Although I had hints for a long time, I finally admitted to myself that I’m not a poet after I heard a talk by someone who is—Nance Van Winckel, a smart, sensitive writer I was studying with. Nance spoke about her own realization that she’s not a novelist—an awareness that had grown as she struggled with novels she couldn’t complete. She finally realized that short fiction and poetry worked better for her. “I need to see the whole picture all at one time,” she said. “It’s impossible to do that with novels.”
Hearing about Nance’s epiphany gave me one of my own. I was immediately aware that some genres—like the personal essay—felt natural to me in a way that others—such as poetry—never had. I feel like a flightless bird when I try to write poems, and I’ve literally never written one I liked. When I’m writing a personal essay, I have much more of a sense of control and direction. That’s not to say it’s easy—just that it feels more natural and genuine.
Every successful writer I know has figured out at some point in their career what genres come naturally to them. I know novelist-poets, poet-essayists, novelist-playwrights, and journalist-novelists, and every other imaginable combination. I also know many people who write in just one genre—but do it excellently. The important thing isn’t how many genres you write in, it’s finding the ones that work for you.
Discovering your natural genres can do wonders for your writing. My frustration with poetry evaporated the minute I realized I wasn’t a poet. It freed up time I was wasting doing something I wasn’t good at and helped me focus my efforts. Most importantly, it gave me a feeling of authenticity that sharpened my writing and raised my confidence.
If you haven’t given much thought to which genres work best for you, try doing an inventory of your work. What makes you feel blocked or stuck? Do you have any projects that have been languishing for years? What do you enjoy writing? What have you had the most success with? The answers to these questions might lead you to an important turning point in your writing life—and send your writing in the direction it wants to go.