What Every Writer Needs to Learn About Writing Outside Your Niche
The Death of “Write What You Know”
As writers, we’re told to stay in our lane. If you write prose, stick to prose. If you write for young adults, don’t venture off and write poetry.
Stay exclusively in your genre.
This niche-level career advice can be useful. It will help build a loyal audience. It retains a level of consistency for readers. Most beneficial of all, you’ll probably improve greatly as a writer in that particular niche.
However, what if you want to break out? Maybe something shiny is calling your name. Inspiration has struck. We should avoid branching out, right?
Maybe not.
In this article, Jen Silverman writes about her experiences shifting from one writing style to another.
As a long-time playwright, she expected to write plays for her entire life. However, when the opportunity arose, she shifted formats. What she expresses are valuable lessons every writer needs to consider in their own career.
