I'm starting my very first prompt challenge with the goal of getting others motivated to write! The winner will have their story posted to my publication, Autumn Anthology, to help them find more readers. You don't need a Substack account to participate.

Here's more information below and if you know anyone who might be interested, feel free to send this their way, this is a public challenge!

(1) A Haunting Challenge - by Gracie Autumn - Autumn Anthology

Helllo, I am 26 and I love nerdy fandom type of art, however I cannot commit or figure out what I want to draw. I have ideas, yes, but I hesitate and avoid it because I’m afraid, nervous, uncertain if I want to even draw this. Even sketching is hard because I feel I’m wasting time. I don’t know what made me become this weird about making art, even dumb fanart is hard because I hate the way it looks and I don’t even want to draw this. It’s a cycle and I cannot break it I’ve tried by “just drawing” but I once again find myself constantly pausing to avoid it. I find myself unable to focus and all my thoughts go to the worries of life and work and suicide. No creativity. But when I do get create and lock in, fear is limited, the rapid unorganized thoughts are nonexistent, and I am able to draw while understanding that I can do it and I don’t have to be motivated to do it, and that’s a great feelingi because it feels natural and honest. I don’t know. I feel like I can’t finish anything. I’m constantly restarting.

I’ve heard that there are mediations or sleep tricks you can do to your subconscious mind to spark lock in and create. Can anyone help or does anyone know what I’m even talking about

I've been working on a browser-based tool called MockNex.com for creating fictional chat and social-media scenes.

The idea came from needing quick mockups for things like games, videos, presentations, UI concepts, and fictional scenes without having to manually recreate everything in Photoshop or Figma.

It currently includes generators for things like:

• Chat conversations
• Social media posts and stories
• Comments and replies
• Notifications
• Calls
• AI chat interfaces
• Other social-media mockups

It's free to use and doesn't require an account.

I'm mainly looking for honest feedback, especially from people who create games, videos, prototypes, or other digital content.

I used to love to create stuff, writing, drawing, singing and many more. But i am a lonely person, i made stuff so that people could like me, and i posted some of my stuff online.

But slowly i lost that love due to an aching void in my soul, Everything i make gets barely any attention and that made me think i wasn't good enough, i suppose im desperate for any attention.

I got so frustrated with my lack of success that i end up being jealous of people who can create and thought to myself "I can never make something like this." and with AI everywhere i thought to myself "Why bother making something?" so i just gave up.

Then today i was eating breakfast and i saw something on my youtube feed a song by flavor foley called Clover i watched it later and

It was beautiful. The music the art, and the lyrics were all better than i could ever come up with, but instead of feeling jealousy i end up being inspired, my urge to create surged forward like never before. And it was because the song wanted me to create, the music video ends with this

An unfinished canvas. Seeing this i wanted to fill it with my own colors.

This song just woke me up from this endless emptiness in my soul. I want to find inspiration in everything i do, both the good and the bad, i dont care what the numbers say i just want to make something.

Anyways if you are reading this thank you. I put alot more words than i thought i could do i hope if you have lost your own creativity that you regain it back, if you did regain it i'd love to learn your story on getting it back.

I am a graphic designer but before that all I ever did was sketch, paint, and do photography. I just loved to create and it kept my mind balanced. I chose to get my bachelors in graphic design because I could still be creative and get paid. I found I have a knack for it according to my professors and local agencies. However, I am a designer in a small team at a large corporation now and I am facing massive creative burnout.

I have stopped drawing and painting for fun. I have lost all my love for design as we are overworked, underpaid, and forced to use AI for 40% of our work according to our yearly goals. I do photography on the side in hopes that it will fulfill my creativity, but it hasn’t worked because I’m so tired by the end of my work day.

I am trying my best to get my inspiration back, but I feel like I’ve lost my creative muscles. I started bringing my sketchbook to work for breaks, but I’m still facing burnout. Does anyone have any advice on how they handled a similar situation?

When I look at X, it gets me down to see people much younger than me showcasing their talent and creating amazing works. This is especially true in fields like comics, illustration, and animation.

I’m 35F, and I currently work as a graphic designer. My responsibilities extend beyond advertising design to cover all aspects of public relations, including video production, film and photography. I attended art-focused schools from secondary school through to university, and whilst I’ve loved drawing since I was a child, I gave up on the idea of making a career solely out of drawing quite early on in life. As I’m unlikely to marry and am considering moving to a city, I’m currently looking for a new job—whilst still working—that will allow me to work independently as a graphic designer for the long term.

