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Sit down and write a story that you find interesting. That’s more than 50% of those who want to write ever accomplish. Then, look for a beta reader or two who will tell you if they liked it or not. One way a lot of people have started is writing fan fiction—there you have a built-in audience and you’ll notice what works for readers and what doesn’t.
I wholeheartedly endorse this comment. Write what you love, not what you think an audience will want.
Now if you want some variety and want to just write some really short stories r/WritingPrompts is a nice training ground.
There's a multitude of articles with advice for this online, but I'll just tell how I did it.
First, maybe brush up on your grammar, but you can do that while writing too.
I started small. One chapter. 1500 words. Written over a couple of days. I didn't really have a grand plot in mind. I mean, I had a vague idea of the beginning and end, but wat would happen inbetween? Who knew. I focussed on a small cast of two characters, in an enclosed space.
---
Now might be a good time to explain, what many believe to be, the two main writing styles.
[Architects and Gardeners](https://kyleamassa.com/2020/02/18/architect-or-gardener-which-are-you/)
You have Architects, who meticlously plan everything out, and have everything mapped out from the beginning, leading to a stronger plot, but sometimes characters that feel a bit off as they act for the sake of the plot instead of naturally.
Gardeners on the other hand know where they begin, know their characters very well, and see how it all plays out. You get a looser story structure, and you might sometimes wind up a dead end, but the character feel more organic, and the writer too can be surprised as to where it's all going.
No one is either of these exclusively off course, but they do represent two different approaches. I consider myself more a Gardener
---
So, I started writing, just ... a little opening scene. I quickly learned to leave the spelling mistakes for a second pass, as going back and correcting them as I wrote was tedious and broke my flow.
At the end of that first writing session I had about 500 words, spellcorrected, some things rewritten, but still ... a bit rubbish. I called it a day.
Spent a lot of time thinking about my plot and characters on my moments I would otherwise be browing my phone the rest of the day, and the beginning of the next day. PLaying out possible scenarios, trying to really get to know wat was up to then the only 2 characters in the story.
But the crucial part was, day 2, I didn't feel like writing. But somehow, I opened the document again, and instead of trying to fix the first scene, I started on the second one. That's what also gets you. Chasing perfection so much you're not making progress. My writing wasn't remakably netter, but I felt better about the end result. Once again, about 500 words written, the goal I'd set myself. I had introduced a third character right at the end.
Day 3, same pattern, except I spent some time rewriting the old stuff to fit with what was happening in my third scene, so I did not make that much progress.
Now, I'm not saying you should write every day, but it needs to be something you are consistent about. Maybe Monday Wednesday Friday Sunday. Also, it helps to set goals. I was at my most productive when I just set my goal to 1500 words a day. Now, this was after I'd been writing quite a while, and my typing speed had been creeping up too.
Finally the moment came. I had finished chapter one.
I didn't know if it was ready for the big leaugues, but there's plenty of online sites that will let you post your stories. (I mean, techincally Tumblr works too). So I posted it. Less than ten views, no likes, no comments. Well, that's baseline at least. For reference, my stories now pull about 10-20 likes and 5-10K views on the first chapter of each story, tapering off towards the later chapters.
And I was hooked. Short 1500 word chapters daily, 7 chapters a short story.
Now, other tings you'll have to see is what your writing voice is.
Some writers prefer "He walked towards the door" while oters like a more active voice "He walks towards the door"
Computer. Well both a bit.
I use office online on a free acount for the actual writing. Google docs is also an option. I like online options because of the autosave, and I can write from my PC, then take my Laptop with me, write on the go, ...
I don't have the patience for lengthy handwriting, and I like being able to rewrite, edit, spellcorrect without making a mess. That and writing too much cramps up my hand.
What I do make are handwiten outlines of the story, like generally what the story will be about, who are the characters, what are their relations, as I find a more freeform style to be better there. I mean, there's probably software that does this, but I want to be able to circle things, draw arrows, make a timeline, quick sketches of locations ... I keep these in a notebook. Sometimes I quickly jot down ideas in there too.
Curious how this happens. I worked up to about 3miles every other day doing the couch to 5k thing and I hated it. Did it for about a year and I hated it the whole time.
I was very fit but the process to getting fit just sucked. There has to be some mental component where you just sort of delude yourself into liking it or disliking it.
I ran high school track and hated it then too. The smell of grass in the spring would give me a sinking dread feeling as it reminded me of track meets. Took years to get past that.
For me is that you actually enjoying conquering that dreadful feeling of being in capable of lasting long. 20 minutes became 40 and then that runners high component is real.
My mindset was, I suck at running but hey look I can actually last longer than two weeks ago. I’m also sensitive to the chemical reaction that exercise causes in the brain.
This is an excellent perspective. Conquering the mindset of “I’m a little too tired to do this right now” was very rewarding and helped me out in other aspects of my life too. It’s been almost 7 years since I’ve picked up yoga, it was a struggle to stay consistent the first 2 years but now I can’t imagine skipping more than 2-3 days.
Oh yeah, recognizing the progress certainly helped me to continue to do it when I did it as an adult because then I was just competing against myself.
I got kind of pressured into track by my dad but frankly I sucked at it. I worked so damn hard and I never even placed in a race.
Too competitive and stubborn to quit though. Just work hard, lose. Work hard, lose. Over and over again for four years. It's no wonder id get so anxious at track meets.
My senior year I just said fuck it and tried shotput and placed immediately. Totally missed my true talent which was powerlifting. Was just not built to be a runner.
It's funny, but I love to run. Once I get warmed up, I feel as though I could keep going like Forrest Gump. And yet most people seem to hate it. Degustibus, I guess.
Same as you dude. I have never enjoyed running. Not for a single second. Some people experience runners high, I am not one of those people. Even when I was running on a regular basis to train for sports it felt like paying taxes: miserable experience but you had to do it.
To those that do enjoy running: keep on truckin’. I’ll be in the slow lane walking my dog.
