Myth of Writer’s Rule #1,097: Writers can't write in different genres. FALSE!

To hear some writers talk, you would think that there was some sort of cosmic rule book that outlines what writers can and cannot do. Some people think if you are gifted at story-telling, you can’t be a good reporter.  Some think real journalists can’t write a creative short-story.

The fact of the matter is writers have a way with words – period. So if that’s YOUR gift? It doesn’t matter if you usually write mysteries, science-fiction tales, erotica, how-to manuals or romance. If you are good in one genre, you may surprise yourself how good you’ll be in another.

I have a friend who had a successful career writing policy and procedure manuals. She never tried writing fiction because she told herself she wasn’t “that kind of writer.”  She was pressed in to service one day to pen a short story and discovered she not only had a talent for it, she enjoyed it much more than the staid technical writing she’d always done. As authors, we are not limited by the genre of our first book. Don't fall into that conformity!

 

 

 

We’ll run into enough stop signs and roadblocks in life without putting them up ourselves. Push your boundaries and test your limits. It’s more important that you actually write than what you write – now that’s a rule.

Live your life - no genres left behind!