As an artist of any kind, you should stretch yourself often to improve your skills. By doing this you learn new techniques and sometimes come up with great solutions to something that you’re already working on.
But how can you do this?
Trying out different writing techniques is well worth trying. This was brought back to me this week after teaching year 8 students flash fiction at Warrandyte High. To try to make it a little more interesting, I decided to make the students write in the Steampunk genre. For some this was well out of their comfort zone while others dived right in. This was quite difficult because the word limit was 100 words.
By giving yourself a challenge (this works equally in photography, art or music) you are looking at your craft from a different angle. It also really puts you into a creative space.
So, if you write prose, why not try your hand at some poetry. Or if you are a non-fiction writer, try to write a fantasy. Any time you play with words you are adding to your creative well and you may surprise yourself by coming up with an idea that you can use in your normal arena.
Go and listen to some poetry or music, attend a workshop or visit a gallery. These are all great ways to inform your craft.
Blaise