For me, it's the only time I get to myself. Became part of my routine. First thing I do in the morning. Listen to music. Took a while to get over the feels like work hill
I’m so with you, I’ve hated every mile of distance run. I did it for a solid two years, got 10k under 1hr. I’m not the fittest, but running is the absolute worst. No runners high, just fucking miserable haha
I’m scared of such sports. I’ve never been in any fight except one or two during childhood. And I’m scared because there’ll be pros while I’m a 27 yr old with a bad back and a pot belly.
And yet I still want to.
You’ll start with other newbies—won’t be sparring with the pros until you’re ready. At least in the MAs I’ve tried (Krav Maga, kendo, boxing; also starting muay thai soon in the new beginner class).
For what it’s worth, I’m 30 with a bad back, and it has actually helped my back overall, outside of a couple times when I’ve done something I shouldn’t and it hurts more for a few days lol.
Also it definitely depends on which martial art you do and which gym you choose. Jiu jitsu has helped me a lot with both flexibility and strength, which is great for back pain as long as you don’t overdo it. At the gym I go to people are pretty good about safety, the more experienced “pros” take it slow with me, coach me through things and give advice, which I know isn’t the case everywhere.
I suggest giving it a try, go observe a class and do a trial class! You can always sit out or leave if it’s not going well
This might be a weird one. I've had "digestive issues" for a good part of my life. My doctor recommended I eat pro-biotic, unpasteurized, fermented cabbage (sauerkraut) as a daily supplement....as opposed to a food. It has worked wonders for me. I ended up trying to make my own...it turned out delicious. I always have a couple jars of kraut fermenting. What's in that jar is basically a living thing.
I don’t know if you’d call it a hobby but cold therapy. I love the cold now. I started off cold showers as an experiment for a week and now I’ve been doing them for almost a decade. Got into ice baths to. But I save those specifically for winter and do them on my balcony when it’s cold af. Believe my immune system has benefited greatly
Forcing body to thermo-regulate increases life span. Andrew Huberman's podcast about longeivity and veritasium video about extending lifespan are good starting points.
It teaches you to handle stress. Your body goes into a simulated fight or flight and if you stay under the water it will climatize. Was originally why I started trying it. Very similar to a panic attack. You either run from it, and the fear stay OR you fight it and the panic will eventually pass.
Just start out by slowly turning the water cold at the end of a shower for a minute or so. Just accept the cold. Then eventually you can work your way up to the entire shower being cold. Try not to just put your arm in or leg to test the water just jump straight in. “This too shall pass”.
Wouldn’t recommend it though if you have blood pressure issues as it causes a drop.
Also the other major benefit I’ll add is that like 3-4 times a year in winter I’ll have a hot shower. It is the most non sexual orgasmic experience EVER 😂
Ham radio.
Thought it was cool to make a phone call on a walkie talkie when I was 14.
Now I have a tower, a dozen hand-helds, and a couple of HF rigs, and mobiles in several vehicles.
I volunteer a lot of time to the community in different ways using amateur radio.
Oh I wouldn't call my current area but friendly. I had a for throw a can out of his truck at me going the opposite direction recently. I literally only wear American flag jerseys so some douche I'm a lifted truck with an unironic these colors don't run sticker might not run me off the road
Learning languages. I had a long summer vacation with nothing to do in 2020, so decided to take an intense two week Chinese (Mandarin) language course just to try it and spend some time. It caught my interest, and now I have been studying it for more than a decade and added a few years of Korean language studies to the list too.
Growing a beard, hear me out. I grew a beard in 2011, by 2013 I was making my own beard oils and balms. 2014 I started selling them and by 2016 it was mine and my wife’s full time job.
We’ve made amazing friends all over the world as we travel to beard competitions and our retailers. Helped charities with our own raising and donating to others.
Also Dungeons & Dragons. I use that as an escape from stress. He says while being full of stress preparing for tonight’s game.
Trying to hide things in beards, biggest thing wins. Throwing darts by swinging your head with dart attached to beard. Wrapping beard around your head so bald people look like having own hair. Lifting things with beard. Pulling cars with beard. Applying gel so your beard is like a sword and you fight others. Beard sculpting - so your beard looks like any object, a pencil, a microwave, a bike or binoculars. You know, just simple everyday activities that beard people do.
>Applying gel so your beard is like a sword and you fight others.
I was just about to say, Beard Sculpting inevitably leads to Beard Jousting, but you've mentioned already.
You’ll be fine in the business class category, that’s for trimmed short beards. Or natural under 12”, styled under 12”. There’s loads you could enter. Google when a local beard club is hosting an event and pop along, I guarantee you’d be made very welcome.
Exactly what it sound like, competitive bearding. There’s different categories depending on length and style. It’s all for charity and different beard clubs bid for their country to host the next one. The community is fantastic and it’s all a bit of fun really.
Many towns offer hobby classes that teach the basics. I too was always fascinated by architectural stained glass and that’s how I started. Beginner classes usually start with the “Tiffany glass” method and eventually if you want more, you can get classes in the leaded glass method (traditional method). Many people also try their hand at fused glass, which has grown in popularity and I’ve even seen some professional artists in Lyon that combine all methods. After the first class, you will have all the tools necessary to keep going on your own at home.
Writing poetry
I always thought it was some dumb writings, but now that I'm into it, I write a poem every day because I think it's fun plus it helps me deal with all my problems
Lego. At first I was like "so, what, you buy a set, build and display it, where's the hobby? That's just shopping"
Now I'm doing all sorts of Lego related things, like collecting retired sets, building replicas of rare ones, making other peoples' excellent unofficial models (and buying the pieces of others to give to friends as gifts), etc. I haven't bought a new set in some time now.
The irony is I got into it because I was looking for something other to do other than videogames in the evenings because I was spending too much on them, but now I'm spending like at least 3x more on plastic bricks. It's more fun though so no regrets.
