Some writers focus on a single area of writing. They're novelists, or they're bloggers, or they're freelancers.
They might very occasionally write something else (a letter to a newspaper, a magazine article, a guest blog post) – but essentially, they do just the one thing.
Other writers have a finger in every pie. They're novelists AND bloggers AND freelancers. Or they're poets AND short story writers AND screenwriters.
Either path can be right, for different reasons and for different writers. If you're not sure right now whether you need more focus or more diversity in your writing, here's some advantages of each...
#1: Four Good Reasons to Focus on One Type of Writing
- By narrowing your focus, it's easier to see success in a particular field.
- You'll be able to finish each piece of work relatively quickly ... which can be more motivating than working a little bit on lots of different projects
- You may have a lot of other things going on in your life, so you only have time to commit to one type of writing
- You might be the type of person who enjoys having a single project to focus on wholeheartedly
#2: Four Good Reasons to Diversify into Lots of Types of Writing
- You might not yet be sure what type(s) of writing you want to do – so trying out lots of forms gives you an opportunity to decide!
- You may enjoy several types of writing: perhaps sometimes you're in the mood to write novels, but at other times, you want to blog
- One type of writing (e.g. freelancing) might be a great way to support the time you spend on something less lucrative (e.g. poetry)
- If one particular path doesn't work out for you, something else might; you may even be surprised to find that you enjoy it more
Of course, you don't need to make a once-and-for-all decision. At different times in your life, you'll find different ways of balancing things with your writing. You might follow a particular path for a little way and then decide it's not the right route for you ... or you might return to a type of writing that you enjoyed years ago once you have more time for it.
Whatever sort of writing you do (or plan to do), best of luck with it. :-)
Don't forget that I'm always very happy to take requests for the newsletter and the blog, so if you'd like me to write more about a particular area of writing or if you have questions you'd like me to answer, just drop me an email (ali@aliventures.com) to let me
know.
