There’s NO NEED to only focus on a specific type of writing!
Think you need to focus exclusively on a certain “writing type”? Chuck out such dinosaur thoughts. Open your ears for the new argument centered around this article: it’s POSSIBLE to stretch your writing skills without sacrificing one for the other — be it fiction, non-fiction, reviews, blogs, poems, or articles such as these.
This challenges the common narrative that focusing on a specific writing type allows you to become an expert writer in that regard. Think fiction writers, for example. To write explicitly strong fiction stories, writers may need to focus most of their energy and time dealing with common fiction challenges, such as stilted dialogue, world-building, and “showing rather than telling.”
Indeed, this was a dilemma I faced exactly ONE YEAR ago: I wanted to finish the manuscript for my fantasy novel (which is actually publishing next month — check it out if you love action, mystery and romance!). I also wanted to continue writing blogs such as these, and kick off a website dedicated to reviewing manga and video games (hint hint — I’m a geek!). This introduced 2 key problems:
- How do I make time and energy to focus on both my novels as well as my non-fiction work in parallel?
- Will one area of my writing dwindle if I divided my energy & attention among multiple?
I’m addressing both concerns for everyone reading this today.
How do I make time and energy to focus on multiple writing types in parallel?
First, you have to make time for writing, period. Doesn’t matter what you have it in mind; someone who loves (or perhaps doesn’t love but can’t give up) their day job still has to dedicate significant hours every week to making income for a living. If you don’t have the time or lack thereof completely, that’s a whole other issue. So…
Turn writing into a hobby rather than a “chore,” create calendar blocks for dedicated writing, or learn to establish a proper routine. Or take a look at the other suggestions I surface my other article: “Tips and Tricks on How to become a writer.”
Once you’re ready but have multiple things you want to write about, it comes down to a “writer’s prioritization” and “writer’s intuition.”
Of course, most will know what they should be writing about, which might not necessarily align with what they want to write about. This is due to writing deadlines, writing sprints (like NaNoWriMo!) or other factors forcing your card to focus on one over the other.
If you have more freedom without a deadline constraint, then use your writer’s intuition. Has there been a spark of fire boiling up inside you, in which you just need to flesh out on paper before the idea or the motivation gets away? Or you’re just presently in love with a certain topic/format you want to write in? That’s enough to go by. Chances are you’ll shine brilliantly on paper and feel more fulfilled if you satisfy that specific writing craving.
For example, when NFTs were blowing up in late 2021/early 2022, I grew some self-interest. Thus, I took a break from writing my fantasy novel to produce a Medium Article on how NFTs generate substantial amounts of money for people. Right after getting that article out, I jumped back into writing my novel after a 2-week break with a fresher perspective.
Will one area of my writing dwindle if I divided my energy & attention among multiple?
Let’s shed some light on a book titled “How to Live On 24 Hours a Day” by Arnold Bennett. You won’t believe your eyes when I cherry pick the following quote:
“What? You say that full energy given to those sixteen hours will lessen the value of the business eight? Not so. On the contrary, it will assuredly increase the value of the business eight. One of the chief things which my typical man has to learn is that the mental faculties are capable of a continuous hard activity; they do not tire like an arm or a leg. All they want is change — not rest, except in sleep.”
What a hefty argument bestowed upon us by Bennett. At first glance, one may think this only applies to your typical human life from a general standpoint; yet writing easily is a victim.
If you’re struggling to persevere in a certain writing form/type after attempting it for a short while, here is when a change of scenery helps. Switching between various formats, topics, pieces, or even mediums can allow you to switch from “writing mind A” to “writing mind B.” Sure, taking prolonged breaks between writing (we’re talking weeks-to-months) can also re-energize you with a fresher mind, but changing the writing work you’re performing instead could be more efficient.
My argument obviously holds prejudice — I’m a prime example. After completing the manuscript for my fantasy novel, I dived write back into writing Medium blogs. When my mind gave up on shooting non-fiction ideas to the platform, I hopped like a bunny back to fiction writing, thus kicking off the start of my second novel: a rom-com. Within 2022 alone, I managed to complete almost two whole novels (120+k worth of words), and 6 Medium articles.
You can now expand this example, and practice writing a plethora of stuff by switching gears when you need to! Be it fiction, non-fiction, poems, biographies, blogs/articles, reviews, or others!
Conclusion
My name is Kasey, AKA J.X. Fu (pen name). I’m passionate about (you guessed it) writing, and thus I’ve found myself deep in the abyss on weeknights drafting a fantasy/mystery/action novel series while I work a full-time office job requiring ~40 hours a week. During peak planning season for my team, this can drive up to 60.
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