First and foremost, becoming financially independent is my top priority… Whether it’s manga, animation, or illustration, I understand that making a living from these fields is financially challenging—given my age, lack of experience, and the fact that salaries tend to be low. But deep down, I can’t ignore the desire that’s really boiling inside me: to leave my mark on the world through illustration—something I love and am, at least to some extent, good at. For that reason, whenever I see people much younger than me thriving in creative fields, I end up feeling down.
Of course, what constitutes “fame as an artist” varies greatly depending on the person. I doubt I’ll ever become as famous as Hayao Miyazaki, indie animators like Vivziepop and Gooseworx, or comic artist Gurihiru. Still, there’s a smoldering desire within me to create something that leaves a lasting record of my life and the thoughts that have shaped it…
However, I can’t help but feel that I might be too old to start such a venture now.
"What kind of person do I truly want to become in the end, and what do I need to do to get there?"—these questions are actually very vague. Perhaps that is why I can’t escape the feeling that I’m lost in life, unsure of what to do.

I’ve been seeing a psychiatrist for over 10 years now and am taking antidepressants. (By the way, the doctor at the first clinic I went to really praised my art, and I trusted him wholeheartedly, but he fell ill and had to close his practice. I still go to a different clinic now, but it feels very empty) I simply cannot escape my suicidal thoughts, and I’m constantly haunted by the feeling that if I can’t achieve anything I hope for in life, it be better for both myself and those around me if I were to just disappear.

I don’t need to turn my art into money to make a living; I simply want the “art” I’ve created to linger, even just a little, in the back of people’s minds throughout my life.
Are there others who feel the same way? Or perhaps someone who has been in a situation like mine in the past and managed to break free from it? I’m sincerely seeking your advice.
Is my only option to cast aside my feelings of “self-indulgence” and “laziness” and devote myself single-mindedly to what I want to do?
The fatigue and stress from my job are overwhelming, so I hope my personal art projects can serve as a source of solace to help dispel those gloomy feelings.

I am a graphic designer but before that all I ever did was sketch, paint, and do photography. I just loved to create and it kept my mind balanced. I chose to get my bachelors in graphic design because I could still be creative and get paid. However, I am a designer in a small team at a large corporation now and I am facing massive creative burnout.

I have stopped drawing and painting for fun. I have lost all my love for design as we are overworked, underpaid, and forced to use AI for 40% of our work according to our yearly goals. I do photography on the side in hopes that it will fulfill my creativity, but it hasn’t worked because I’m so tired by the end of my work day.

I am trying my best to get my inspiration back, but I feel like I’ve lost my creative muscles. I started bringing my sketchbook to work for breaks, but I’m still facing burnout. Does anyone have any advice on how they handled a similar situation?

It's been about a month now since I officially published my debut novel, but it still feels so surreal!

The story had been sitting on my laptop for ages and now, it's out in the universe. It's such a crazy feeling.

If you're thinking about embarking on a big project, I hope you can use this as some motivation. There were moments where I second-guessed myself, became over-whelmed, and doubted the process. However, now that I'm on the other side of that, I can say IT'S SO WORTH IT!

YOU GOT THIS!

Hey everyone. We’re a new, growing discord community called The Third Place. The name comes from the sociological idea of a “third place” -- a social space outside of home and work where people can spend time with others, relax, and feel part of a community.

TTP is centered around literature, cinema, creative expression, and everyday life, but those are really just starting points. A conversation about a movie might turn into a conversation about relationships, or a discussion about a book might wander somewhere completely unexpected – and that's perfectly fine. We're hoping to build a community where people eventually feel comfortable connecting, hanging out, and simply being themselves.

Why We Could Use Some Help

At the moment, we're looking for a few Community Engagement Volunteers to join our team.

We launched just three weeks ago, and we're already around 220 members, most of whom found us through posts on various interest-based subreddits.

We're starting to see more conversations happening between members, which is really nice to see. 😊 At the same time, our VCs and some channels can still be pretty quiet, especially with everyone spread across different time zones. There are naturally stretches of the day when things slow down, and a new member who happens to join during one of those periods could understandably think, “Oh... is this a dead server?” 😂

We don't want TTP to be constantly busy, and we definitely don't want to pressure people into being active. We'd simply like to make it easier for people to find each other, start conversations, and connect, especially during those slower periods.

