I'm a big believer in trying things outside of your own comfort zone. It's how we grow and learn, right? But sometimes, there's a lot to be said about knowing your own strengths and where you are most comfortable as a writer.
Since the start of January, I've been focusing on doing "one act of writing" a day, whenever possible. It's been an incredibly busy month, so once a day has been sort of once-ish a day. But I did hit my goal of 20 "one things a day" in January. Hurrah!
I was looking over a short story I had written a couple of years ago. It's still handwritten, but I loved the premise. Yet, something about it just didn't work. I had even typed it up at one point and thought...you know, this just isn't doing it for me.
I thought of another story I've been working on that didn't quite work either. I ended up revising it throughout my writing process. What started as a woman daydreaming about a vacation at work became a speculative fiction story about a woman working for a corrupt virtual reality company.
And as I looked over this other hand-written short story this past week, I thought to myself: okay, how can I make this more science-fiction-y. What's a relevant problem or advancement in our society right now I can use as inspiration?.
Well, it's one problem among many, but I realized: AI.
And that one switch of applying that current problem into my story (yes, yes, I get that not everyone sees AI as a problem, but I definitely do) and giving it a futuristic twist allowed me to turn it into a speculative fiction piece. I have more work to do, but I'm more confident (and excited) than ever in this story's direction.
It reminded me of the importance of knowing your niche. It took me a while to find my area, but I have finally embraced speculative fiction as my creative writing comfort zone. As I revise stories, knowing this about myself allows me to take a nugget from past works and spin it.
Of course, as I've learned, you do not have to stay in your comfort zone. But I think to move out of that zone, and stretch yourself beyond it,you need to know what it is in the first place.
Don't be afraid to embrace your niche. And don't be afraid to explore outside of it, too! Both can be incredibly inspiring.
Nicole Pyles is a writer living in Portland, Oregon. Her writing has appeared in Sky Island Journal, Arlington Literary Journal, The Voices Project, The Ocotillo Review, and Gold Man Review. A poem of hers was also featured in the anthology DEAR LEADERS TALES. Her short story, “The Mannequin of Lot 18,” was nominated for Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy for 2024. Since she’s not active on social media very much, stay in touch by following her writing blog at World of My Imagination.
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