I know that in the field of writing advice, push yourself isn’t going to win any awards for originality. But there’s some advice that’s so important it’s worth repeating—a lot.
Growing up, I read epic fantasy almost exclusively. This was largely due to the fact that the first books I ever read obsessively were the Chronicles of Narnia. I loved those books so intensely I re-read them for months, and when I was finally ready to read something new, I sought out similar experiences. For a long time, if it had a sword, dragon, or wizard on the cover, I was there.
That reflected in my writing, too. My early work is all fantasy. It’s all wizards and swords and dragons and hand-drawn maps of imagined worlds. A lot of people get into these sorts of writing ruts, and for many those ruts last their whole lives. Even folks who jump between genres and styles fairly often can get trapped into writing the same things all the time. But it’s essential to push yourself, to force yourself to explore different genres and styles, to experiment.
The Diversion
I started working on a sci-fi novel last year. Titled Rough Beast, it’s 100% in my SFF wheelhouse as a writer, and there’s a certain joy in working inside a framework you find familiar and comfortable. I’m having a blast working on it.
Then, in the midst of working on Rough Beast I had an idea for a completely different kind of story. Not SFF, not mystery or crime, not weird in any way. It’s a concept for a novel that’s completely different from just about anything I’ve ever worked on before.
I didn’t wait to finish Rough Beast. I started alternating between the two novels, working on a chapter in one and then jumping to a chapter in the other. Working outside of my usual comfort zone has been pretty exciting and a lot of fun. Will I finish this other novel? Will it be successful? Will I sell it? Who knows? And right now, who cares? Because I’m enjoying working on it, and it’s opening up channels in my head that haven’t been opened before. That’s why pushing yourself is important.
If the book turns out to be an enormous disaster, of course, I’ll deny it ever existed and sue anyone who mentions this blog post.