Lack of inspiration sucks.

[Veezle]

(I hope making venty threads is okay here)

I browse Neocities a lot and I see so many AMAZING websites, including those of other members here.
I feel there is much more I want to do with my site... but... I'm not quite sure what. I do have a couple of small ideas but I barely have motivation to do them, especially with my amateur html coding skill

Does anyone else ever get this sense of... coder's block I guess? If so how do you deal with it?

[Grafo]

Oh I think this is common to happen. This is my recommendation: just copy whatever thing you find cool and then modify it to your exact liking. I think that's not just a good way to get things on motion but also one of the best ways to learn better html and css

[Veezle]

Oh I think this is common to happen. This is my recommendation: just copy whatever thing you find cool and then modify it to your exact liking. I think that's not just a good way to get things on motion but also one of the best ways to learn better html and css

Hmm not a bad idea... I never want it to seem like I'm stealing someone else's work though.

[Squid-Died]

i have this problem too XD its like when i'm staring at a blank canvas with no idea what to paint lol

[CorruptedUnicorn]

Happens to me, too! What worked for me was checking out w3school's tutorials again. I think it's a good refresher of knowledge, and maybe you'll find some new tricks that will inspire you to create something new!

[ZinRicky]

I never want it to seem like I'm stealing someone else's work though.

Remember you’re using the same 26 letters to write as anybody else; and yet what you say is unique. Don’t be afraid of basing your web building experience on someone else’s work, or you’ll be reinventing the wheel forever

[youngsterj4y]

I've found that just allowing myself to be in a rut helps immensely. Avoiding looking at my code for a few weeks lets me come back to it with a fresher perspective and allows me time to look at other sites and such for inspiration. Even if my work isn't quite as 'good' as the sites I take inspiration from, I've found a lot of comfort in just knowing it's mine.

[Veezle]

Remember you’re using the same 26 letters to write as anybody else; and yet what you say is unique. Don’t be afraid of basing your web building experience on someone else’s work, or you’ll be reinventing the wheel forever

I see; Thank you, that does certainly help with the intimidation I have with coding.

[juette]

Hmm not a bad idea... I never want it to seem like I'm stealing someone else's work though.

tbh a lot of personal websites are built through copying stuff from various places and its moire the unique combination of stuff that mpakes it well. unique

[Squid-Died]

Hmm not a bad idea... I never want it to seem like I'm stealing someone else's work though.

theres that saying that "nothing is original" and i agree as an artist bc everyone draws inspiration from places without even noticing. if u see something you like,youll naturally incorporate the aspects you like from different sources of inspiration into your own work and put your own little twist on it, youll have something thats uniquely and recognizably yours in no time.

as long as you dont straight up carbon copy somthing and claim it as ur own, youll be good.

[Cobra!]

People get inspired by other work all the time, I like to look at the source code for some sites to figure out how they achieve what they do, and try to make my own version for my site. In the case of tutorials and help sites, the code is literally there for people to use. :p

Even if you code something badly or feel like it's held together with sellotape, learn from that, reflect on any mistakes and do better when you revise your site.

[Basil_Mori]

In art there's a common idea held by beginners that referencing a photo or another piece of art is "cheating." Art can't be considered original unless it's done entirely from the mind, and so using something as reference makes the final product less legitimate.
This is complete nonsense, as every great artist to ever live copies and draws inspiration from reference subjects and even complete pieces of art. Even tracing over or replicating a piece entirely is perfectly acceptable when done appropriately and as a learning aid or supplement to your own creativity.

I believe the same thing applies to nearly any creative medium, from art to music to writing to designing hypertext. There are only so many notes on a keyboard, so many character archetypes, so many ways to block out colors. In the case of something like HTML, it's designed such that there are only so many ways to center a div or make a sidebar. Don't feel too bad about looking at other websites for inspiration as to how you want yours to look, and if you need the reference don't feel too bad about doing copious numbers of Google searches or opening up the source of a page to try and figure out how to get something to look the way you want it.

If nothing else, design a webpage on paper before you design it in text. Look around for things you like and copy them down as quick and rough sketches, and once you have a collection of ideas pick out the ones that resonate with you. Assemble them together into something that feels right, and when the time comes take putting it into reality one step at a time.

It's not easy, and you can't rely on quick motivation or flashes of inspiration, but if you follow the creative process from the bottom up you'll get there in the end.

[mackeveli]

I see that your site looks pretty dam amazing. I think maybe for the time being you should focus on populating it with content instead of worrying about how to tweak the current design. Once you have content on there, it's possible that you'll think "this content would really benefit from this page or this part of the site being designed this or that way."

[Veezle]

I see that your site looks pretty dam amazing. I think maybe for the time being you should focus on populating it with content instead of worrying about how to tweak the current design. Once you have content on there, it's possible that you'll think "this content would really benefit from this page or this part of the site being designed this or that way."

Omg thank you very much! Your site looks awesome too!
Yeah I can agree it's pretty lackuster in content though and that's probably what I should focus on right now, as at this point I have my basic framework for site design now. It's not the fanciest or code-heavy but it's very personalized and well, me.

Thanks to everyone else for the advice you give too, I'm def encouraged now to look at other code for inspiration. I guess it is like art, you can use references and stuff, just not trace or copy/paste. I guess I was just worried it would seem that way at first.

[Blog47177]

(I hope making venty threads is okay here)

I browse Neocities a lot and I see so many AMAZING websites, including those of other members here.
I feel there is much more I want to do with my site... but... I'm not quite sure what. I do have a couple of small ideas but I barely have motivation to do them, especially with my amateur html coding skill

Does anyone else ever get this sense of... coder's block I guess? If so how do you deal with it?

Look at why we are on Neocities in the first place. For me its to remember why I found the internet exciting in the 2000's.