Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Practice What You're Not Good At

Imagine that you're a boxer and you have a devastating uppercut. You know how to land it square on somebody's chin and knock them to the ground. When you're that good at this one move, you don't get any better as a boxer to go in the ring and knock out person after person with that uppercut. You already know that move. What about all the other moves you could be doing? How much better would you be if you had two devastating moves? What if you had a dozen?

The same thing is the case for writers. What skills are you good at? Can you write teen romance? Do you know how to leave the audience on a cliffhanger and wanting more? If so, then great. Now stop doing those and try other genres and other literary/dramatic techniques.

It may feel scary. It may feel weird. But that's because it is kinda weird. You are out of your comfort zone while doing this, so it should be somewhat uncomfortable. But that's ok. Learning new things is always a little scary, but it is always worth it to have more knowledge and more skills. It's how you become a better writer (or boxer, or anything else worth being).

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