Under the stress of writing for both business and personal, I am experiencing something that I have encouraged others to do for some time.
If you’ve ever read any of my work, my style is much the same as mine: quiet, edgy, funny, and a testing ground for the dark vernacular. Normally I stay in the same line, in the same comfort zone. Middle-aged heroines, slightly evil, slightly mystical, slightly macabre protagonists.
But from time to time I try to write things that make me feel uncomfortable, things that whose Do well. Murders, politics, current drama. I do this because it’s important to push my comfort zone just to see if I can adapt. Take a step to the other side of the veil.
I find myself doing that at work lately. Emails and FB posts about products are much easier than freeform poetry. I can’t use too much humor or yearand sarcasm, so that readers don’t get the wrong impression of the company. Which is how it should be.
But writing these straight entries is more challenging than I thought. It seems that I almost became also straight. My work mentor and friend has suggested to me that Facebook is more of a social interaction and that I can promote products while still being fun.
Can you be a different writer for different situations?
Have you ever tried to write in the third person when you’ve been a first person writer all your life? Have you ever tried to write research results with a straight face while getting loose with sex scenes in your current novel?
It is not as easy as it looks.
We all have a personal bent in our writing. Throw a bunch of papers from different writers on the table and most of the time people will know who wrote what. That’s good from a reputation standpoint. But what if the group wanted you to add something weird and different to the mix? Could you?
There are so many different worlds to try. And in the privacy of your practice room, no one has to read your writing except you. Try a story from a different point of view. From someone who grew up in the Old South. Someone who lives in an isolated village in Norway. From someone who has been abused. From someone from the 19th century who had to go to work in the mines at the age of 9. Of a serial killer.
It is good practice to get into the heads of others besides your own. Even if you’ve never been to Norway, a little research goes a long way. Sure you’re not a serial killer, but what about his justifications? The goal of these drills is not accuracy, it’s practice.
Try to be different. You may find that you like it.
