Around the time of said scrambling writing/blogging midlife crisis last year I had the sudden (very obvious) realisation.
I don’t really write much else other than my ‘novel projects’.
More often than not a writer’s life is defined by the single task of getting that golden book deal, but sometimes too much too much emphasis and pride is placed on finishing an entire work of prose when other forms of writing can be just as interesting too.
Over the past few years I’ve been hellbent on finishing a novel. This singular goal has meant I’ve often shut out the idea of trying out other genres or types of writing in favour of completing this one thing (or in my case five things).
The more and more I delve into the world of writing the more I’m further my love for other story formats, not just in terms of what I enjoy reading but in terms of what I want to write as well.
I started with poetry last year, just on a whim, to see what would come out. The results were fun. They were shorter than prose but I found myself veering towards a narrative style – similar to the slam poetry I adore watching on Youtube. After flicking through literary magazines like Litro, Popshot and Mslexia and trying out creative writing prompts online I gave short stories a go. Again, like poetry it was fun, non-committal and more importantly was an exercise in creativity.
Experimenting with form was never something I set out to do. It kinda of just happened. The technicalities of writing form was never something I paid attention to but it’s something that I definitely want to get to grips with over the next few months. Who knows maybe writing novels isn’t my thing. My thing might be haikus or essays or flash fiction or slam poetry. But I won’t find out what my thing is until I give it a go.
Time to get experimenting.
Fellow writers (and non-writers alike)! Let me know if you’re having similar struggles about stepping out of your writing comfort zone in the comments.
p.s.You can follow some of my writing escapades on my Tumblr and on Medium.
Ria