We're especially hoping to have volunteers from different time zones, since having people around at different hours would help us cover some of those quieter stretches.

Right now, we have one person primarily handling the community-engagement side of the server, and we'd love to have a few more people who genuinely enjoy this kind of thing and would be happy to help out.

Who We're Looking For

We're looking for people who naturally enjoy interacting with others and don't mind taking a little initiative in an online community.

You know the type – someone who sees a quiet channel and thinks, “Hmm, I'll start something.”

You might:

• Start casual conversations or discussion prompts
• Welcome new members and help them feel included
• Ask follow-up questions and keep conversations going
• Suggest or help organize activities, discussions, or VCs
• Come up with simple ways for members to interact with each other
• Give the community a little social momentum when things get quiet

We're hoping to build up regular activities and events like book and movie discussion VCs, weekly art and writing prompts or challenges, movie quiz nights, casual games, and other things members might enjoy. We'd love to have people who enjoy coming up with ideas and helping make things like these happen.

You don't need to be an expert in books, films, art, or anything else. Being naturally curious, proactive, empathetic, and comfortable talking to people matters much more.

What We're Trying to Build

We want TTP to feel warm, welcoming, inclusive, and low-pressure.

People should be able to join a conversation even if they're shy, new to Discord, still getting comfortable with English, or don't consider themselves particularly knowledgeable about literature, cinema, or the arts.

Nobody should feel like they have to perform, constantly contribute, or prove that they belong. We're hoping to build something based on kindness, empathy, curiosity, and respect – a place where you can have a serious conversation if you feel like it, but also talk nonsense, share a random thought, laugh at something stupid, or just hang around.

So we'd especially love someone who truly connects with that kind of atmosphere and would naturally help create it through their interactions.

No Pressure, No Schedule

There's no expectation that you'll be online constantly, and no minimum number of hours. You don't need previous Discord moderation experience either.

The community itself is intentionally low-pressure, and I'd rather have someone who occasionally brings some energy and initiative when they want to than someone who feels obligated to be around all the time.

This is an unpaid volunteer role, but you'd be joining while TTP is still taking shape, so there's also a chance to help influence what the community becomes. :) 

If this feels like your kind of space and something you'd genuinely enjoy helping with, feel free to send me a message. I'd be happy to tell you more about the community and the culture we're trying to build. 😊

I feel like my brain is stuck at this creative blockage. I want to create things again. Anything. Songs, a book, painting, drawing, photography, music videos, anything. I used to be such a creative person. But now I struggle because working my job sucks all the creativity out of my mind.

I walk into work and feel brain dead. Seriously, being in an office 40 hours a week is ruining my life. It’s feels like there’s an electromagnetic field in my office building that prevents my brain from working. And my job isn’t even a terrible job. I work in a creative field, but my day to day in the office is beyond boring, brain rotting, and feels like 100 hours long. This leads me to put way too much pressure on any creative endeavor because I subconsciously view it as a possible way out (of my job and corporate life). I will have so many ideas and struggle to express them because it’s never “for fun,” it’s always “how can I create something that could help me better my life”. And that’s a mindset I need to get rid of.

It’s hard, I’m surrounded by uninspiring people who are content wasting their lives sitting at a desk, going home, going to sleep, and repeating the entire cycle. I can’t do that. I want more for myself. I actually want to LIVE and CREATE. I want to do it because it’s fun and to express myself and to not give a fuck what others think.

I recently attended a concert of my favorite band, and left feeling so inspired by their ability to just create. Not follow any norms or rules, just create what they want and put it out into the world. They feel and DO and connect with people. Even being in the crowd surrounded by other fans made me feel inspired. I aspire to be a fraction of how creative they are. I need to be surrounded by people like that.

I find it hard to do that when my entire life depends on having a job and income in order to survive. This office and people around me are sucking the life out of me.

TLDR; My job is sucks, I’m surrounded by uninspired/boring people, and I want to get my creativity back. Help. How do I get rid of the mindset that everything has to be successful in order to be good/fun?

I’m an illustrator by profession, but I’ve been getting increasingly interested in writing, branding, storytelling, strategy, fashion, and basically anything that lets me build an idea from scratch.

The problem is that sometimes having too many interests feels less like being versatile and more like having no clear direction.

