The other week I sat down to write a quick bit of catechesis on a tricky Gospel reading.  I think of myself as a non-fiction writer, and explaining Bible verses is exactly the kind of non-fiction I write most, lately.  So I started composing a lengthy explication-of-the-text that would have put just about everyone to sleep.

Then I came to my senses:  Instead of explaining “the story could have gone like this, and here’s why,” I realized I could just tell the story.

So I tried it.  How’d my experiment work out? I’ve garnered more thank-you’s from real life friends for that one piece than anything else I’ve blogged in my first six months at Patheos.

Even better: When I followed-up with a post laying out my arguments for why I read the text the way I did, I was able to be much more concise.  Putting the work into building a story around the Gospel helped me clarify my thinking; having the story already-published meant I could focus my arguments strictly on scripture, and leave the might-have’s to speculative fiction, which is where might-have’s belong.

Triple bonus: Getting the fiction part of my brain focused on Scripture revived my own spiritual life more powerfully than I ever would have anticipated.

Be Brave. Write Something Different.

It was scary putting myself out there.  It would have been safer to quietly vet my short story with a few friends, or submit it for publication and let a magazine editor decide how good it was.  When you begin to be known for one genre, there’s uncomfortable humility in starting as a beginner in something completely different.  People will compare; they’ll notice where you’re stronger and where you’re weaker.  No writer minds being remembered for certain strengths. Being remembered for our not-so-great efforts isn’t so pleasant.

But it’s worth it.  It’s worth taking the risk.  It’s worth stretching yourself.  Dabbling outside your genre might or might not unveil talents you weren’t sure you had.  But even if you completely flop in your off-genre, the simple fact that you’ve worked that weak skill set will improve your writing in your “good” genre.

Need a venue?  Catholic Writers Guild blog accepts submissions from all CWG members.

Once you get brave, you still have to figure out where to publish your experiment.  CWG members, if you’re looking for a place to submit that essay, flash-fiction, or poem you recently cobbled together, consider submitting to the Catholic Writers Guild blog.  Don Mulcare has recently put together an expanded editorial board, headed by our new submissions editor, Kathryn Cunningham.  Check out the CWG’s contact info page for details on what to submit, when, where, and how.  I look forward to seeing what you have to say!

 

Avatar photo

Jennifer Fitz is the author of The How-to Book of Evangelization: Everything You Need to Know But No One Ever Taught You from Our Sunday Visitor and Classroom Management for Catechists from Liguori Publications. She writes about all things evangelization and discipleship at jenniferfitz.substack.com. For updates on where else to find her, visit JenniferFitz.com.

3 Replies to “Don’t Let Your Genre Pin You Down”

  1. Wow! Your story was so powerful I didn’t need the analysis afterwards. Thank you for sharing your efforts. I’ve been trying to step out of my comfort zone too … taking baby steps.
    Waves to Gary 🙂

  2. Your experiment was great! I would love to read more “Biblical fiction”. And I need some inspiration (and kick in the pants) to submit something to the cwg blog. Thanks!

Comments are closed.