Comfort Zones in Relation to Writing

Literature is about pushing and expanding beyond set boundaries.  It is not about doing what has been done before.  There is no need for new works to do what has previously been done because we already have the works that did these things first.   Literature should be able to challenge the writer as well as the reader, and if it does nothing new, it challenges nobody.  That is why comfort zones should not be worked within in literature.

Nothing positive can come from only working within comfort zones.  Works written within a comfort zone will eventually bleed into each other because nothing will stand out in them.  Why would a reader to choose to read any work by an author if they can’t get anything new out of them?  Additionally, why would they risk wasting their own time by reading a book that the author wasn’t even willing to take a risk on by working outside of what they’d usually write.

Star Wars was a very original movie.  It took some common tropes of science fiction, and did something original with them.  Most everything in the sci-fi genre up to that point was polished and utopian.  Rather than conforming to this, Star Wars took technology that was still far beyond our own and made it dirtier.  Space ships could break down simply from getting old and needing repairs; droids were caught and resold in a sort of black market.  It additionally combined these tropes with elements of spirituality, forms of story telling like the hero’s journey, and elements of cultures from Asia to Europe to America.  If one were to look back at the movies that came out from the late 70’s to the 80’s, they would find hundreds of movies that attempted to follow the path set by Star Wars and bombed because audiences wanted something new,.

If you’re willing to work outside of your comfort zone, the quality of your work can greatly improve.  Not only can you discover new opinions about things and offer a unique perspective, but even if the quality of the writing done outside of said comfort zone is not immediately the best, it provides an opportunity to improve.  If you were to shine a single pair of shoes for weeks and weeks they would definitely be very shiny, but there comes a point where they cannot be improved by shining anymore.  Working within comfort zones is the same way.

Shine a new pair of shoes and step out of your comfort zone.

Author: Jackson Palmer

Jackson Palmer is a student studying literature at the Mississippi School of the Arts. He hopes to use the education he obtains there to write novels, short stories, poetry, and scripts for movies, television, and theater productions. Additionally, he would like to write within a number of genres such as comedy, drama, horror, etc. Some of his favorite writers and influences include Billy Joel, John Steinbeck, and Dan Harmon. He hopes to explore concepts and systems of thought such as existentialism, nihilism, and fulfillment within his writing. He would like to thank you visiting his blog and hopefully reading his work. View all posts by Jackson Palmer