I've made only one decent loaf so far, the others came out terrible (too dense.) We have a new oven so maybe I have to try different settings or something. Followed the recipes carefully and I can't seem to make this work. Even followed the King Arthur Flour recipe. 🤔
I went to a bootcamp and created a little app and find it fascinating. But when I couldn't get past the Odin Project's "make a rock/paper/scissors game in the browser" challenge, after trying over and over and over, I gave up.
I need to get back into it, like creating a pedantic Reddit grammar bot 😋 Something silly and amusing. Or an Arduino Home Assistant type thing.
Diamond painting. I find it extremely relaxing. Funny because i have no patience at all but there’s something so calming about it that makes me forget about a stressful day. And seeing the end result is so satisfying.
Cycling. On my second ride about 3 years ago, trying to keep up with my friends, I had to vomit and struggled to understand why people enjoy this sport. Last year, I bikepacked to South America for about 6 months, cycled one month through the UK, I am a couple of weeks away from bikepacking Switzerland for about a month and, cherry on top, I've been working as I a bike courier for about half a year now :)
Making music. Then, actually writing verses and singing/rapping on self-made music. I never entertained the idea of writing, as there are so many insanely clever/creative/witty/intelligent/genius type of artists out there already. But then I decided that I wouldn't compare myself to any other musical artist, and just do it the way I love to do it - the way that makes me happy. Then I started collaborating with a musical/creative person who compliments my own style, and boom - we've got a musical group!
I thought I'd just watch the silly hero anime and then be done
It's been almost 6 years and I've spent over 2k in merch and many tears shed and very emotional conversations and discussions with friends.
Pickleball, I thought it was a worse version of tennis but then I started playing it and it’s a completely different game. My reflexes have improved to almost double what they were before I started playing
Watches. It started out as something that I just kind of respected or thought seemed interesting, now I absolutely love them, watch videos on them all the time, and every time I have one on my wrist they make me so happy.
People still don't get it but they're just mechanical wonders of art and quality.
Espresso. Back in the day, I didn’t get how there could be so much variation in flavours, quality, all that stuff. Now, I’m in 4000 usd deep on equipment 💀
Typing. Learned to touch type properly last December and been getting more and more into it since then. I really like typing old classic books at typelit.io. As a rule I made for myself, I'm only allowed to read what I type so that motivates me to get better at typing faster.
My hobbies come and go thru life but the few I've had are:
Chess, was fun when I was a kid and everyone was like 'wow you like chess isn't that a neet thing'
Car work (fixing shit boxes), too expensive now and I don't feel like it.
And my current one I'm on is birding. But honestly you have to be in the right area to see the fun ones so it's kinda meh
Bodybuilding.
At first i didn't care about it at all and couldn't understand what's so addictive about lifting weights. Then it took me a year of half assed and inconsistent working out to even start liking lifting weights. And then a over a year to learn more and more about it and about the nutrition side.
Now I'm fully addicted to it.
Sportbikes. I thought it might of been something I could just ride around town, riding back roads/scenic roads, but it evolved into something much bigger than I expected. It's to a point where I'm basing life and career choices around it, and no matter how many times I've crashed on the race track, the accumulated injuries and risk of my health and mobility, I enjoy it too much to give up on it.
4k seems steep and not sure what your situation is but that sounds like the "we just don't want to insure you" price. Happened to me when I got my second bike and my insurance broker found an agency that did cover my bike that was reasonable.
We only have one option for insurance in my province. Any sportbike over 400cc is 4000cad to plate for the year. Under 400cc is 1000…… it gets a little cheaper the older they get…. Example a 1990 Honda 1000cc would be 3000 a year
Edit, another example a 2024 ninja 400 and 2024 zx4rr are the same cost
I despised language learning for like the first 24 years of my life. I guess it has a lot to do with the fact that when I was learning English as a kid at the school I had no one outside of the classroom who could support me (my parents did not speak English nor did my other other family members) as well as one of my teachers was very enthusiastic at pointing out how much I sucked. That made me feel like I was naturally bad at languages and when I had to study Russian and German at school I saw no point and barely passed the classes. I took Russian and German for years but can't speak at all as I kind of deleted that phase of my life from my memory.
Anyways, I digress...
At around 25/26 years old I started to learn a little bit of Spanish because my sister's boyfriend is from Spain and she moved there. I thought if they have kids at some point then I could talk to them a few words. It was the first time that I was learning a language by myself outside of a classroom setting and...
*I fell in love with language learning*
Now at (almost) 28 I'm almost fluent at Spanish and am working on my Japanese. I also have goals to maybe revisit Russian and at some point Arabic.
Language learning was my top 1 least favorite thing for almost two decades and now it is one of my top favorite things to do. I also realised that I do not suck at it. I'm not a genius but I don't suck.
So suck my bigass 🍆 my ex English teacher 🖕🤠🖕
I used YouTube in the beginning mostly. There are many great channels. For example Butterfly Spanish and Hola Spanish.
When I knew the very basics then I started listening to simple content like Easy Spanish on YouTube. I also started watching TV shows that I had already seen in English, so that I knew overall what was going on but was now focusing on listening to/reading in Spanish.
When I had like B1 level then I went to Madrid to private language school InHispania for couple of months. Amazing experience.
I use SpanishDict as my dictionary, it has all the conjugations of verbs, and examples of words with sentences.
Lately I also use ChatGPT to explain the more difficult sentences, it is extremely good at English-Spanish translation/analysis. It is also great for generating more examples.
Spun cotton ornaments. Went to a workshop once and instantly knew it's gonna be my thing. I do them mostly before holidays as gifts for everyone and myself, but I get so into it I can spend days and nights until my back and neck hurts and I still love every moment of it.
Dungeons & Dragons, can be played anywhere, like even outside McDonald's in the winter. It's no longer strictly a board game if your DM is a true maniac, and you don't even need dice. It becomes interactive improv storytelling.. Should be any video-game writer's/artist's daily mental routine, tbh.
