Pick and mix
Help yourself at the writer’s buffet and find the flavour that most suits you, suggests Simon Hall
The old saying tells you that travel broadens the mind. But travel around the world of writing and it can not only broaden your mind, it can enhance your talents and benefit your pocket, too.
One of the things I love most about writing is how many different forms there are. For me, it’s like being a child in a huge adventure park.
Getting bored with the dodgems? Try the rollercoaster!
Getting jaded with writing novels? How about a short story? Or some poetry? Or journalism, flash fiction, or so many other attractions…
I’m lucky enough to work as a news correspondent for the BBC, and to have had seven crime novels published. And don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful for my good fortune.
But the creative soul is prone to wandering. So I fancied trying something new, and got a couple of short stories published. And turned my first novel into a play. And then wrote a young adults book, and then a pantomime, and now I’ve just finished a radio comedy and a pilot for a TV drama.
Every ride in the adventure park has been great fun, and hugely fulfilling. But perhaps more importantly, it’s taught me something important about the writing art.
Each area of writing is interconnected in some way with the others, and can feed useful lessons into your range of work. And the more you explore, the more you learn about everything there is in the park, and the better the writer you become.