Part of my philosophy as a writer has been to learn about and try different writing disciplines. I took classes in college for poetry, fiction, nonfiction, journalism, and tech writing. How did that help me as a writer?

My first love was short fiction writing. Still love it. Fiction writing gives me the ability to understand things from a target audience (or character’s) POV. Looking at content, whether fiction/nonfiction, from different angles helps me communicate more effectively.

Fiction skills–plot, characterization, POV, structure–are basic to any type of writing. Characterization applies into how you talk about content to your target audience (POV, character). What does that reader need to know? In what order (plot/structure) and how much (plot)?

Poetry classes taught me the value and weight of each word. Poetry makes you look at editing with a different philosophy: how does the word sound? how is it better than another? Concrete images in poetry improve fiction descriptions. Poetry made my writing succinct.

Nonfiction taught me how to combine the different disciplines to communicate a message effectively. Also, awareness of words’ connotations. Is it the best choice to use a word with baggage? Being sensitive to how a reader will react to an article helps word choice.

Journalism taught me the importance of reliable sources and solid references. This also ties in with nonfiction, when writing research articles. Don’t just take someone’s word for it. Check their sources or citations to confirm. For fiction, get your history write.

And finally tech writing, which is how I earn a living. Don’t write fiction in tech writer voice. 🙂 A procedure is like explaining a story arch to another user in short, succinct steps in plain English. Evaluate content that could be expressed in text, graphics, diagrams.

When I was a tech writing team lead, I took all the writers to go to a local writing conference so our team could go and be *writers*. No session restrictions. The goal was to expand their skills. Get outside of your primary discipline to get a fresh perspective.

Having some understanding of multiple writing disciplines means you have a good toolbox for communication. Poetry skills make me an effective editor for short fiction. Research skills give me an edge in peer reviews and editing. Fiction gives me a framework for tech writing.

And, at heart, this is what it means to me to be a writer: being an effective communicator of whatever content I’m creating. Fiction and poetry are art forms–so are tech writing, journalism, and nonfiction. Tech writing and fiction are strong points, but I’m capable in other disciplines. That makes me a versatile, employable writer. Writing lets me write about all of the topics I love. I wanted to be a fiction writer, but opted for tech writing to support my horse habit. Find your joy. Find your voice. And write.