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Going outside your comfort zone

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Mr Flibble

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I try to do something different with each piece (even if the change is not major)

Frex

Do first person

Write from the POV of someone who is opposite to me on feelings re sexism

Write someone who is a different religion to me

Write an elective mute as the love interest in a romance.

Write in present

Write it darker

Write something funnier

More literary

Less.

I do this because I'd get bored writing the same old. You may feel differently. But if you feel the itch, why not scratch it? Maybe in a short as Roxx suggested.

Everything I have written has taught me something (even if it is what not to do again!) And we are all learning

If you stop learning, you stagnate.

YMMV
 

DancingMaenid

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I appreciate all the input! It's good to see different people's perspectives on this, and get some ideas. I guess this is a pretty subjective thing.

I experiment more in short stories. I think it's a great way to try new things, some of which turn out to be useful in writing novel-length fiction. For instance, flash fiction is a great exercise in concision--telling a cohesive story in a limited number of words really teaches you how to cut ruthlessly.

I've also used shorts to explore things like first-person present and second person, and to try on different styles and genres. Most of my books are romance, but my short stories tend toward horror, suspense, and fantasy. I think it's fun to try different things, and short stories don't take much time--so why not?

Yeah, I like that idea. I've used short stories and flash fiction that way before, and maybe I'll try to do it again. I think experimenting can often be easier for me with short stories. They're shorter and don't require the same level of time and investment that a novel or novella takes.

I find that a lot of my resistance to experiment occurs with novels/novellas, mainly because I'm more invested in those stories.

I do this because I'd get bored writing the same old. You may feel differently. But if you feel the itch, why not scratch it? Maybe in a short as Roxx suggested.

Well, my stories and characters are already fairly different from each other in terms of stuff like genre or tone, so I don't feel like I'm stuck in a rut in that sense. And it's hard for me to experiment with characterization or plot because I'm one of those people who have characters come to them "fully-formed," more or less (and they're already pretty different from me, usually). But since I'm so focused on telling the story that's in my head, stuff like form and style can take a back seat sometimes, which I think is partly why I'm not into playing around with POV or tense.
 

Once!

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Interesting that the debate has (largely) polarised into the yays and the nays. I wonder if there is somewhere in the middle?

A concept I came across many years ago was of a "career anchor". As we go through life we gather new insights, experiences and skills. We try new things. But there are some constants that we keep returning to. We could think of them as core values, key skills, strengths - career anchors.

A coach once told me that we have a tendency to focus on our weaknesses. This can mean that we spend too much time trying to get better at things which don't come naturally to us. Instead of this approach, we should be spending a good proportion of our time honing our core skills and strengths.

Perhaps we should think in terms of a time budget. We need to choose how much time to invest in deepening existing strengths as opposed to acquiring new skills. I don't think there is a magic formula - say 75% on existing strengths and 25% on new skills. It will depend on each person, where they are in life and what they want to achieve.

Someone who spends 100% of their time in their comfort zone would get very good at their core skills, but might be limiting themselves.

Someone who spends 100% of their time trying new things could turn into a butterfly. A jack of all trades, master of none.

Somewhere between 100% and zero is probably a good place to be.

As a fr'instance, two and a half books ago I experimented with first person for the first time in my life. That was most definitely going outside my comfort zone. But I kept many other of my existing writing elements the same - genre, humour, characterisation. I didn't want to go wholly outside my comfort zone with too many new things all at once. I was both inside and outside my comfort zone at the same time.

You might call it dipping a toe outside your comfort zone, but keeping the rest of your body where it's safe and warm.
 
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