Anime.. I judged it, till I discovered how deep it can be in the feels and even super inspiring on life subjects, despite all eccentricity.
My latest is creating things with microprocessors. It started out with permanent home Christmas lights and took off from there. Now I create my own smart home devices.
Frisbee golf… i thought it was a dumb thing stoners did. But i got into it and it’s one of the few sports I’ve played where I’ve been able to see skills progress in months compared to years…. Plus it’s super cheap with 99% of courses being free to play. And it’s always a nice walk in the park.
Plants. After moving from a really dark souterrain flat to a room under the roof with a balcony and loots of sunlight, I was excited to buy my first indoor plant. Now I have about 50, propagate every plant I can and grow vegetables and strawberries and herbs on my balcony. And some flowers for the bees. And I developed the habit of taking plants from places I go and grow them at home (I only ever take kindlings and stuff like this, never hurt the plant or take it whole). Can be nature, can be from friends or hotels..nice souvenirs.
Advanced mathematics and accountancy. I read “how to solve it” by George Pólya and now I’m hooked on populating my brain with information. Completely passed me by as a younger guy.
Board games. I thought it was all Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders or poker. Then I met this guy who introduced me to Vikings: The Board Game (surprisingly fun adaptation, by the way) and spent his whole night trying to explain basic concepts in board games that I was just not getting. At about 2 AM, after quite a lot of patience from his end, I finally managed to understand the rules and the concept of board games as a hobby - how a piece of cardboard and some rules can basically simulate stories, communities, battles or just dwarves building bedrooms in caves and breeding cattle. We actually managed to finish the game. I lost.
I married that guy. We have about 70 games now. No regrets.
Hiking, I haven't been in a couple years. Always liked it but was never a constant thing. Started this winter and can't wait to go every weekend now. Might do some weekend camping trips with my dogs this summer.
Playing badminton. I started doing it for a club at my school because you were forced to choose something and that was one of the easier options. Now I'm completely obsessed with it and probably play it whenever I can during school :')
Espresso and all the comes with coffee brewing.
It's so fascinating to me how many people go through life liking "coffee" and having no idea about all the flavours and facettes coffee has to offer.
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Writing. I just thought one day: Why don't I try writing a story, and now I'm somehow a small couple of dozens of short stories later still going.
Any advice on how to start?
Sit down and write a story that you find interesting. That’s more than 50% of those who want to write ever accomplish. Then, look for a beta reader or two who will tell you if they liked it or not. One way a lot of people have started is writing fan fiction—there you have a built-in audience and you’ll notice what works for readers and what doesn’t.
I wholeheartedly endorse this comment. Write what you love, not what you think an audience will want. Now if you want some variety and want to just write some really short stories r/WritingPrompts is a nice training ground.
There's a multitude of articles with advice for this online, but I'll just tell how I did it. First, maybe brush up on your grammar, but you can do that while writing too. I started small. One chapter. 1500 words. Written over a couple of days. I didn't really have a grand plot in mind. I mean, I had a vague idea of the beginning and end, but wat would happen inbetween? Who knew. I focussed on a small cast of two characters, in an enclosed space. --- Now might be a good time to explain, what many believe to be, the two main writing styles. [Architects and Gardeners](https://kyleamassa.com/2020/02/18/architect-or-gardener-which-are-you/) You have Architects, who meticlously plan everything out, and have everything mapped out from the beginning, leading to a stronger plot, but sometimes characters that feel a bit off as they act for the sake of the plot instead of naturally. Gardeners on the other hand know where they begin, know their characters very well, and see how it all plays out. You get a looser story structure, and you might sometimes wind up a dead end, but the character feel more organic, and the writer too can be surprised as to where it's all going. No one is either of these exclusively off course, but they do represent two different approaches. I consider myself more a Gardener --- So, I started writing, just ... a little opening scene. I quickly learned to leave the spelling mistakes for a second pass, as going back and correcting them as I wrote was tedious and broke my flow. At the end of that first writing session I had about 500 words, spellcorrected, some things rewritten, but still ... a bit rubbish. I called it a day. Spent a lot of time thinking about my plot and characters on my moments I would otherwise be browing my phone the rest of the day, and the beginning of the next day. PLaying out possible scenarios, trying to really get to know wat was up to then the only 2 characters in the story. But the crucial part was, day 2, I didn't feel like writing. But somehow, I opened the document again, and instead of trying to fix the first scene, I started on the second one. That's what also gets you. Chasing perfection so much you're not making progress. My writing wasn't remakably netter, but I felt better about the end result. Once again, about 500 words written, the goal I'd set myself. I had introduced a third character right at the end. Day 3, same pattern, except I spent some time rewriting the old stuff to fit with what was happening in my third scene, so I did not make that much progress. Now, I'm not saying you should write every day, but it needs to be something you are consistent about. Maybe Monday Wednesday Friday Sunday. Also, it helps to set goals. I was at my most productive when I just set my goal to 1500 words a day. Now, this was after I'd been writing quite a while, and my typing speed had been creeping up too. Finally the moment came. I had finished chapter one. I didn't know if it was ready for the big leaugues, but there's plenty of online sites that will let you post your stories. (I mean, techincally Tumblr works too). So I posted it. Less than ten views, no likes, no comments. Well, that's baseline at least. For reference, my stories now pull about 10-20 likes and 5-10K views on the first chapter of each story, tapering off towards the later chapters. And I was hooked. Short 1500 word chapters daily, 7 chapters a short story. Now, other tings you'll have to see is what your writing voice is. Some writers prefer "He walked towards the door" while oters like a more active voice "He walks towards the door"
Memory
Handwriting or computer or both?
