Ep 186: Write to Discover Your Favorite Type of Writing

When I was in junior high, I joined the track team. Track and field offers a lot of events, so the coach had us try a little bit of everything so we could get a feel for what we might like. I had played softball when I was younger and was a good hitter, so I gave the shot put a few big hurls. My throws weren’t too shabby, but I wasn’t interested in training for it, so I moved on to other options. The coach thought I might be good at the 400, which is once around the track. By the time I completed the oval, I was struggling for breath. Sure, with practice I could get stronger and build endurance, but that felt like torture. Any other options? No interest in the 800 (twice around the track? I could barely make it once!) or worse, the 1600 (a mile? Are you kidding me?). I knocked the bar off every time I attempted the high jump—even when they set it at the lowest notch. Later, I tried to clear one hurdle, but it seemed impossible to clear one after another all the way down the track. Pass. The long jump required some funky training to standardize strides for the approach. You have to hit a skinny wooden board without even the tip of the shoe going past. Step, step...boom. Launch for takeoff! I hurtled through the air hoping to land in the sand without falling backwards. I did it. I exploded off that little board and hit the sand falling forward. That was fun. I signed up for that. Next up: the 100-meter dash. I struggled to place my feet in the starting blocks, but once in motion, I was built for speed. I flew down the track. Same with the 200. The gun would go off, and I’d power around the curve and then down the straightaway to the finish line. I felt electrified. Alive. Yes, I was born to sprint. Well, I wasn’t good enough to compete at the college level, but for my rural high school I did pretty well. Figure Out Your Favorite Type of Writing Trying to figure out our favorite type of writing—the writing that makes us feel electrified and alive—can feel at first like experimenting with track and field events. You have to jog once around the track or pick up that shot put and give it a spin. With any luck, you’ll find one form or type of writing that just fits, as the 200-meter dash fit me. With writing, you have to stick your hands on the keyboard and tap out the first paragraph of a narrative essay. You have to pull out a pen and paper and write the first line of a poem. You can’t know what kind of writing will fit you best or what will end up your favorite form until you learn about it and try it out. Your first attempts may feel awkward at first, like leaping backwards over a high-jump bar. How do people do this? On your first few attempts at something new, your resulting efforts might not turn out as you hope or imagine—in fact, they probably won’t. It’ll feel like you’ve knocked off that bar and fallen to the mat in an awkward tangle of limbs. But as you keep testing out writing forms and styles and genres to find what you enjoy—what feels right for you, what electrifies you—you’ll get the hang of it. You’ll see how others pull it off. You’ll study their technique and see if it will work for you. Don’t let the fear of a messy, awkward first attempt at any form—from short stories to a profile piece—stop you from trying. Try a Little Bit of Everything You may be tempted to discount something thinking it’s too big, too complicated, or too foreign to you. You may feel like ignoring a type of writing. In my interview with Tania Runyan, she says she has no interest in writing a novel. In college, I signed up for an introductory creative writing course. They focused on short story half the semester, then switched to poetry. I thought for sure I’d love fiction and hate poetry—or excel at fiction and fail at ...