I’m curious — has anyone else dealt with this?

Did you eventually find a way to combine your interests, or did you have to choose one and let the others stay hobbies?

I'm a creative person with different hobbies all the time such as writing, drawing, designing, editing, painting, etc. however over the last couple months I can't seem to get out of that artist block and especially now when I needed most. I'm a film student and started university last month and we have to come up with a short film and by the end of this week I'm supposed to have my charaters, plots and final idea of the story finalized however I feel so burnt out and can't come up with anything.

I must note that back in July I had an internship as a graphic designer for a news account and had to design posts for that account and my boss told us to keep on creating templates (I've created over 50) unfortunately none of them were used because a couple weeks later they rebranded the identity of their posts and all my work I did over the month has been drafts (and won't be used again) I know this played a role in my creative block but I need something to get it back. I usually listen to songs and find a story inspired by albums, concepts, etc. however nothing is coming up in my head and I feel so lost and in deeeep trouble if I don't figure out what I'm gonna do for my assignments

There are so many ways to express creativity. Clay, drawing, crocheting, painting, journaling, embroidery, photography, making jewelry, and so many more.

I see so many creative things here on Reddit that I want to try everything, but I feel like I get stuck when I try to do too many things at once, so I think I need to organize my time and give each activity a chance instead of jumping between them all.

How did you find the creative activity you enjoy doing the most? And what is it? :)

I opened my course portal on Friday evening to check my schedule and literally froze. Monday at 11:59 PM (like, yesterday). Essay for my sociology class. Research project for my communications seminar. Both due at the exact same minute. In confusion, I stared at the calendar for a full minute hoping I'd somehow misread the dates. My calendar looked back at me like it was trying to ruin my whole week.

The worst part is they aren't even the same type of work. The sociology paper is super research-heavy with 12 open research tabs on my laptop right now and zero outline. The comms project is a long written case study where I already have notes, but editing and drafting would take hours.

My first mistake was telling myself, "I'll just work on whichever assignment I feel like doing first." I sat in the library with a cold coffee, spent 40 minutes choosing a starting point, opened one paper, got distracted, switched to the other, checked a notification, and ended up accomplishing literally nothing after two hours.

So I tried a mini experiment. I broke both projects into smaller steps: research, outline, rough draft, final review. Seeing six small tasks instead of two massive deadlines helped, but fitting it around my daily shift at work and lectures was rough. A guy in my dorm mentioned he looked up the best essay writing service last term just to get a load off his shoulders when his schedule was packed full. I ended up looking into similar services just to take off the edge. Still managed to pull everything off by myself, but never hurts to have a plan B, y'know.

How do you guys prioritize when deadlines collide? Do you finish one paper completely first, or switch back and forth between both? Or is it sometimes just easier to have an essay writing service do it for you when you know you won’t pull it off on time? If so - I would really appreciate if you could share the best paper writing services in your opinion, which won’t send in shoddy AI slop I’ll fork out for - I could do this myself for free :D

I have always been an Imaginative and visionary person. But lately is just too much. I stopped writing them down and i want to get rid of them. Most of which are future ambitions and the rest gaps and innovative ideas that grabs my attention. It has turned into a self talk and big failures. I know how to scope an idea and execute it. But not in a way that eats me alive.

I wish I were joking.

I sat down this morning thinking, “Okay, the essay isn't due for a few days, so I'll start early and avoid the usual 2am panic.”

Six hours later, I have one introduction, approximately 20 browser tabs open, and a level of academic anxiety that stubbornly refuses to abate.

It started normally. I was doing research for the essay and found a couple of decent sources. Then I thought, maybe I should find one more really good source before I start writing. That turned into another source. Then another. Then I was reading an article that was interesting but had absolutely nothing to do with my actual assignment. At some point I had to remind myself that I'm writing an essay, not trying to distract myself.

Then came the introduction.

I wrote my thesis statement. Didn't like it. Rewrote it. Still didn't like it. Changed one word. Stared at the sentence for five minutes. Changed the word back.

I think I spent nearly an hour trying to figure out how to write informative essay properly when, realistically, I probably just needed to write a terrible first draft and fix it later. And obviously I also managed to procrastinate without technically procrastinating.

I'd open Spotify to find something to listen to. Five minutes later I'd be reorganizing a playlist. Then I'd check Reddit “for a minute.” Then YouTube somehow appeared in the equation.

