Be An Adventurous Writer

 

As a writer, do you like to stay in your comfort zone or set off on a new adventure? Writers can choose either group. If you've had success in one genre, it's reasonable that you'll continue writing in that same vein. It may be reasonable, but how exhilarating, is it? 

We can have adventures in our writing world by trying to write in a different genre than we normally do. If we are personal essay writers, and we make a stab at writing fiction, we might leave our comfort zone in a hurry. All of a sudden, we have new questions. We realize this fiction writing is kind of tough. We have to plot and plan involving several characters, adding a sense of place and time, making sure to have sensory details and to show, not tell. Whew! Yes, you do some of that in the personal essays, but in fiction it may be more intense. Might be a little hard, but it could also be fun to step outside the lines you've drawn around your writing life. It could be quite satisfying.

What if you usually write fiction, both short stories and books, but you move away for a short time and try your hand at poetry? One of two things can happen. You enjoy being a poet or you realize this is not for you. Even so, you had a bit of adventure. Prose or poetry--both are a matter of words being put together to convey something. 

The poet should give prose a try now and then. Be adventurous. Oh, the writer might think, there are so many words in prose. True, but there might also be an adventure for the poet in writing a personal essay or a memoir piece. With the poet's command of language, their prose could be quite beautiful. 

If you like to read fantasy or sci-fi or horror stories but have never written any. Go ahead and make an attempt. You already have the background knowledge of these kinds of stories. Start a new adventrure.

Articles abound telling us we should try new things to keep our brains active. They suggest doing puzzles, playing card games and reading. All three are fine, but the writer who writes in a new genre is going to give his/her brain a workout, too. 

Next week, I am the featured reader at one of my Kansas Authors Club district meetings, via zoom.. I plan to read a variety of the writing I have done--a children's story, a memoir piece, a travel story, a personal essay. I'd like to show those writers who attend that every writer can write in several different veins. For me, it's satisfying to write in more than one category. It's also an adventure to branch out. 

If you are one of the writers who prefer to stay in your comfort zone when you write, why not be a bit adventurous and try something new? It doesn't mean you have to stay with that kind of writing. You can go back to what you feel is your niche, but now and then, venture forth into new territory.