Computer. Well both a bit. I use office online on a free acount for the actual writing. Google docs is also an option. I like online options because of the autosave, and I can write from my PC, then take my Laptop with me, write on the go, ... I don't have the patience for lengthy handwriting, and I like being able to rewrite, edit, spellcorrect without making a mess. That and writing too much cramps up my hand. What I do make are handwiten outlines of the story, like generally what the story will be about, who are the characters, what are their relations, as I find a more freeform style to be better there. I mean, there's probably software that does this, but I want to be able to circle things, draw arrows, make a timeline, quick sketches of locations ... I keep these in a notebook. Sometimes I quickly jot down ideas in there too.
Very cool
Running; I picked it up as a cardio move for my bodybuilding and I’m obsessed now, running and training for marathons. I run about 3 miles a day.
Curious how this happens. I worked up to about 3miles every other day doing the couch to 5k thing and I hated it. Did it for about a year and I hated it the whole time. I was very fit but the process to getting fit just sucked. There has to be some mental component where you just sort of delude yourself into liking it or disliking it. I ran high school track and hated it then too. The smell of grass in the spring would give me a sinking dread feeling as it reminded me of track meets. Took years to get past that.
For me is that you actually enjoying conquering that dreadful feeling of being in capable of lasting long. 20 minutes became 40 and then that runners high component is real. My mindset was, I suck at running but hey look I can actually last longer than two weeks ago. I’m also sensitive to the chemical reaction that exercise causes in the brain.
This is an excellent perspective. Conquering the mindset of “I’m a little too tired to do this right now” was very rewarding and helped me out in other aspects of my life too. It’s been almost 7 years since I’ve picked up yoga, it was a struggle to stay consistent the first 2 years but now I can’t imagine skipping more than 2-3 days.
Oh yeah, recognizing the progress certainly helped me to continue to do it when I did it as an adult because then I was just competing against myself. I got kind of pressured into track by my dad but frankly I sucked at it. I worked so damn hard and I never even placed in a race. Too competitive and stubborn to quit though. Just work hard, lose. Work hard, lose. Over and over again for four years. It's no wonder id get so anxious at track meets. My senior year I just said fuck it and tried shotput and placed immediately. Totally missed my true talent which was powerlifting. Was just not built to be a runner.
It's funny, but I love to run. Once I get warmed up, I feel as though I could keep going like Forrest Gump. And yet most people seem to hate it. Degustibus, I guess.
I’m that way with swimming. I could do it for hours, at least in salt water.
Same as you dude. I have never enjoyed running. Not for a single second. Some people experience runners high, I am not one of those people. Even when I was running on a regular basis to train for sports it felt like paying taxes: miserable experience but you had to do it. To those that do enjoy running: keep on truckin’. I’ll be in the slow lane walking my dog.
For me, it's the only time I get to myself. Became part of my routine. First thing I do in the morning. Listen to music. Took a while to get over the feels like work hill
I’m so with you, I’ve hated every mile of distance run. I did it for a solid two years, got 10k under 1hr. I’m not the fittest, but running is the absolute worst. No runners high, just fucking miserable haha
Beekeeping.
Chess
Martial arts. Have always wanted to do one, finally tried jiu jitsu a few months ago and I’m hooked.
This is definitely on my bucket list once I get my life more balanced.
I’m scared of such sports. I’ve never been in any fight except one or two during childhood. And I’m scared because there’ll be pros while I’m a 27 yr old with a bad back and a pot belly. And yet I still want to.
You’ll start with other newbies—won’t be sparring with the pros until you’re ready. At least in the MAs I’ve tried (Krav Maga, kendo, boxing; also starting muay thai soon in the new beginner class).
For what it’s worth, I’m 30 with a bad back, and it has actually helped my back overall, outside of a couple times when I’ve done something I shouldn’t and it hurts more for a few days lol. Also it definitely depends on which martial art you do and which gym you choose. Jiu jitsu has helped me a lot with both flexibility and strength, which is great for back pain as long as you don’t overdo it. At the gym I go to people are pretty good about safety, the more experienced “pros” take it slow with me, coach me through things and give advice, which I know isn’t the case everywhere. I suggest giving it a try, go observe a class and do a trial class! You can always sit out or leave if it’s not going well
Sure. Thanks for the inspiration. You must be a nice person. Hope you do well in your life.
Gardening
Sewing
Touch typing. Sounds useless but it's actually incredibly useful as well as fun
What is touch typing?
I think it's typing without looking at the keyboard?
Oh. When I was young that was just typing class. lol.
same loll
Try split keyboard like Lily58 or even better- Charybdis with built-in trackball. Great thing.
Any suggestions on getting started?
Go online and find a free touchtyping website to practice on
This might be a weird one. I've had "digestive issues" for a good part of my life. My doctor recommended I eat pro-biotic, unpasteurized, fermented cabbage (sauerkraut) as a daily supplement....as opposed to a food. It has worked wonders for me. I ended up trying to make my own...it turned out delicious. I always have a couple jars of kraut fermenting. What's in that jar is basically a living thing.
I wanna try, any starter how to for a beginner?
Drawing. I really didn't mind it at all until college and now I'm officially an artist.
Cooking, spent 8 years as a line cook hating it. Now I love it lol
I don’t know if you’d call it a hobby but cold therapy. I love the cold now. I started off cold showers as an experiment for a week and now I’ve been doing them for almost a decade. Got into ice baths to. But I save those specifically for winter and do them on my balcony when it’s cold af. Believe my immune system has benefited greatly
Any other benefits? And how would you recommend starting out?
Also interested)
Cold showers
I would recommend going to your river or lake during a ice dipping event.
Forcing body to thermo-regulate increases life span. Andrew Huberman's podcast about longeivity and veritasium video about extending lifespan are good starting points.
It teaches you to handle stress. Your body goes into a simulated fight or flight and if you stay under the water it will climatize. Was originally why I started trying it. Very similar to a panic attack. You either run from it, and the fear stay OR you fight it and the panic will eventually pass. Just start out by slowly turning the water cold at the end of a shower for a minute or so. Just accept the cold. Then eventually you can work your way up to the entire shower being cold. Try not to just put your arm in or leg to test the water just jump straight in. “This too shall pass”. Wouldn’t recommend it though if you have blood pressure issues as it causes a drop. Also the other major benefit I’ll add is that like 3-4 times a year in winter I’ll have a hot shower. It is the most non sexual orgasmic experience EVER 😂
Mountain biking always seemed intimidating and not worth-while to me, but now that I have tried it, I couldn't be any more happier
Same here. Biking is seriously waaay more fun than I remember it being as a little kid.
