I was talking to a young writer the other day and the question came up about whether you need to “stay in your lane,” meaning stick with one genre. He writes screenplays and plays and poetry, and he had started thinking about writing a novel. What is my advice? I have no idea. If you’re aiming for one thing, it’s probably smart to just do that one thing and hone your craft develop contacts. But some people play multiple instruments, and others write, direct, and act. When I think of how much I put into poetry as a young person, and all the screenplays I’ve written that have gotten nowhere, and the books I wound up writing instead, I honestly can’t make much sense of it. I can connect the dots, but there was never a plan. One thing led to the next.

Do you have a path?

credit: cool2bkids

Filed under: fiction, Poetry, screenplays, Screenwriting, Writers, Writing | 8 Comments »