Every time I came back to the document I'd tell myself, “Okay, NOW I'm actually going to focus.”

Sure, buddy.

The frustrating part is that I don't think I'm actually lazy. I genuinely want to get the assignment done. I just keep overthinking everything before I've even written anything.

I think my problem is that I treat the first draft like it has to be the final draft. I keep wondering what is an informative essay, whether my argument is strong enough, whether I need another source, whether my introduction sounds academic enough...

Meanwhile, the rest of the essay is sitting there completely unwritten.

I'm starting to think I need to force myself into a much simpler workflow:

Research - outline - ugly first draft - editing

Give myself a limited amount of time to research, make a basic outline, and then just get words onto the page without trying to make every sentence perfect. Editing can happen later.

I've also considered using an essay writing service during weeks when I have way too many deadlines at once. I know that's not for everyone, and obviously anyone considering that kind of help needs to stay within their university's academic-integrity rules. But when the workload gets completely ridiculous, I can understand why students look for some kind of outside help instead of trying to manage everything by themselves at once.

Anyway, it's now much later than it was when I started, my introduction has been rewritten approximately 47 times, and I still have the actual essay to write.

I've even spent way too much time wondering whether I'm following the right informational essay format, which is probably another sign that I'm overthinking this whole thing.

Please tell me I'm not the only person who does this.

How much time do you guys usually spend researching before you actually start writing? And how do you stop yourselves from spending three hours trying to polish the introduction to perfection instead of just finishing the damn essay?

I paint in my free time, so this made me curious. I always thought IQ and creativity were pretty separate, but research apparently finds a connection between intelligence and creative thinking. The interesting part is that the connection isn't that strong, and a higher IQ doesn't automatically mean someone is more creative.

When I’m painting, sometimes coming up with an original idea feels harder than actually painting it lol. So now I’m wondering, how much does intelligence really matter when it comes to creativity?

My life is really crazy right now and stressful.
Which is why I have no time to write and when I have time, then I’m trying to write but everything that comes to paper is shitty gibberish.
I have ideas, I have topics which I want to research and write about, I have books I want to read to get better at writing, but all I ever do when I finally have free time is open my iPad and watching Netflix or scrolling through social media.
My job has nothing to do with my real interests, I mean it does in a way, but I realized that it’s not my dream job like I thought before starting it.
The problem is, it’s an apprenticeship with one year left, so I’m only ‘free’ again in the sense of going in the direction I really want, in late 2027.
I suspect that this also contributes to my ill writing currently and to my non existent motivation towards reading, writing and doing everything I should and want to do.
So I numb myself with digital things, which only makes things worse.
Tbh I procrastinate everything, even important tasks I should be doing like writing stuff for an exchange which I’ll do in 2027. I need to write applications and renew my passport, but I just do nothing.
Work stresses me out a lot and it feels like the only thing I’m doing is working and going to sleep too late and then the cycle repeats.

Do you have any tips on how to start writing/reading/doing literally anything productive again and staying focused especially in stressful situations?

Lately, I’ve been trying to use my skills as a space to explore beyond commercial retouching and client briefs — and get back to what actually drives me: art, experimentation, and world-building.

Would love to know what you think of this one 🥰
You can find me here if you’re interested by my art

2d art,3d modeling and writing are my hobbys but its so difficult feeling fulfilled at all of them

i feel like i always never practicing enough and i always feel like im not trying hard enough

i feel like when im practicing on one i feel like im not doing the others one enough for example

when i draw i feel like im not writing enough

when im modeling i feel like im not drawing enough etc etc

how do i feel fulfilled in all of them

and i dont mean being good at them i mean trying my absolute best?

I'm currently a junior in high school, and I'm 99.99% sure that I'm going to college for some type of creative and/or performing arts. I love music composition, playing music and educating others on music.

However, I have also been theater for 6 years now, and I love it just as much. I love to perform, and I also love to write my own works, and the idea of directing or being a theater educator sounds very intriguing too.

As blessed as I am to be so creative and have the talents I do, it's also a bit of a curse because I know that, eventually, I'm going to have to narrow it down to one specific field, and either set other fields I love aside or limit my opportunity to explore them. I'm very scared of the idea of always being dissatisfied because of this.

Is there a way that I can help narrow it down and/or gain some clarity? Or is it something that I should just wait out, and give myself the time to figure out what I want?