Is Your Comfort Zone Coddling You?

Embrace it, let it go, and then tell it the tales of your adventure.

‘Read, read, read everything – trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window.’ —William Faulkner

I’ve dreamt of being a novelist ever since I was a little girl. Stories hold a special place in my heart; books, films, video games, or anything of the sort, have had a hold on me since my first exposure to The Rainbow Fish books as a child.

But just because I can enjoy a good story doesn’t mean I can write one.

Of course, that comes with practice. There are rules that must be followed: proper grammar, sentence structure, narrative theory, character depth, a compelling plot that’s cohesive and grabs attention. There are many nuances that go into the creation of a good book, skills that are rarely born through natural talent. To hone a craft means to always be improving said craft. Reading, writing, studying, learning – there will never be a moment where I declare myself a master, not even if my books are as successful as the likes of Stephen King or George R. R. Martin (though that would be lovely).

I knew that to achieve my dream I would have to work. I’ve spent years at University, in writing classes, reading advice and trying to put it into practice, and I can safely say that my narrative voice is leaps and bounds above where it was a few years ago. But there was one lesson I learned from my academic experience with writing that has helped more than anything else.

Understand your comfort zone, and leave it

If you enjoy fantasy, it is best you start out by reading and writing fantasy. It seems like a no-brainer, right? I see a lot of advice from other writers that preach for the new and inexperienced to leap from their comfort zone to expand their horizons, but that only works if your comfort zone is actually your comfort zone.

A new writer isn’t going to have a properly established comfort zone straight away. They’ll have the genre they prefer, but they’ll still be figuring out the kinks. They won’t know straight away what separates their favourite from the plethora of other genres that are out there, and unless they have the initiative to explore of their own accord, such advice may actually turn them away from the craft before they’ve even started. Swimming without armbands is the end goal – don’t throw a beginner in the deep end if you don’t want them to drown.

Think of your favourite genre as your base. Don’t build until the foundation is steady, and only worry about the décor after the actual house is built.

Once comfortable it’s a brilliant idea to explore. Your favourite genre likely has sub-genres that you haven’t looked into yet, heaven knows I can’t name every single one from memory. When you’re safely knowledgeable about those, then it’s a good idea to dive even deeper and read a genre you wouldn’t normally, even if it does bore you to death. Think of it in a critical manner – what does this genre do differently? How is the narrative pushed forward, is it different than what I’m used to? How does the author use words to absorb their reader? Could you use any of these strategies in your own work?

Learn the rules, understand them, and only then can you afford to break them.

Poetry used to scare me

My readers will probably think that strange. I’m uploading a poem or two every week, surely I must have loved the form from the get-go?

Absolutely not. I never understood it, what its purpose was, or why anyone bothered to read it. I thought it was an excuse for writers to flex their vocabulary without sounding pretentious (though some poetry is exactly just that). It wasn’t until I forced myself to look deeper, to really actually read and understand it, that I found myself appreciating it. A poem can tell just as good of a story as a book, but faster and perhaps more eloquently. There was a beauty to what was written, and once I found that beauty I was enamoured.

‘Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar.’ – Percy Bysshe Shelley

I now write poetry nearly daily. I use it as a warm-up exercise before tackling my larger projects. It sparks up my imagination, gets me to think about description, tone, word choices. Sometimes even just reading a handful of poems can fuel my writing engine, kick me from my writer's block and get me tapping away at my keyboard. It’s a tool I wouldn’t have had in my kit had I not explored with different forms. I’ll soon be reading some classics from genres I’d never normally pick up (romance being the one I’m least looking forward to) and I hope that experience can add some more tools to my belt in the future.

There’s no harm in trying

So what if a different genre doesn’t inspire you? That’s the beauty of trial and error – finding out what doesn’t work is often as rewarding as finding what does. There is an author's voice inside of us all, and there’s no shame in taking different paths to try and find it.

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, so when you’re ready, give it a try! You’ll undoubtedly be pleased with the results.

Thank you for reading!

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