By Steffanie Costigan

April 24, 2024

As much as I enjoy writing under a specific genre, I also enjoy trying out different and new writing styles and genres. This can be important as a writer because you are not only challenging yourself but growing your skill sets as a writer. 

Trying new writing methods, being a journalist, I recognize my style of writing an article is very different than doing creative writing. News stories are very simple, to the point, and are a summary of what has happened they are not layered with nearly as many details as creative writing, news articles are also time-sensitive, and sometimes you hand them to the editor the day of writing them. Sometimes you only have 30 minutes to get a story done.

As a writer if you are able to publish books in different genres that only builds your credibility and the branding of your books. It flexes your skill sets as a credible writer. But doing this also comes with a word of caution if you do it make sure it’s done right and skillfully. If you don’t want to write a great Horror novel then write a not-so-great Fantasy. 

Taking workshops and writing courses also really helps you to grow your skills as a writer. My struggle with writing with my dyslexia has come so far because of challenging myself with doing as many workshops and courses in writing and most importantly practising. As you can imagine it’s not easy finding the time to practise writing when you are a mother of three soon-to-be four kids. 

I often have the question asked to me how do I do it? How do I find the time to write with three kids being pregnant and working full time? I am fortunate enough to have an incredibly supportive husband to help me. That is one of the biggest factors and working as a journalist is another big help. I am writing every single day as a journalist and that is a great way to practise and challenge my writing skills.

I share my little experiences as a writer in hopes it can help other writers or even just give some ideas of how others can further develop themselves in writing or as authors. I really want to encourage others to get uncomfortable and challenge themselves because it is when you do those things that you grow the most. It’s hard getting out of your comfort zone but when you do you grow so much more and learn so much more about yourself and what you can work on.