The Battle Cry of the General(ist)

I've been reading a fascinating book called Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein. The book has its problems (much like Malcolm Gladwell's books on similar topics have their blind spots), but it has given me a lot of unexpected peace.

Because I'm all over the place, and unapologetically so. 

I love sci-fi and supernatural, but I read and write all kinds of weird stuff. I'm a literary omnivore, taking in historical narrative, memoir, science, theology, and philosophy in addition to my favorite dystopian, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, and supernatural fiction. The frequent advice from writing gurus is to pick a genre and stick with it. That feels impossible to me, and Range helped me understand why.

In discussing the success or failure of new comic books, Epstein describes: "...what helped creators make better comics on average and innovate? The answer (in addition to not being overworked) was how many of twenty-two different genres a creator had worked in, from comedy and crime, to fantasy, adult, nonfiction, and sci-fi. Where length of experience did not differentiate creators, breadth of experience did. Broad genre experience made creators better on average and more likely to innovate." (emphasis mine)

So the fact that I have moved from fairytale retellings in play form (middle school) to historical adventure (high school) to parody and sketch comedy (college) to psychological/historical thriller (college) to serial killer mystery (post-college) to supernatural action (nobody knows about that one 🤫) to YA science fiction to adult supernatural (That Whiter Host) to YA alternate universe sci-fi (my new mermaid series) and allegorical fantasy (Dr. Herpeton) is a GOOD thing. 

Not necessarily good from an editor's perspective, but it's a great thing for my craft. 

Range frequently brings up the fallacy of sunk costs, which is something I have been plagued by over the years. When I started writing in earnest, I had no clue what I was doing. I could write solid dialogue, but that was about it. It took three more false starts before I could settle. I shifted genres six times. I invested six years in my Mars series before I switched to my adult supernatural novel. That novel took me another six years to complete. That is a lot of time to invest in entirely unrelated projects. It was like pulling teeth to set them aside for something else, especially when I had little evidence I could succeed. 

A few years ago, a published author at a conference encouraged me by saying, "You don't start a new project from the first floor. You've already built that. You are building on everything you have already learned and created, not starting from nothing." 

Almost twenty years from my first attempt at a novel, I don't regret all the rabbit trails and switchbacks. I was getting the lay of the land. I think I will always be a little "all over the map" in my writing, but if you were to set all my projects on top of each other, you'd find the same landmarks. I write to explore hard questions, experience new worlds, and glorify Christ. 

I think those goals transcend genre. Hopefully, someday a publisher will feel the same.

What about you? Are you a jack or jill of all trades? Do you think it has helped you to have a wide array of interests? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!