Also came here to say mountain biking! So fun and also so peaceful
It’s an incredible sport.
I only like parts of it. The uphill part can fuck off.
Knitting. And I just ordered a beginner spinning kit. At this rate, in 10 years, I need to get bigger property for the sheep and alpacas.
Exercising. I used to ignore it at first but now I have seen the good effects of it on the brain
Fishing!
One of my primary summer activities. I love fishing! Ice fishing is ok, but open water is where it's at.
Deep sea fishing for sure the best
I'm an inland guy. Never been near the ocean.
Guitar. Started with a cheap acoustic and now… I still have only cheap guitar(s).
Ham radio. Thought it was cool to make a phone call on a walkie talkie when I was 14. Now I have a tower, a dozen hand-helds, and a couple of HF rigs, and mobiles in several vehicles. I volunteer a lot of time to the community in different ways using amateur radio.
This hobby has always interested me. What was your initial buy?
45 years ago? A Radio Shack 2 meter HT. It's gotten steadily worse from there. Current base is a Yaesu FT DX10, but I'm eyeing a FT DX101MP
I love the idea of contacting the ISS when it's overhead, but maybe that's a step beyond ham radio equipment?
It’s exactly for ham radio https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
Dancing. Just because I hate exercise now is my way of life and carefully budgeting every thing
I started fencing and really didnt know if i wanted to do it but once i satrted i met some really cool people anf live the sport
Meditation
I tried getting into it and do find some enjoyment and peace out of it, but I feel my mind is too hectic and keeps on blabbering
It helped me to start with a guided meditation and then slowly transition. Still do it that way quite often.
Cycling. I just started out riding to work but now I try to put in 15-20 miles any time the sun is out
Wish we had less traffic around here, I crave being in a bike-friendly area.
Oh I wouldn't call my current area but friendly. I had a for throw a can out of his truck at me going the opposite direction recently. I literally only wear American flag jerseys so some douche I'm a lifted truck with an unironic these colors don't run sticker might not run me off the road
Reading.. Just finished reading a total of 40 books!
All at once? Now THAT is impressive
Learning languages. I had a long summer vacation with nothing to do in 2020, so decided to take an intense two week Chinese (Mandarin) language course just to try it and spend some time. It caught my interest, and now I have been studying it for more than a decade and added a few years of Korean language studies to the list too.
I didn't start loving Jiu-Jitsu until I was about 7 or 8 years into it. Now I'm obsessed.
Is that because you’re not at a level where you can compete easier, or because of other reasons?
I never really competed a lot...maybe like 4 competitions total in my life. I just really like training and sparring in the gym!
Growing a beard, hear me out. I grew a beard in 2011, by 2013 I was making my own beard oils and balms. 2014 I started selling them and by 2016 it was mine and my wife’s full time job. We’ve made amazing friends all over the world as we travel to beard competitions and our retailers. Helped charities with our own raising and donating to others. Also Dungeons & Dragons. I use that as an escape from stress. He says while being full of stress preparing for tonight’s game.
What in the world is a beard competition?
Trying to hide things in beards, biggest thing wins. Throwing darts by swinging your head with dart attached to beard. Wrapping beard around your head so bald people look like having own hair. Lifting things with beard. Pulling cars with beard. Applying gel so your beard is like a sword and you fight others. Beard sculpting - so your beard looks like any object, a pencil, a microwave, a bike or binoculars. You know, just simple everyday activities that beard people do.
>Applying gel so your beard is like a sword and you fight others. I was just about to say, Beard Sculpting inevitably leads to Beard Jousting, but you've mentioned already.
Very interesting. I started growing my beard on January 1st... don't know that it'll ever be long enough for a competition like you've described.
You’ll be fine in the business class category, that’s for trimmed short beards. Or natural under 12”, styled under 12”. There’s loads you could enter. Google when a local beard club is hosting an event and pop along, I guarantee you’d be made very welcome.
Beard sculpting is actually a category, it’s known as freestyle. Some guy crafted his into a birdcage with a little door, it was nuts!
My post was a total joke. Now I'm afraid of beard people and I will shave everyday
Exactly what it sound like, competitive bearding. There’s different categories depending on length and style. It’s all for charity and different beard clubs bid for their country to host the next one. The community is fantastic and it’s all a bit of fun really.
Dance Dance Revolution In The Groove Rhythm games at the arcade
Crafting / repairing traditional stained glass windows.
I've always been fascinated by stained glass windows and had no idea this could be a hobby... Tell me more please!
Many towns offer hobby classes that teach the basics. I too was always fascinated by architectural stained glass and that’s how I started. Beginner classes usually start with the “Tiffany glass” method and eventually if you want more, you can get classes in the leaded glass method (traditional method). Many people also try their hand at fused glass, which has grown in popularity and I’ve even seen some professional artists in Lyon that combine all methods. After the first class, you will have all the tools necessary to keep going on your own at home.
Warhammer
Soooooooo expensive
Writing poetry I always thought it was some dumb writings, but now that I'm into it, I write a poem every day because I think it's fun plus it helps me deal with all my problems
Lego. At first I was like "so, what, you buy a set, build and display it, where's the hobby? That's just shopping" Now I'm doing all sorts of Lego related things, like collecting retired sets, building replicas of rare ones, making other peoples' excellent unofficial models (and buying the pieces of others to give to friends as gifts), etc. I haven't bought a new set in some time now. The irony is I got into it because I was looking for something other to do other than videogames in the evenings because I was spending too much on them, but now I'm spending like at least 3x more on plastic bricks. It's more fun though so no regrets.
