u/No-Strain9095

I am losing my love for books. Help.

I've loved reading and writing from a young age. I used to spend most of my break times in primary school just reading (thanks I know i'm a loser)

As I grew older, I still read often, and even just four year ago I could read a book and feel pain for characters like they were real, feel relief when they survive, be gripped during an action scene – so my much so that my heart could race. This was when I was up until I was thirteen i suppose.

Now, I'm seventeen and I can't fall in love with a book no matter how hard I try. The closest I can get is to read a book I loved when I was younger and get that hit of nostalgia.

Now, don't tell me I'm not reading the right books – I've tried every genre and all the classics and all the niches. I've read kafka, I've read David Goggins (and various other self help books), noughts and crosses, The Thursday Murder Club, A Quiet Belief In Angels...just to name some from this year. I've even tried childrens books. But I tell you, I have not genuinely enjoyed any of these books how I used to. I feel like i'm reading for the sake of reading instead of because it's a hobby I enjoy.

The same is also happening with my writing. Writing was one of my favourite hobbies, but now every passage feels cringe unless it's layered and muffled with description. When I write description, I think "what's the point? Who cares how oaky the coffee looks?" I never used to think about what I was doing or why I was doing it: I wrote descriptions because school taught me to, I read books because my parents bought me books.

I feel as though my explaination is missing something I can't quite describe but I don't want to ramble anymore than I have.

Does anyone have advice? Any at all?

I've loved reading and writing from a young age. I used to spend most of my break times in primary school just reading (thanks I know i'm a loser)

As I grew older, I still read often, and even just four year ago I could read a book and feel pain for characters like they were real, feel relief when they survive, be gripped during an action scene – so my much so that my heart could race. This was when I was up until I was thirteen i suppose.

Now, I'm seventeen and I can't fall in love with a book no matter how hard I try. The closest I can get is to read a book I loved when I was younger and get that hit of nostalgia.

Now, don't tell me I'm not reading the right books – I've tried every genre and all the classics and all the niches. I've read kafka, I've read David Goggins (and various other self help books), noughts and crosses, The Thursday Murder Club, A Quiet Belief In Angels...just to name some from this year. I've even tried childrens books. But I tell you, I have not genuinely enjoyed any of these books how I used to. I feel like i'm reading for the sake of reading instead of because it's a hobby I enjoy.

The same is also happening with my writing. Writing was one of my favourite hobbies, but now every passage feels cringe unless it's layered and muffled with description. When I write description, I think "what's the point? Who cares how oaky the coffee looks?" I never used to think about what I was doing or why I was doing it: I wrote descriptions because school taught me to, I read books because my parents bought me books.

I feel as though my explaination is missing something I can't quite describe but I don't want to ramble anymore than I have.

Does anyone have advice? Any at all?

I finished the base game (currently on the dlc) and I don't know how, but I never realised it was a puzzle game. Someone told me to go in knowing as little as possible, so that's exactly what I did.

The issue was, I didn't have my puzzle brain on, I was just sort of drifting about not trying to put anything together myself, I just assumed the game would explain unravel the lore naturally as I went on instead of me having to peice it together myself.

Most of it was easy, but none of the things that in hindsight I realise were meant to be "big reveals" were underwhelming to me because I just rushed through them. For example, the >!orbital probe cannon cords!< or the paintings of the >!ship caught in dark bramble!<.

And whenever I got stuck, instead of treating it like a puzzle game and trying to work it out myself, I just looked up what to do because I thought I was probably just a bit slow. This was probably the biggest issue, because I never got any sense of achievement throughout any big bits.

Especially the last part with the >!vessel in dark bramble!< and the >!coordinates from the cannon!<. I wish I could have worked it out on my own but I genuinely had no clue what I was meant to do, I just didn't have the brain on to even think to put it together myself. So I looked it up, and that was when I realised it was a puzzle game.

Honestly I don't know how I played the whole game not realising. I thought it was just an exploration game. I was treating it as more of an interactive story than a puzzle game, and the only puzzly bits to me seemed the quantum stuff.

But now I know it's a puzzle game, I'm excited to play the DLC, and I've got my puzzle brain ready.

TLDR: Ranting about how I didn't know Outer Wilds was a puzzle game and that ruined my experience.