What is your writing comfort zone? Mine used to be the mystery genre. I’d always loved reading mysteries, starting with The Hardy Boys, so when I embarked on my writing journey, that was the course I charted. And I LOVED it.
After three novels, my comfort zone felt a little stale. I had the idea for a more mainstream, women’s fiction project—one with braided narratives—and for six years, off and on, I pushed my own boundaries to get that sucker done. It made me expand my writing toolbox. Hell, it made me go to graduate school so I could figure out what, exactly, I was doing. After many edits and revisions, The Stone Necklacecame out. And my comfort zone had widened.
Because I’m a social worker, and social justice is a drive that pulsates in me, my next venture out of the comfort zone was non-fiction---blogs, op-eds, and essays. I’d been blogging here for a while, but political blogs proved a challenge because I can be … passionate. Opinionated. And a tad judgmental. What I learned, though, is that I’m most effective when I’m honest, when I don’t try to come off as a know-it-all but acknowledge my true humanness. When I talk about racism, it’s more powerful if I own my privilege, because it’s there whether I want it or not. Example: https://www.socialworkhelper.com/2017/08/29/dont-think-racist/
Short stories are still not in comfort zone, but I keep trying. My other writing friends are adept at this format (Paula Gail Benson, Debra Goldstein, Tina Whittle, Warren Bull, and all other bloggers, I’m talking about you!), but I struggle to pare my narrative down to a smaller word count. While I never feel satisfied with my short story efforts, I keep trying. I’ve had a few published, but even those could be improved upon.
No, shorts aren’t in my comfort zone. Yet.
My latest venture out of the familiar took place a few weeks ago when I submitted to short-edition.com. This company collects short stories that are FEWER THAN 8000 characters. That’s right—characters, not words, and spaces are INCLUDED. What’s especially fascinating is that some of these stories will be loaded into Short Story Dispensers that can be found in some libraries, universities, and other organizations. I love this idea and would be thrilled if my little effort got dispensed in a paper copy to some reader in Idaho or Maine or California.
My story was a scene from my current work-in-progress about a woman reluctantly attending a weight loss group. It’s called “Weighty Matters” and it’s partly humorous, partly not. You can read it here: https://short-edition.com/en/story/5-min/weighty-matters *
I hope you will. If you like it, please click the “like” button at the bottom. I’m not sure how it works, but I suspect that enough “likes” might increase my chances of making it to the dispenser. Hey, a writer can dream, can’t she?
It’s safe to stay in one’s comfort zone, but I find it stimulating to venture out of it. Sure, sometimes I fail (often I fail), but sometimes, I expand myself and my abilities. That has to make me a better writer, which is absolutely what my readers deserve.
One final, unrelated thing. Thank you for reading this blog. Now please, if you haven’t, GO VOTE! It’s election day, so let your voice be heard!!
*PS Debra Goldstein has a short story with the same name in Black Cat Magazine # 2. Great minds-- or at least, mysterious minds-- think alike.
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