My earliest recollection of writing for fun was when I was in the fifth-grade: My friends and I would stay inside during recess to work on a sequel to “The Lunar Chronicles” by Marissa Meyer we were co-authoring. Though, if memory serves, more often than not, I was the one who physically wrote.

Forget the fact that I didn’t particularly enjoy recess as a kid. The unstructured play made me feel a bit socially anxious, and none of the activities were that appealing to me — I’d much rather color than play four square. No, there was something about writing stories that captivated me at a young age.

It started with fan fiction: a desire to extend a story I knew I loved. But what lay at the heart of my fifth-grade hobby was an innate desire to tell untold stories. I still feel this way.

Since fifth-grade, I’ve gone on to continue to develop characters, these untethered to any existing story. As I mentioned in an installment in the fall, I have one character in particular, Livvy, who I’m working on now.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet, but in my head Livvy’s an English major because she loves the classics. She has a bookshelf of them, all hardcovers. Like the pictures I used to draw when I was younger of beautiful girls I wished I looked like in elaborate gowns, I fashion my protagonists as blends of my traits and those I wish I had — perfect versions of myself.

I bring up Livvy’s love of literature because the island Livvy wanted to visit in the last installment was inspired by a book she loved. I don’t know if I want to continue writing about Livvy’s journeys abroad now that I’m home, though. I need to think of a new arc.

Typically, I use elements from my own life as inspiration for the plots of my characters. But, at the moment, there is absolutely nothing going on in my life worth writing about. Except rush — I mean, recruitment — but that’s so tired. And, like I said, I like to tell untold stories.

The absence of excitement in my life right now is what is inspiring this noncanonical rant. It’s also bumming me out a little bit, too.

I really need to shake things up. I think there are actually some fun events coming up, so hopefully something unusual will happen. Sure, it would be fun to start shaking things up again post-abroad, but from a dutiful writer’s perspective, I need material to write about, both for my column’s sake and for the sake of the novel I might actually write someday.

In the meantime, I wonder if I should get back into the fanfic game. Laugh all you want, but I think it’s honest work.

Sylvie Slotkin is a Medill junior. She can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.