Most people function within their comfort zones for most of their lives. Just like in real life, authors too often get stuck within their comfort zones. They might produce wonderful work, but at some point, every good author needs to explore new avenues and try different things. Only writing out of your comfort zone will help you grow as a writer. Here are a few ideas that might help you gradually come out of your comfort area and explore new possibilities as a writer.
1. Make something unusual happen
Take the mundane tasks of everyday life and try to write new life into it. Give a small twist to something ordinary and see if it helps your story take off into different realms. This could be something as simple as your character making breakfast, when something unusual happens. Or perhaps they are checking their emails and have received something interesting and distinctive. You just need one unconventional element in your story to help you get out of your comfort zone and explore fresh areas of writing.
2. Tackle serious issues
This is something every writer should do. Good writing must not just be entertaining; it must also leave the readers with curiosity about the trials and tribulations your characters face in their lives. Look around you at the problems that beset society and pick an issue. Then weave a story around it, exploring the problem in its entirety. There is no dearth of social issues to be tackled, and you will have the satisfaction of being heard, unlike most people, on your views and opinions. What’s more important, you might even influence people to do the right thing after reading your book.
3. Try writing in a different genre
A sure and tested method of writing out of your comfort zone is to write in a different genre. Most authors generally stick to one genre, but even within the same genres, there are sub-genres. You can choose to change your sub-genre or try a completely different genre of writing. Doing so is very useful for exploring new horizons as a writer. When you start writing in a new genre, you will realize that you are a novice again and you will have to learn a lot about different things.
4. Travel and explore
“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” So said Saint Augustus in his wisdom, and he was right. When you travel, you meet new people, you gain new experiences, and you begin to understand a new way of life. Travelling can help in generating fresh ideas for writing. Because travel helps you grow as a person, it can also help you grow as a writer and inch you out of your comfort zone.
5. Do something different in real life
With new experiences come new ideas. When you experience something different that you have never done before, you automatically expand your knowledge of the world around you and also of human nature. Your real life experiences are what ultimately fuels your imagination. Join a yoga class, learn a new language, or try out a different cuisine. Every single action you take away from your comfort zone is a rich land ahead filled with ideas for your writing.
Image credit: Bryan Brenneman on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_20141217_101736441.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Kavitha is a freelance content writer and French translator, and has been working in this field since 2008. She has degrees in computer applications and international business and has a background in business and international trade. She enjoys learning languages and is currently learning Japanese. Her interests vary from books and writing to travelling and history.[/author_info] [/author]