Thursday, April 17, 2014

Don’t Limit Your Writing Options—Be Open to Trying Different Things BEFORE You Specialize

by Edie Melson

A lot of newer writers I meet find themselves overwhelmed with the myriad of opportunities in the field of writing. They struggle, trying to decide between writing articles, devotions, fiction, non-fiction, etc. Writing is a big field, and if you didn’t study some aspect of it in college, the choices can be daunting.

My suggestion—take a deep breath—you don’t have to start out with a specialty. As a matter of fact, until you’ve tried several different types of projects, you probably shouldn’t limit yourself too much. Even those of us with formal training find ourselves morphing into a different kind of writer than we envisioned at the start of our career.

Give yourself time to flex your wings. Try out different things. Write for the web, for print—even try your hand at a short story or flash fiction. Not only will variety help you determine the kind of writing you love, it will improve your ability overall. Here are some other tips to help you get started.
  • Look for a writers group in your area. There may or may not be one, but if there is, it will help immensely. It gives you perspective when you see what others are doing and you’re able to ask questions.
  • Take a look at what you like to read. What touches you? What do you find yourself saying, “If I could write anything, I’d write this?” The answer may surprise you and lead you down a different writing path.
  • Determine what you want to accomplish with your writing. Is it to touch people, glorify God, earn a little extra money? The answer may not be all one thing, but you should have one that stands out from the others.

These tips will help make your choices easier. They will also help you determine where to go for further training. For example, I might recommend one book for a writer who wants to write devotions and a completely different one for someone who is interested in freelancing as a career.

The only problem with trying a lot of different things comes if you’re not completing anything. It’s important to follow through with your projects. Don’t worry if you’re getting a lot of small projects finished while you’re working on a big one. As long as you’re making forward progress on the big one, you’re doing okay.

So, bottom line, don’t be afraid of all the choices—embrace them! And don't be afraid to try more than one project at a time. Trust me, it can be done.

I’d love to hear from you. What kind of writing do you like to do? How did you discover it?

Don’t forget to join the conversation!
Blessings,
Edie

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7 comments:

  1. This was encouraging to me because I find myself flitting from one thing to the next wanting to do some of all of it. The challenge is staying with one until it is finished like you said. I was thinking maybe I was going in the wrong direction and needed to just focus on one specialty. But I can see from your words that trying some different aspects of writing are helping me learn and grow. It also helps stay out of a rut. Thanks for the post

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    1. Barbara, I'm glad you were encouraged! I agree that you shouldn't limit your options right now, as long as you're making forward progress. Thanks for stopping by, Blessings, E

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  2. I've only wanted to write novels, but I've jumped genres about a dozen times. But this year I put out my 52 book challenge to myself and others. Well, with my one hour of availible reading time every day, I have to read books I can get through quickly. Meaning that I can't put them down. And that led me to realize that I absolutely love YA. All of the dystopians I drift toward are YA. But as I read the contemporaries, I found that I love pretty much all YA. So that seems to be the direction I'm headed. Now I have to go because I just have to see how things turn out in "The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Gothgirl."

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    1. Ron, thanks for sharing the path your writing journey has taken! Blessings,E

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  3. I studied journalism, but a few years ago I felt the Lord ask me to lay it down so I did. I continued journaling though and had a feeling that God would one day ask me to write for His Glory. Now I am blogging and writing more inspirational/devotional pieces. I'm also working on book ideas. I'm looking forward to what God has in store!

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    1. Your blog sounds great, I'd love to visit! If you can, reply with your blog's URL. Thanks for stopping by, Blessings, E

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  4. Hi Edie -

    I started out as a non-fiction writer. While honing my craft in that area, I discovered using fiction techniques increased my acceptance rate. An experience in Gettysburg, much prayer, and my husband's encouragement combined to launch me into fiction.

    The successes in non-fiction helped keep me motivated as I took the long fiction path (8 years).

    Blessings,
    Susan :)

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