Switching Lanes
Aug 25, 2008 in
Techniques
Are you a one-lane driver? Do you exclusively write only novels? Are all of your stories in the same genre? Have you ever considered mixing it up and writing something different?
Switching lengths or genres can bring new richness to your writing.
- Writing scifi teaches me how to handle worldbuilding so that I properly describe the settings in all of my stories.
- Writing romance teaches me how to portray relationships.
- Writing mystery teaches me about suspense and misdirection.
- Writing short stories teaches me about focused characterization and how to say a lot in a little space.
Writing novels teaches me about pacing and sustaining interest over a lot of pages.
Conda Douglas’s article goes into better detail on how short stories are different from novels and how you can benefit from writing short.
What have you learned from changing writing lanes?
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2 comments
Sara on August 26, 2008 at 11:08 pm
I’ve wondered about this. My story ideas are all over the place. It might be great to flex the writing muscles but what about selling? Do you have to get a different agent for your womens’ fiction than you use for your futuristic suspense? Change your name so your paranormal fans won’t blanch when they see you write historical romance? Or is that overthinking and instead you should just write and see what happens? Any thoughts?
Cheryl on September 1, 2008 at 11:51 am
Great questions, Sara. If you’re at the beginning of your writing career, I’d say write what you’re interested in and see what happens. If your agent is willing to take on your work in a different genre, great. If not, you could ask for a recommendation of a different agent to handle that work.
Your agent or editor could also advise on whether you should use a different name for a different genre. If the two (or more) genres you write are really different, I would bet they would suggest a different name to reduce confusion among your readers.
Good luck with your writing!