The Challenge of Writing Outside Your Comfort Zone

I have always believed the best stories and the best writers are those that operate outside a comfort zone.

Don’t get me wrong. I like easy-to-read and quick stories sometimes. But when I first envisioned this novel I instinctively knew it would A.) Be hard to write, and B.) Be challenging to write because it was outside my comfort zone.

I am not interested in playing it safe with this novel. I have written safe stories. I have read more than my share of safe stories. I won’t go into detail what exactly I want to accomplish with this book because I’ve mentioned it before. But for me it’s a big thing. Well, every story is, to be honest. But especially this one because I don’t think the story itself can work if it’s not somewhat dangerous.

So with this in mind one of the hurdles I keep coming across is forcing myself to think in a very different way when working on this novel. By instinct I keep holding back. I have to push myself past that barrier. I have to shred it and move on. I find that difficult because it’s almost like I am trying to elevate the story beyond what I may have the talent for.

In another words, I am not sure I have the talent to do this thing correctly. But I want to try. I don’t like to fail. If failure was an option I would never have been published in the first place, become a member of SFWA and HWA, or even finished a story. I have passed those hurdles. This is a new hurdle.

I believe in myself. I believe I can do this. No one will be more surprised than I if I fail on this project. And that more than anything else is what I like about this current project. It’s a real challenge. I am calling upon all my talent and knowledge to find a way through this story.

It’s literally like nothing else I have ever written or done or thought about. That’s awfully cool. As a writer I can tell you that is awfully, awfully cool. 🙂