Veer Off The Path You're On Occasionally

Last night, Ken and I went to a dinner/theater in the Kansas City area. It's one we've been to and have always had a great dinner and a good show. This evening proved to be the same. We were treated to Richard Karns (Al in the old TV show "Home Improvement") in a play called Shear Madness. The play was a mystery/comedy that turned out to be a lot of fun as the audience helped the detective solve the crime. Near the end, the audience had an opportunity to vote for whomever they thought was the killer. The play can end in a different way every night, depending on what the audience decides. A clever twist to the usual mystery/comedy.

As we drove to our hotel after the show, I started to think about the many different avenues a writer can follow. We aren't relegated to one type of writing. It's up to us which path we take. Many writers pursue several types of writing while others find their strong suit and stay with it on a regular basis.

I'm one who wanted to write fiction for children when I started writing. I did and I still do occasionally, but I also ventured into other areas. I dibbled and dabbled until I finally found that my strength centered on creative nonfiction. I liked writing memoir and other true stories that used fiction techniques. I tried poetry and added it to my list, then articles on the craft of writing which led to this blog. Staying with only one area of writing is not for me. I like to have the variation that following different types of writing gives me.

How about you? Have you stayed with one area or ventured into others? What kinds of areas are there? Take a look at the list below, which is not a complete one. I'm sure there are other types of writing that I did not include.

1. Fiction--short story--different genres here like Horror, Sci-fi, Romance, Fantasy, Historical, Erotica, Humor and more

2. Fiction--novels--different genres as in #1

3. Nonfiction--technical

4. Nonfiction--instructional

5. Nonfiction--informational

6. Creative nonfiction--memoir and other true stories

7. Poetry

8. Plays

9. Screenwriting

10. Advertising copy

11. Newspaper copy or columns

12. Political


If you've never ventured beyond one type of writing, why not give it a try? You might find a new passion or you could realize that what you're writing now is what you do best.