ReVitalize: Working Outside Your Genre

Sometimes you've been doing your art form successfully for so long that you don't notice that you've started the slow descent into boredom, that you're operating on autopilot or that your once-vibrant work reads/looks/sounds rote. I suspect that certain popular authors have reached this point. Their latest novels lack the certain something - a sense of enjoyment or playfulness, maybe - that first drew readers to their earlier books.

At this point it can be tempting to redouble your efforts to whip your current work into shape and enjoy doing it...or else. Maybe this works for some people. It never has for me.

What does work is a tactic I call genre-jumping. Get out of your cozy but confining space for awhile and do something new to you. If you want to jump-start your inspiration in a big way, choose a genre or form that seems worlds away from what you're doing now, something you'll have to learn from scratch. For example, if you normally write cozy mysteries or family sagas, try doing a thriller. If you write articles, try poetry.

This also works for inspiration-gathering. If you tend to read within a certain genre, venture out. If you listen to pop, explore world music or blues. If you've been locked into a special niche for eons, you might have to force yourself to wander, sample and explore.

At other times, however, you might be aware of a budding interest; you just haven't given yourself permission to explore it. In this case all you need to do is pay attention to what's grabbing you at the moment and follow the trail. For the past 25 years I've played and sung with groups that specialize in Renaissance music. For the first decade or so, I listened avidly to everything from that period that I could get my hands on. Lately, however, I find myself drawn to recordings by female jazz and blues singers. I'm not entirely sure why. But I've learned to trust these nudges.

You'll know when you're ready to resume your previous path. Or not. Sometimes working outside your genre provides you with fresh inspiration that you can take back to your familiar work. Sometimes it confirms that you're due for a more long-term change.

Either way, you win.