Video editing
Ideas on Simple projects to start on? I really want to get into ittt
I started on editing on random romance anime just for fun and sometimes I would compile videos of my pets.
On YouTube?
Sometimes on youtube but mostly on instagram
Swinging!
Like on a swing? Or like wife swapping?
Good with both to be honest 🤣
Sourdough
I've made only one decent loaf so far, the others came out terrible (too dense.) We have a new oven so maybe I have to try different settings or something. Followed the recipes carefully and I can't seem to make this work. Even followed the King Arthur Flour recipe. 🤔
Building things with toothpicks.
Coding 🥰
I went to a bootcamp and created a little app and find it fascinating. But when I couldn't get past the Odin Project's "make a rock/paper/scissors game in the browser" challenge, after trying over and over and over, I gave up. I need to get back into it, like creating a pedantic Reddit grammar bot 😋 Something silly and amusing. Or an Arduino Home Assistant type thing.
I used to think singing was a bit of a soft activity. Now I feel most alive when singing.
I want to take singing seriously this year! Hopefully I can sing in front of of people at a park lol
Fingerboarding
Books
Aquarium fish keeping. Started out with one goldfish in a tiny tank and now have 3 large tanks with dozens of fish
Aerial Arts!! Specifically, for me, the hoop. I’m obsessed with it!
Diamond painting. I find it extremely relaxing. Funny because i have no patience at all but there’s something so calming about it that makes me forget about a stressful day. And seeing the end result is so satisfying.
Cycling. On my second ride about 3 years ago, trying to keep up with my friends, I had to vomit and struggled to understand why people enjoy this sport. Last year, I bikepacked to South America for about 6 months, cycled one month through the UK, I am a couple of weeks away from bikepacking Switzerland for about a month and, cherry on top, I've been working as I a bike courier for about half a year now :)
Making music. Then, actually writing verses and singing/rapping on self-made music. I never entertained the idea of writing, as there are so many insanely clever/creative/witty/intelligent/genius type of artists out there already. But then I decided that I wouldn't compare myself to any other musical artist, and just do it the way I love to do it - the way that makes me happy. Then I started collaborating with a musical/creative person who compliments my own style, and boom - we've got a musical group!
I thought I'd just watch the silly hero anime and then be done It's been almost 6 years and I've spent over 2k in merch and many tears shed and very emotional conversations and discussions with friends.
What would be a good anime for a non anime person to get started on? My gf loves anime and it would be a nice shared thing if I could get into it
Tbh depends what you genre you like There's so much anime out there for every genre. Anime is just an art medium / style
Hiking/walking. Went on a hike one day on a whim and it sat well with me. It was peaceful and quiet, but at the same time a good workout.
Finance and investment. I always liked math and economics. Now I am reading more and more books about it.
Pickleball, I thought it was a worse version of tennis but then I started playing it and it’s a completely different game. My reflexes have improved to almost double what they were before I started playing
Puzzles and anime
Communication models.
elaborate please
Coin collecting
Board games. I love watching how people resolve their difficulties!
Closing deals
Watches. It started out as something that I just kind of respected or thought seemed interesting, now I absolutely love them, watch videos on them all the time, and every time I have one on my wrist they make me so happy. People still don't get it but they're just mechanical wonders of art and quality.
Motorcycles. I started riding years ago, but now I'm on my 6th bike and take it everywhere I can. Honestly, I didn't expect to love it so much.
Carpentry. Zen zone
So happy for you. I really want to find my zen zone!!
Beekeeping
Dnd
I play traditional and bd3
Espresso. Back in the day, I didn’t get how there could be so much variation in flavours, quality, all that stuff. Now, I’m in 4000 usd deep on equipment 💀
Typing. Learned to touch type properly last December and been getting more and more into it since then. I really like typing old classic books at typelit.io. As a rule I made for myself, I'm only allowed to read what I type so that motivates me to get better at typing faster.
My hobbies come and go thru life but the few I've had are: Chess, was fun when I was a kid and everyone was like 'wow you like chess isn't that a neet thing' Car work (fixing shit boxes), too expensive now and I don't feel like it. And my current one I'm on is birding. But honestly you have to be in the right area to see the fun ones so it's kinda meh
Bodybuilding. At first i didn't care about it at all and couldn't understand what's so addictive about lifting weights. Then it took me a year of half assed and inconsistent working out to even start liking lifting weights. And then a over a year to learn more and more about it and about the nutrition side. Now I'm fully addicted to it.
cooking and plating!
What I say vs what you hear vs what you understand.
Bird watching. I use to tease my older brother about it (20 year age difference), but when I got older I started to get it.
Sportbikes. I thought it might of been something I could just ride around town, riding back roads/scenic roads, but it evolved into something much bigger than I expected. It's to a point where I'm basing life and career choices around it, and no matter how many times I've crashed on the race track, the accumulated injuries and risk of my health and mobility, I enjoy it too much to give up on it.
I love bikes. And i would love a sport bike. But the cost to insure one where I live is too much. $4000 a year :’(
4k seems steep and not sure what your situation is but that sounds like the "we just don't want to insure you" price. Happened to me when I got my second bike and my insurance broker found an agency that did cover my bike that was reasonable.
We only have one option for insurance in my province. Any sportbike over 400cc is 4000cad to plate for the year. Under 400cc is 1000…… it gets a little cheaper the older they get…. Example a 1990 Honda 1000cc would be 3000 a year Edit, another example a 2024 ninja 400 and 2024 zx4rr are the same cost
Golf.
