE
- Idk why but smash or pass using fictional characters is hella funny
- Sometimes my best friend and I will write down all the little things we think of when we see one another (songs, colors, flowers, etc. that we associate with each other) for three minutes then compare the results
- We also love to plan our future adventures together (budgeting, timing, what languages we need to learn, etc.) over coffee
- Hot chocolate + pajamas + board games = A fuggin party
In conclusion: I may be a depressed binch but I still know how to have a good time!!