How to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone as a Writer.
People in every profession struggle with comfort zones. We writers are no different. We’re human beings who prefer what we can control, and we often perceive stepping out into new territory as a threat to that sense of security.
How can you as a writer break free from your comfort zone? I’ve written about four things that have worked for me and will work for you if you put them into practice. Read on to find the help you need.
1) Do things uncomfortable.
The strategies I list in this article will require us to embrace discomfort. Our fear and awkward feelings likely won’t go away until after we start doing what we’re supposed to do.
I don’t say this to be negative. As writers we must accept dealing with fear and discomfort is part of our cross. Every seasoned writer with multiple works published had to do uncomfortable things starting out. Even after I’ve established myself as a writer, my career will require me to step out of my comfort zone on a regular basis.
This is hard to accept, but you will see results if you push past discomfort and put yourself out there. They may not be what you expect, but if you earnestly try, you’ll get somewhere when it comes to writing. Not trying is not an option. We must accept our discomfort and press on to the prize we desire.
2) Mingle with people in the writing community.
Many new writers are afraid of putting themselves out there. Like all jobs, writing will require us to communicate with others. We will have to express our ideas to marketers, editors, and so forth during the publishing stage. If you build a following, you will need to communicate with them regularly.
To prepare for this, start by joining a writing community on Facebook, Twitter, Writing.com, or somewhere else and mingle with the writers there. Share your interests. Ask other writers about theirs. Participate in activities.
Don’t go into detail about your works in progress at this point. This is just to practice the social/businessperson aspect of your life as a writer. Doing this will help you realize you’re capable of being social, hard as that may be.
For more verbal communication, join a local writer’s group and get involved in your town’s writing community. There are likely different creative events like poetry slams, short story contests, and writing bootcamps you can get involved with. Participate in these events. Speak with as many people at these places as possible. Ask them questions about their projects. Make connections.
The goal is to help you practice being social. You will need good etiquette when it comes to the business side of being a writer, and communicating tactfully on your platforms is a must. Getting involved in an online and local writing community will help you gain the practice needed for communicating later in your career.
3) Read outside your genre.
This may seem minor, but we’re bound to find more inspiration as writers if we embrace new experiences. Since reading is our fuel, we need to read widely to keep inspired and from not becoming too set in our ways.
This requires fighting past some resistance. As a fantasy enthusiast I find it difficult to pick up a contemporary fiction piece. Doing this will not only inspire you and expand your repertoire as a writer, but you’re also trying something new. You're doing something that is likely a little uncomfortable. This sort of “discomfort training” will aid you in the future. If you do this small step of braving new things, the daunting tasks requiring you to really get out of your comfort zone will be a little more doable.
If you read mostly thrillers and want to branch out, look up a list of the best romance, horror, or fantasy books released in the past year. Buy a couple or check them out from your library. Read these books like a writer, picking up on the different tropes the writers use. When you return to write whatever genre you write, you’ll find it easier to come up with ideas because you’ve fed your subconscious new material. This will also make reading thrillers more rewarding, too, for you’ll read them as a more knowledgeable reader.
This will force you to read something you may think you won’t like at first. Have an attitude of adventure and you’ll find yourself moving out of your comfort zone a bit, and that’s the whole idea. This is an easy way to nudge yourself onto the path of discomfort. Read widely and your well-roundedness will serve you.
4) Write something different.
Doing this will help you embrace discomfort as a writer. How? We wordsmiths often get stuck in our strengths, meaning we may devote so much energy to prose we don’t spend enough time experimenting with verse. While all writers must have a focus, being well rounded shows us we’re capable of trying new things, which involves discomfort.
You could try writing a poem if that’s something you’ve never done before. Or if you write poetry, experiment with a new form. Expanding your horizons will help you feel like a more capable writer. It will also boost confidence.
I felt more confident with my novels when I began writing articles. I’m also better at free verse poetry when I try to write sonnets or other poems with rhyme schemes. The same will happen to you if you try this. It’s hard to do at first, but if you push past that difficulty, you won’t regret it. Trying these new things will show you that you can be flexible. This gets you out of your comfort zone, making your more effective as a writer.
This may be minor in the grand scheme of things. Think of it as discomfort training, a minor exercise to prepare yourself for more uncomfortable things in the future. It’s not super difficult to implement and it’s also fun. Try different types of writing and you’ll prepare yourself for more uncomfortable things in the future.
Conclusion.
Pushing past discomfort is a challenge that will always be there for writers and everyone else. What’s important is we push nonetheless. That’s at least half the battle as a writer. These four small steps will help us overcome our attachment to comfort and get us to where we need to be as artists.