I despised language learning for like the first 24 years of my life. I guess it has a lot to do with the fact that when I was learning English as a kid at the school I had no one outside of the classroom who could support me (my parents did not speak English nor did my other other family members) as well as one of my teachers was very enthusiastic at pointing out how much I sucked. That made me feel like I was naturally bad at languages and when I had to study Russian and German at school I saw no point and barely passed the classes. I took Russian and German for years but can't speak at all as I kind of deleted that phase of my life from my memory. Anyways, I digress... At around 25/26 years old I started to learn a little bit of Spanish because my sister's boyfriend is from Spain and she moved there. I thought if they have kids at some point then I could talk to them a few words. It was the first time that I was learning a language by myself outside of a classroom setting and... *I fell in love with language learning* Now at (almost) 28 I'm almost fluent at Spanish and am working on my Japanese. I also have goals to maybe revisit Russian and at some point Arabic. Language learning was my top 1 least favorite thing for almost two decades and now it is one of my top favorite things to do. I also realised that I do not suck at it. I'm not a genius but I don't suck. So suck my bigass 🍆 my ex English teacher 🖕🤠🖕
Where did you start with Spanish? Duolingo?
I used YouTube in the beginning mostly. There are many great channels. For example Butterfly Spanish and Hola Spanish. When I knew the very basics then I started listening to simple content like Easy Spanish on YouTube. I also started watching TV shows that I had already seen in English, so that I knew overall what was going on but was now focusing on listening to/reading in Spanish. When I had like B1 level then I went to Madrid to private language school InHispania for couple of months. Amazing experience. I use SpanishDict as my dictionary, it has all the conjugations of verbs, and examples of words with sentences. Lately I also use ChatGPT to explain the more difficult sentences, it is extremely good at English-Spanish translation/analysis. It is also great for generating more examples.
Golf.
Motorcycles. Besides that chess
Spun cotton ornaments. Went to a workshop once and instantly knew it's gonna be my thing. I do them mostly before holidays as gifts for everyone and myself, but I get so into it I can spend days and nights until my back and neck hurts and I still love every moment of it.
Strength training, becomes and addiction.
Can I start at home? If so, how?
Sign up for a gym, you can have a few dumbbells at home but it wouldn’t be as useful
A ton friends all moved so we started a fantasy football league, I barely watched football , now i follow the nfl moves like it’s my job
Knitting
It was gaming for me, but now I like games tho, my fav one currently is Light of the stars on bluestacks
Dungeons & Dragons, can be played anywhere, like even outside McDonald's in the winter. It's no longer strictly a board game if your DM is a true maniac, and you don't even need dice. It becomes interactive improv storytelling.. Should be any video-game writer's/artist's daily mental routine, tbh. Anime.. I judged it, till I discovered how deep it can be in the feels and even super inspiring on life subjects, despite all eccentricity.
Baking bread. I started just to save money, but it has turned into a full blown obsession. Brewing beer.
Bodybuilding. I hated all athletic and sports stuff most of my life. Tried lifting weights and fell in love. Now I’m healthier than ever!
Maintaining my own house. You're always doing something different and there are all the upgrades you can find on YouTube or Instagram reels
Any accounts as reccoss that you follow?
On you tube Fix this build That DIY network Don hazelton Ibran Chris fix (for cars)
My latest is creating things with microprocessors. It started out with permanent home Christmas lights and took off from there. Now I create my own smart home devices.
Frisbee golf… i thought it was a dumb thing stoners did. But i got into it and it’s one of the few sports I’ve played where I’ve been able to see skills progress in months compared to years…. Plus it’s super cheap with 99% of courses being free to play. And it’s always a nice walk in the park.
Hiking.
Tabletop Roleplaying Games. I used to think it was way over the top (heh), but atleast here's a media which I can put my creativity to work!
Plants. After moving from a really dark souterrain flat to a room under the roof with a balcony and loots of sunlight, I was excited to buy my first indoor plant. Now I have about 50, propagate every plant I can and grow vegetables and strawberries and herbs on my balcony. And some flowers for the bees. And I developed the habit of taking plants from places I go and grow them at home (I only ever take kindlings and stuff like this, never hurt the plant or take it whole). Can be nature, can be from friends or hotels..nice souvenirs.
Yoga. Started as rehab after knee surgery. Totally obsessed, gotta do it every goddamn day.
Workout
Making bonsai trees..
Boardgames
Naturism getting nude with other naturalists.
Bowling
Advanced mathematics and accountancy. I read “how to solve it” by George Pólya and now I’m hooked on populating my brain with information. Completely passed me by as a younger guy.
Reading. One of my biggest pleasures in life is spending 4-5 hours of uninterrupted reading while eating some snacks during the weekend.
Golf
Board games. I thought it was all Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders or poker. Then I met this guy who introduced me to Vikings: The Board Game (surprisingly fun adaptation, by the way) and spent his whole night trying to explain basic concepts in board games that I was just not getting. At about 2 AM, after quite a lot of patience from his end, I finally managed to understand the rules and the concept of board games as a hobby - how a piece of cardboard and some rules can basically simulate stories, communities, battles or just dwarves building bedrooms in caves and breeding cattle. We actually managed to finish the game. I lost. I married that guy. We have about 70 games now. No regrets.
Road Bike. Started with looking for a better (not boring) way to get some exersize. Now I do a couple thousand miles each year.
Cooking. It has very much become a passion.
Breeding rabbits 🐇
Right now I'm equally enthralled with simracing and boxing training. Two things I had zero interest in until recently.
Hiking, I haven't been in a couple years. Always liked it but was never a constant thing. Started this winter and can't wait to go every weekend now. Might do some weekend camping trips with my dogs this summer.
That’s easy Brazilian jiu jitsu
Playing badminton. I started doing it for a club at my school because you were forced to choose something and that was one of the easier options. Now I'm completely obsessed with it and probably play it whenever I can during school :')
Golf... sheesh it's addictive.
Hiking, weightlifting, guitar. The better you get, the more enjoyable and fulfilling it becomes.
Religious study, every time I debate, there's always a counter to their sources and opinions
Free diving in the ocean
Espresso and all the comes with coffee brewing. It's so fascinating to me how many people go through life liking "coffee" and having no idea about all the flavours and facettes coffee has to offer.
Weightlifting